I'm icing a cake for a family members wedding , can anyone give me the
best recipe for icing, that i can use to pipe the bride and groom's
names on the cake.
Also any tips on how to actually pipe the lettering (as i have never
done it before)professionally on the cake,your comment's will be
gratefully recieved.

"D O'Reilly" wrote in message
om...
I'm icing a cake for a family members wedding , can anyone give me the
best recipe for icing, that i can use to pipe the bride and groom's
names on the cake.
Also any tips on how to actually pipe the lettering (as i have never
done it before)professionally on the cake,your comment's will be
gratefully recieved.

Lettering on a cake is rough, because there's no easy way to erase a mistake
and you have to move fairly quickly to get the writing to look smooth.

I'd cheat.

I like using either royal icing (which hardens really hard (ever had those
rock-hard candy roses? That's royal icing). I'd recommend making a batch
and practicing on wax paper. Then you can let the letters (or whole words)
harden, pick the ones you like, and take them with you to put on the cake.

I transport icing pieces in old margarine containers, cushioned inside by
paper towel.

Royal icing recipies are available online if you google them.

"Margaret Robinson" wrote in message m...
"D O'Reilly" wrote in message
om...
I'm icing a cake for a family members wedding , can anyone give me the
best recipe for icing, that i can use to pipe the bride and groom's
names on the cake.
Also any tips on how to actually pipe the lettering (as i have never
done it before)professionally on the cake,your comment's will be
gratefully recieved.

Lettering on a cake is rough, because there's no easy way to erase a mistake
and you have to move fairly quickly to get the writing to look smooth.

I'd cheat.

I like using either royal icing (which hardens really hard (ever had those
rock-hard candy roses? That's royal icing). I'd recommend making a batch
and practicing on wax paper. Then you can let the letters (or whole words)
harden, pick the ones you like, and take them with you to put on the cake.

I transport icing pieces in old margarine containers, cushioned inside by
paper towel.

Royal icing recipies are available online if you google them.

Thankyou Margaret.

"D O'Reilly" wrote in message
om...
I'm icing a cake for a family members wedding , can anyone give me the
best recipe for icing, that i can use to pipe the bride and groom's
names on the cake.
Also any tips on how to actually pipe the lettering (as i have never
done it before)professionally on the cake,your comment's will be
gratefully recieved.

I would recommend that you pick up a book on basic cake decorating. Wilton
has several inexpensive books on the subject. I believe that the Wilton
Yearbook of cake decorating has some recipes and some basic instructions on
cake decorating. You can buy one where Wilton cake decorating supplies are
sold (most craft stores.) You might also look at their website
www.wilton.com There are a number of projects listed along with recipes.

D O'Reilly wrote:

I'm icing a cake for a family members wedding , can anyone give me the
best recipe for icing, that i can use to pipe the bride and groom's
names on the cake.
Also any tips on how to actually pipe the lettering (as i have never
done it before)professionally on the cake,your comment's will be
gratefully recieved.


1. You have taken on a monumental task if you have no
cake decorating experience. Can you find someone else
to do the decorating if you bake the cake? Could you ask
a local baker or even the supermarket cake decorator if
he/she will do the fancy stuff for you for a price?

2. Go to the library, get as many books on cake decorating
as you can find, and practice, practice, practice doing
decorations on sheets of waxed paper.

3. As I think back on all the wedding cakes I have seen,
I have NEVER seen one with writing on it. They usually
have shell designs or garlands made of royal icing and
flowers, either icing or real live flowers, and sometimes
figurines on top, but no names. All the guests will know
who the bride and groom are by name,anyway.

Good luck!

gloria p

"Puester" wrote in message
...
D O'Reilly wrote:

I'm icing a cake for a family members wedding , can anyone give me the
best recipe for icing, that i can use to pipe the bride and groom's
names on the cake.
Also any tips on how to actually pipe the lettering (as i have never
done it before)professionally on the cake,your comment's will be
gratefully recieved.


1. You have taken on a monumental task if you have no
cake decorating experience. Can you find someone else
to do the decorating if you bake the cake? Could you ask
a local baker or even the supermarket cake decorator if
he/she will do the fancy stuff for you for a price?

