Cake

30ElevensesAdvice ~ Competitions ~ Cake Hacks ~ Reviews``````Ask the ExpertCake Conundrums and Decorating Dilemmas!``````James Rosselle, a Los Angeles native, ispassionate about cake and where it hastaken him. After graduating from Le CordonBleu in Pasadena, CA, James worked withmaster cake designer, Ron Ben-Israel,acclaimed pastry chef, Gale Gand, andChampion Sugar Artist and Chocolatier,Ewald Notter. James has appeared on FoodNetwork multiple times and is now CakeDesigner at Bottega Louie, in downtownLos Angeles. James was brought on toBottega Louie to develop and start the cakeprogram. Since starting with Bottega Louiein 2015, James continues to leave quite theimpression on the City of Angels, making 40-70 cakes a week!Wire SelectionQ: How should you select the correct wirethickness for flowers?A: The Standard Wire Gauge is based on anumbering system that relates to the diameterthickness of the wire. Within this numberingsystem, the higher the number gauge, thethinner the wire. The lower the number, thethicker the wire. For example, an 18 gauge wireis thick but still bendable by hand, while a 32gauge is thin and fine enough to be used asthread. The most commonly used wire gaugesare between 18 gauge and 30 gauge. Floralwire comes in three coatings: paper covered,cloth covered and bare. Paper covered andcloth covered wires are what I recommendfor sugar work. The coating allows the wire tostick properly to the flower paste. And lastly,floral wire can come in a variety of colours,white and green being the most common.``````Follow three simple guidelines:1. When wiring larger petals (like peonies,magnolias and large foliage), use thicker gaugewire to support the weight of the flower petal.For larger petals, I like to use a 22 gauge wire.2. For medium sized petals/blooms (orchids,roses and poppies), select a wire to support thepetals. 24 gauge works well for this.3. For smaller, delicate petals/blooms(hydrangea, jasmine, berries and hyacinth), Iwould recommend using 26-30 gauge wire.One thing to consider is to not overdo thestrength of the wire. If the flower is supportedproperly, you get the advantage of a slim andelegant stem. It’s a surprising experience, ifthe wire gauge is overdone, how thick the stembecomes when the wires are assembled andtaped together.``````Rose ConesQ: What is the best way to attach a rose coneto a wire?A: In my opinion, the best way to attach arose cone to wire is with hot glue. I realiseI may be crucified by this statement, but Ipersonally haven’t found a better, more secureway of attaching a rose centre to wire. I haveexperimented with food safe options such asisomalt. During my experiments, when usingisomalt as glue, I found that sugar will alwayswant to revert to its natural state - syrup. Thisdoesn’t fare well with structure and stability.``````Fresh FlowersQ: How do you attach fresh flowers to a cake?A: I highly recommend using flower picks,because they require water to maintain theirfreshly picked state. There’s a variety of sizesthat you can match to the size of the blooms.Half fill the flower picks with water and insertthe stem into the pick. What I often do ismake smaller bunches inside a larger flowerpick. I combine filler flowers and leaves intoone flower pick and use those as groupingsor fillers within my cake design. Reducingthe amount of picks and holes in your cake isalways a plus. This works well for cascades,groupings and toppers. For floral separators, Iwould recommend using florist foam.``````Heavy SpraysQ: How do you attach a large, heavy flowerspray to a cake safely?A: This can be tricky. When designing cakes,I always keep structure in mind. If I weredesigning a cake with large flowers or spraysas groupings, I would use longer stems to addmore support. With this design in mind, whenmaking my sugar flowers, I would use longerwires. The farther the stem can be insertedinto the cake, the more stable it will be. If ashorter wire is used, you run the risk of the``````flower moving around and even falling out intransit because it is top heavy.A trick of the trade is using straws. Cut thestraws to fit the length of the wires. Pipe royalicing or melted coating chocolate into thestraw and insert the flower stem. Allow to set.Now your stems are prepped for food safety,you can insert your blooms into the cake.``````Realistic CentresQ: My petals look realistic, but I struggle withcentres. What can I do to improve them?A: First off, I find having a colour photo ofthe flower to be extremely helpful to refer to.The real thing is best, but a colour photo doesthe trick.I find tweezers to be the key factor. Pinchingand forming the textures and designs canbe accomplished very easily with a pair oftweezers. For example, for a tulip centre, rolla ball of yellow sugarpaste to the size of a10mm dragee. Elongate it and shape it intoa teardrop. Insert the wire (that has beendipped in gum glue) through the tapered endof the centre. With the tweezers, pinch threenotches on the top (the rounded end) of thecentre. Make sure the pinches are centred andequal pressure is used to create a lifelike tulipcentre. Easier said than done, right! Practicemakes perfect.``````Final FlourishesQ: What are the best finishing touches to addto flowers?A: I like to add a darker element on the edgesof petals/flowers. For example, on a whitepeony, I love adding a touch of green, yellowor even light brown to the edge of the petals.If you look at a real peony, there are alwayssmall notes of these colour tones on the edgesof the petals. Small additions like these bringthe sugar flower to life.James Rosselle