Help! First Time Doing Cornelli Lace

Decorating By Candice0402 Updated 12 Feb 2011 , 3:18pm by anxietyattack

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Candice0402 Posted 9 Feb 2011 , 7:32pm
post #1 of 7

I'm about to do my first wedding cake. I'm fairly new to decorating cakes and this will be my first official cake. Although its for a small wedding and for a friend I"m truly nervous. Anyway, I have a few questions first.
1.) should i let my cake icing crust first before i add the cornelli lace?
2.) What icing should i use? For both the lace and for the cake, does it matter?
3.) I plan on using
http://cakecentral.com/article.....ooth-icing
for the icing recipe. Will this work?
4.) I plan on decorating the cake a day before the wedding being it early morning the next day. Will the icing dry out overnight and become hard and crusty. Do i store it in the refrigerator. Or leave it out.
5.) I plan on making a fondant ribbon for the base of each layer on the cake. Should I use fondant or a real ribbon. Which looks better.
6.) Do i apply the ribbon before i do the lace or after.

Please any suggestions will help
Thanks in advance.

6 replies
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Unlimited Posted 9 Feb 2011 , 9:33pm
post #2 of 7

Have you seen the Wilton link? http://www.wilton.com/technique/Cornelli-Lace (It might be helpful, but the example is poor because the lines touch and they should not, and some lines end. It looks better when small and tight.)
1.) It doesn't matter.
2.) I'd use buttercream for both. (You could use royal icing for the lace, but IMO it isn't necessary unless you're going to paint over it. The icing does matterI wouldn't attempt piping lace on whipped cream.)
3.) The link to the recipe you're planning to use won't open. (I see "Error 404 - doesn't exist".)
4.) If you're referring to regular buttercreamno, the icing won't dry out overnight... it might crust, but it won't become so hard that you cannot slice a knife through it to serve and eat. Again, if regular buttercream (and no fillings are used that require refrigeration)I'd keep it out at room temperature.
5.) Since this is your first wedding cake, and you're fairly new to decorating (without knowing how good/confident/experienced you are with fondant)I'd go with the real ribbon. I'd have to say it would probably look better (not because I'm aware of your skills, but because it's not very likely that it could be done wrong), and would be less stress too.
6.) I'd apply the ribbon first... that way you won't spend any extra time piping lace in places that might end up being covered by the ribbon (or that might need to be scraped off because it wouldn't show "under" the ribbon anyway).

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Mb20fan Posted 9 Feb 2011 , 9:49pm
post #3 of 7

For what it's worth:
I vote for a regular crusting buttercream icing as well. Image

I also agree that the ribbon should be applied first that way you know exactly how much area you need to cover with your lace. In my experience, don't over fill your piping bag (not that you should ever really anyway...). You want to make sure you have nice control when piping and you don't need the added pressure of having to hold a heavy bag AND control your hand to pipe the pattern. As mentioned above, the key to cornelli lace is to have long continuous lines without them touching each other. No real rhyme or reason - just sporadic squiggly lines that don't touch or have an obviously visible end. And don't judge it until the whole cake is done...personally I think this piping technique is lovely.

You got this - you can do it! Image

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Candice0402 Posted 9 Feb 2011 , 10:23pm
post #4 of 7

Unlimited,
Thank you for you time that it took you to read and answer each question, sorry about the link its not working for me either. Not sure why.
http://cakecentral.com/articles/69/upside-down-icing-technique-for-perfectly-smooth-icing
is the full web address. Just in case if you may have time to look it at it in the future.
U truly have helped by answering my questions. All i can say is THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Mb20fan,
Thank you too for your lovely response and all your encouragement. I needed that. icon_smile.gif
Thanks for the piping bag tip too. It's common since i know, but haven't thought about the lack of control that a full bag would create.

I have a another question if someone wouldn't mind answering for me. I recently made a cake for practice and by the time i was finished the icing had squished out from my layers creating a large bulge. I thought i created a good dame but apparently it didn't work. why? and what is the best frosting to use. and while your answering questions how thick should i apply my frosting on the sides. is there a recommend amount. and if its too thin will it be more prone to sliding or melting off. Which leads me to another question. if at room temp will the frosting melt.
how thick should my icing be.

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anxietyattack Posted 10 Feb 2011 , 2:22am
post #5 of 7

There is also a tutorial in the articles tab at the top.

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Candice0402 Posted 12 Feb 2011 , 3:15pm
post #6 of 7

Thank you anxietyattack. lol Love your name. The tutorial you found truly helped. I found others such as the one Unlimited suggested that weren't that good. Thanks to all that helped me while on my C-lace journey. All your advice is much appreciated.

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anxietyattack Posted 12 Feb 2011 , 3:18pm
post #7 of 7

thanks! I was literally having a cake induced anxiety attack when I joined CC lol. I can't wait to see your cake!

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