2. Go to the library, get as many books on cake decorating
as you can find, and practice, practice, practice doing
decorations on sheets of waxed paper.

3. As I think back on all the wedding cakes I have seen,
I have NEVER seen one with writing on it. They usually
have shell designs or garlands made of royal icing and
flowers, either icing or real live flowers, and sometimes
figurines on top, but no names. All the guests will know
who the bride and groom are by name,anyway.

Good luck!

I agree with you on all points. However, I really doubt that a bakery would
decorate a cake that someone else baked. The person who decorates the
cakes, however, might agree to do it "on the side." That said, about 90% of
the work in producing a wedding cake is in the decorating, so I doubt that
it would save money to contract out the decorating. I would suggest that
the OP approach the bakery and ask how much some simply decorated "party
cakes" would cost, without letting them know it was for a wedding. You
might be able to get a 6", 9", and 12" cake with a simple top and bottom
border and perhaps some garlands and/or flowers for much less than the same
cakes that were ordered as wedding cakes. The OP could then arrange them on
a stand or stack them using plates and pillars. The final decorations might
be some fresh flowers. I did a stunning cake last year with white frosting,
simple boarders, and a mound of red and white dahlias from the garden. You
could use carnation, mums, lilies, roses or other flower from the florist.

I questioned the writing on the cake, but it is their wedding and if they
want writing on the cake then they should get writing on the cake. As you
point out, it isn't traditional. I have seen a lot of example of cakes for
bridal SHOWERS with writing on them. That makes some sense to me since the
groom usually doesn't attend the shower.

As for the design issue. I do think that it is possible to make an
acceptable wedding cake without a lot of fancy decorations. Wilton
generally has a few cakes in their publications that are very simple. In
fact, you could use a comb on the sides of the cakes and that would
eliminate the need to have them frosted smoothly. A simple shell border on
the top and bottom wouldn't be too hard to produce. You can buy flowers
made in both royal frosting and gum paste. Fresh flowers would be another
good alternative.

The thing I would recommend staying away from is stacking the cakes. I
certainly wouldn't go very high with them as it is an invitation to
disaster. However, there are all manner of cake stands available that
eliminate the need to stack the cakes.

"Margaret Robinson" wrote in message m...
"D O'Reilly" wrote in message
om...
I'm icing a cake for a family members wedding , can anyone give me the
best recipe for icing, that i can use to pipe the bride and groom's
names on the cake.
Also any tips on how to actually pipe the lettering (as i have never
done it before)professionally on the cake,your comment's will be
gratefully recieved.

Lettering on a cake is rough, because there's no easy way to erase a mistake
and you have to move fairly quickly to get the writing to look smooth.

I'd cheat.

I like using either royal icing (which hardens really hard (ever had those
rock-hard candy roses? That's royal icing). I'd recommend making a batch
and practicing on wax paper. Then you can let the letters (or whole words)
harden, pick the ones you like, and take them with you to put on the cake.

I transport icing pieces in old margarine containers, cushioned inside by
paper towel.

Royal icing recipies are available online if you google them.


....another option (if you have good handwriting) would be to take a
bamboo skewer and lightly write on the cake with that, and then use
that as a guide to pipe the words...

(D O'Reilly) wrote in message . com...
I'm icing a cake for a family members wedding , can anyone give me the
best recipe for icing, that i can use to pipe the bride and groom's
names on the cake.
Also any tips on how to actually pipe the lettering (as i have never
done it before)professionally on the cake,your comment's will be
gratefully recieved.

Most icings are sickeningly sweet. Heres one thats not:
coconut oil block
water
cardamom

heat the block in just a little water, say water is 10-20% of the
block quantity. Heat very slowly and very gently, the coconut will
gradually melt into the water. Add a pinch of cardamom powder, mix it
up, adjust water content to determine how stiff the set icing is. This
is a true quality icing, not like the usual slab of sugar offering.

Regards, NT

"N. Thornton" wrote in message
om...
(D O'Reilly) wrote in message
. com...
I'm icing a cake for a family members wedding , can anyone give me the
best recipe for icing, that i can use to pipe the bride and groom's
names on the cake.
Also any tips on how to actually pipe the lettering (as i have never
done it before)professionally on the cake,your comment's will be
gratefully recieved.

