I am creating a 3D steam train cake this weekend and need some ideas for the ballast that goes underneath the train track! short of chopping up or rolling individual stones out of grey icing i am stuck for ideas! the train itself is half a meter in length so i could really do with a quick and easy way of creating a gravel effect!
Hope you can help me!
Earlene has sugar rock recipe on her website.....www.earlenescakes.com
Bashed up boiled sweets!
Tesco (had at least) some own brand ones that have white, clear and black and white/grey boiled sweets in a bag. I used the black and white striped ones for ballast for my engineering train cake (in gallery). Just make sure you put them in position when you bash them because they all stick together after time, so if you do it in advance you will end up with a bowl (or whatever) of ballast!
HTH
Take uncooked tapioca pearls and roll then around in a container of grey petal dust or dust made from gray non-toxic chalk. Of course this will only work if it is under a train cake as I'm imagining. If it is on the cake itself, it will obviously not work.
I found this photo on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/insite/3124157421/lightbox/
The effect looks good in my opinion. Not sure how it was achieved but to me it looks like the "rocks" have been cut in an angular fashion, perhaps from several lengths of slightly flattened rolls of sugar paste. You might need to let them harden slightly before cutting.
Hope it helps
That method looks great, R40RT! I bet you're right about how it was done.
Some great ideas!! Keep them coming!
that sugar rock recipe really intrigued me...but i cant find any pictures on her website that show my what these things look like!
I've had a look at your picks Jennifer and was quite impressed with the boiled sweet idea...if only there was a grey boiled sweet!!!
the tapioca pearls idea sounds great but i dont have any grey petal dust (or even grey chalk!)
so far the winner seems to be from R4ORT...it would just take me a hell or a long time to cut up enough grey icing for 2ft of track!
I haven't tried this so I don't know if it would work but how about letting some gray fondant dry out (not completely) and the run it through a food processor? Or letting it dry completely and break it up with a hammer? Just an idea. Good luck!
Maybe there's some kind of cereal, or mixture of cereals that would work. Like cocoa puffs, slightly crushed or roughly chopped with a knife, just enough to rough them up a little.
Put some grey modelling chocolate that's hardened up in a food processor.
Grey icing in a food processor...great idea!! i may have to try this!
Does anyone know how this gravel was made..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40311746@N07/4785766728/
its looks brilliant (from what i can see!) but i dont have a flickr account or even the right email account to set one up and ask the person who posted it!!
coloured rice crispies could also work and maybe even crushed bicuits for a more sandy effect! my minds awash with ideas!
that sugar rock recipe really intrigued me...but i cant find any pictures on her website that show my what these things look like!
SteveJ....here is a link ot a pic of Earlene's rocks used around the base of cake
http://www.earlenescakes.com/Hunter_Nuts.htm
You'll have to scroll down to near the bottom of page....the turkey feather cake.
They look good but I see some other great ideas posted too!
You could also make your life easier and just take rice krispies, put them in a bag with some grey dusting powder and shake it up.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%