6 If your number has a hole in the middle,
make a small cut in the middle of the icing
dip using a sharp knife, then smooth down
the icing into the hole as far as it will go.
Don’t try and make it touch the bottom as
there won’t be enough and you risk ripping
and tearing the inner edge. Instead, cut a
strip of sugarpaste and place it in the middle
of the hole. Using your hands, gently push
this onto the cake, smoothing down as you
go. There will be a small trace of a line,
but nothing noticeable. Complete this with
a smoother and smooth the rest of the
cake too.
7 For the '7' and numbers with sharp
edges, corners are the trickiest bit. There
will likely be gaps when you’re covering the
cake. To cover these, cut a shape loosely
like the gap and push this into place.
Smooth it down with your fingers, at first in
circular motions to stick down, then use a
smoother to finish.
8 If you’re going to 'crimp' the outline of
your cake as I have done, do this now.
Leave the cakes to set overnight before
tr ying to move or decorate them. It’s much
easier to work with harder, set icing than
soft icing as you risk damaging it. I
recommend icing the board now too; I’ve
gone for a marbled purple style, but the
choice is yours! I’ve used a 5 0x35cm
(20x14in) cake board to fit both numbers. A
single number would only need an 45x35cm
(18x14in) board.
9 I recommend finishing the cake the
following day. The best way to stick a cake
onto an iced board is by using royal icing, the
cement of the cake decorating world. Having
measured roughly where I wanted to place
my cake onto the board, I painted an '0' with
royal icing. I then used 2 large palette knives
to carefully lift the number into place – be
careful when pulling the palette knives out.
Pull them out straight and firmly, not at
angles otherwise you risk damaging your
sugarpaste/icing. Lastly, leave the cake to
set on the board for a few hours before
decorating as desired!Have^ fun^ wi
th^ it!^Happy
baking!^Brit t^
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