Sugar paste Icing

a&a's mom requested for me to "teach" how to make sugar paste icing wor.

Buah cempedak di luar pagar,
Ambil galah tolong jolokkan;
Saya budak baru belajar,
Kalau salah tolong tunjukkan

I've been curious about using fondant and sugar paste icing on cakes for some time now but only recently mustered enough courage to try. I've even bought a book by Carol Deacon and also Wilton's yearbook. So I thought, nothing to lose lah. I had all the ingredients on hand. Rummaged through my cupboard and found some under-utilized cookie cutters, so experiment away!

This is a recipe from Carol Deacon's book:

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Gelatin Icing

Gelatin icing is an extremely useful icing to have in your repertoire because it sets very hard. It can be used to make things that you want to stand proud from the cake (from delicate flowers and leaves to flags, sails or even turrets). It can also be moulded over objects and left to take on its shape. It can be coloured in the same way as sugarpaste and also has the added benefit of being usable straight away.

TIP: If, when you come to use it, you find that either the gelatin or modelling icing has become too hard, you can soften it by microwaving it on full power for just 4 - 5 seconds.

Ingredients:
60 ml (4 tbsp) water
1 sachet (approx 12g/1oz or enough to set 60ml/1 pint) gelatin powder
10 ml (2 tsp) liquid glucose
500g (1lb 2 oz/ 4 1/2 cups) icing sugar
1 - 4 tbsp cornflour

1. Place the water in a small, heat-proof bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top and leave it to soak for about two minutes. Sieve the icing sugar into a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre.
2. Put about 1 cm (3/4 in) of water into a saucepan. Stand the bowl in the water and heat gently until the gelatin dissolves.
3. Remove the bowl from the water and stir in the liquid glucose. Allow to cool for a minute.
4. Tip the gelatin mixture into the centre of the icing sugar. Using a knife, begin to stir it in. When it has bound together, knead it into a bread-dough consistency adding cornflour as required. Store in small pastic bags until required.

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Have fun experimenting! I shall post photos of my niece's safari cake tomorrow.