Most icings are sickeningly sweet. Heres one thats not:
coconut oil block
water
cardamom

heat the block in just a little water, say water is 10-20% of the
block quantity. Heat very slowly and very gently, the coconut will
gradually melt into the water. Add a pinch of cardamom powder, mix it
up, adjust water content to determine how stiff the set icing is. This
is a true quality icing, not like the usual slab of sugar offering.

Frankly, it sounds disgusting. Also, I have never seen "coconut oil block"
available in any store including baking supply stores.

"Vox Humana" wrote in message ...

Most icings are sickeningly sweet. Heres one thats not:
coconut oil block
water
cardamom

heat the block in just a little water, say water is 10-20% of the
block quantity. Heat very slowly and very gently, the coconut will
gradually melt into the water. Add a pinch of cardamom powder, mix it
up, adjust water content to determine how stiff the set icing is. This
is a true quality icing, not like the usual slab of sugar offering.

Frankly, it sounds disgusting. Also, I have never seen "coconut oil block"
available in any store including baking supply stores.

REally it is....
Even if you use cocoa butter as coating it will still taste weird...

"Vox Humana" wrote in message ...
"Roy Basan" wrote in message
om...
NT wrote:

Most icings are sickeningly sweet. Heres one thats not:
coconut oil block
water
cardamom

heat the block in just a little water, say water is 10-20% of the
block quantity. Heat very slowly and very gently, the coconut will
gradually melt into the water. Add a pinch of cardamom powder, mix it
up, adjust water content to determine how stiff the set icing is. This
is a true quality icing, not like the usual slab of sugar offering.

Frankly, it sounds disgusting. Also, I have never seen "coconut oil
block"
available in any store including baking supply stores.

REally it is....
Even if you use cocoa butter as coating it will still taste weird...

It sounds as delicious as a thick coating of Vaseline.

lol! Its a lovely moist coating. Readers will note youve not actually
tried it.

Regards, NT

PS its not called 'coconut oil block', but thats what it is. I still
cant remember the usual name. Its coconut but not dry slivers, its a
solid block. The dry slivers are no use at all for this.

"N. Thornton" wrote:




PS its not called 'coconut oil block', but thats what it is. I still
cant remember the usual name. Its coconut but not dry slivers, its a
solid block. The dry slivers are no use at all for this.



Isn't it something like copha?

gloria p

"N. Thornton" wrote in message
om...
"Vox Humana" wrote in message
...
"Roy Basan" wrote in message
om...
NT wrote:

Most icings are sickeningly sweet. Heres one thats not:
coconut oil block
water
cardamom

heat the block in just a little water, say water is 10-20% of the
block quantity. Heat very slowly and very gently, the coconut will
gradually melt into the water. Add a pinch of cardamom powder, mix
it
up, adjust water content to determine how stiff the set icing is.
This
is a true quality icing, not like the usual slab of sugar
offering.

Frankly, it sounds disgusting. Also, I have never seen "coconut oil
block"
available in any store including baking supply stores.

REally it is....
Even if you use cocoa butter as coating it will still taste weird...

It sounds as delicious as a thick coating of Vaseline.

lol! Its a lovely moist coating. Readers will note youve not actually
tried it.


Moist isn't equivalent to delicious. However, I recall reading an obscure
book on the history of wedding cakes which said that cakes were originally
coated with lard as a preservative. Later, sugar was added to the lard and
"frosting" was changed from a preservative to a more palatable finish for a
cake. Of course the cake was probably chock full of rancid nuts and insects
and imbibed with alcohol.

(N. Thornton) wrote in message . com...

lol! Its a lovely moist coating. Readers will note youve not actually
tried it.

Regards, NT

PS its not called 'coconut oil block', but thats what it is. I still
cant remember the usual name. Its coconut but not dry slivers, its a
solid block. The dry slivers are no use at all for this.

It cannot be called an icing but a coating. A savory and fatty one
devoid of any form of aeration to lighten up the texture.
I have seen some sample of that so called fat block made with coconut
fat. It is called Copha.It is a firm block of fat appearing like
tallow but whiter.
I am using it as the fat component ( instead of costly butter)to
prepare commercial caramel and fudge sweets. From my experience in
using it, its not dispersible in water. It needs an emulsifier.Even if
I add glycerol monostearate( GMS) to form an emulsion( so that caramel
sweet will be homogenous looking) with continous stirring,its is
difficult to disperse in water.
I also notice that if the fat was improperly emulsified in the cooking
of such particular candy, you will find globules of fat on the surface
of the finished confection.
Now going back to your idea of making a water in oil emulsion or i.e.
technically speaking the aqueous phase is dispersed in the fat phase(
or simply a greater ratio of fat in relation to water how do you
stabilize that?
I do not see good stability of such coating.
After a short time the water will ooze out and is called a
phenomenon of emulsion breakdown.
Another thing that is has lower stability is that the fatty acid
called lauric acid is abundant in such fat.In presence of moisture(
you are adding water in it) and the microbes floating in the air will
come in contact with the mixture releasing enzymes( lipases) that will
split the fat (triglyceride) say( palm-oloein
laurein),stearo-laurein palmitin,etc) resulting in the breakdown to
its component palmitic acid, stearic aid, oleic acid and lauric
acid.The last component is responsiblef for the soapy taste.
This lauric acid will react with existing sodium ions ( mineral
content)present in the formulation to form a soap. Therefore in the
end you will end up with a soapy tasting food. Gosh! it might even
slightly foam in the mouth like toothpaste !

Roy

(Roy Basan) wrote in message . com...
(N. Thornton) wrote in message . com...

lol! Its a lovely moist coating. Readers will note youve not actually
tried it.

Therefore in the
end you will end up with a soapy tasting food.


This is all a beautiful illustration of the old saying 'theory and
practice are the same in theory, but different in practice.' Although
what you say might sound believable, its far from what happens. I've
been making coconut icing for years, and whether you believe me or
not, its definitely a superior icing. Try some and find out. If you
dont, youre guessing, or maybe reasoning, but not reasoning right
somewhere.


It cannot be called an icing but a coating. A savory and fatty one
devoid of any form of aeration to lighten up the texture.

a guess

I have seen some sample of that so called fat block made with coconut
fat. It is called Copha.It is a firm block of fat appearing like
tallow but whiter.
I am using it as the fat component ( instead of costly butter)to
prepare commercial caramel and fudge sweets. From my experience in
using it, its not dispersible in water. It needs an emulsifier.

no: what you say is true if the concentration is low, but over a wide
range it disperses very well. I've never had a dispersion problem, but
I know not to try using it the way you describe.


Even if
I add glycerol monostearate( GMS) to form an emulsion( so that caramel
sweet will be homogenous looking) with continous stirring,its is
difficult to disperse in water.
I also notice that if the fat was improperly emulsified in the cooking
of such particular candy, you will find globules of fat on the surface
of the finished confection.

low concentration, different hardening temps probably as well.


Now going back to your idea of making a water in oil emulsion or i.e.
technically speaking the aqueous phase is dispersed in the fat phase(
or simply a greater ratio of fat in relation to water how do you
stabilize that?
I do not see good stability of such coating.

its perfectly stable


After a short time the water will ooze out and is called a
phenomenon of emulsion breakdown.

doesnt happen. If you store it enough days it will slowly dry, but
slower than sugar icing does.


Another thing that is has lower stability is that the fatty acid
called lauric acid is abundant in such fat.In presence of moisture(
you are adding water in it) and the microbes floating in the air will
come in contact with the mixture releasing enzymes( lipases) that will
split the fat (triglyceride) say( palm-oloein
laurein),stearo-laurein palmitin,etc) resulting in the breakdown to
its component palmitic acid, stearic aid, oleic acid and lauric
acid.The last component is responsiblef for the soapy taste.
This lauric acid will react with existing sodium ions ( mineral
content)present in the formulation to form a soap. Therefore in the
end you will end up with a soapy tasting food.

no. There are other constituents in coconut youre overlooking.


Try it, or dont, your choice.


Regards, NT