How to Make Hanging Icicles on Your Cake

How To Make Hanging Icicles

as seen on the cover of Cake Central Magazine December 2012 V3/I11

by Cakeabilitygreen

Equipment required

• Cake stand of adequate height
• Measuring tape
• Straight edge
• Textured impliment to create ice effect
• Regular fondant icing (mine is British type I know Americans use a different recipe and how different it handles I don’t know)
• Silver dusting powder
• Glitter sugar crystals

Step 1

Start by taking your iced cake and positioning it on your chosen cake stand. Ideally this should be at least the height of your cake to allow for a decent length of icicle. Then measure the depth of your cake and the length of you longest icicle to be

Step 2

Roll out a quantity of fondant paste as if to cover the side of the cake but leaving a ragged edge to one side. Ensure the with of this strip is wider than the width of the cake and at least as wide as you intended longest icicle

Step 3

Press a textured impliment into the soft icing to create the icicle effect. I happened to have plastic icicle decorations however any textured impliment would sufice.

Step 4

Once complete simply cut off one edge at an angle so that there is a wider end for the larger icicles.

Step 5

Using a straight edge begin cutting fine slivers to form the icicles. It is not important for them to be exactly the same width, but there or threabouts as they would be in nature. I tended to taper the cuts ever so slightly, alternating each cut as I went along

Step 6

Using a brush, paint on a sugar solution to make the cake tacky in order to glue on the icicles. I suggest you randomly select the icicles so that the cuts don’t marry up on the cake. Just befor you apply the icicle you may want to tweak some of the ends to a point

Step 7

Begin to select the icicles and press onto the cake altering the lengths as you see fit. You can leave the excess on top of the cake and cut off after you have a few in place

Step 8

Continue in this manner until you have covered the sides of the cake, tweaking the ends of the icicles as you go

Step 9

The finished article. You can add more interest to the icicle eefect by brushing a pearlised silver powder onto it when dry. I also used some silver glitter crystals to catch the light

Debra has been decorating cakes for about 30 years for family and friends. Within the last two years, she began to decorate seriously after participating in a charity cake hunt. Now, she makes cakes at her shop, Cakeability Green, where she especially loves to turn everyday objects into cakes. With her cover cake, Debrah says she was trying to tell a story and reflect the idea that what will be will be.

"I thought, 'How brilliant, I can do so much with this theme'-- possibly so much that my mind went into overdrive with endless ideas! I wanted to make use of the changing effects the weather presents in winter because the textures and effects are so diverse and have a magical quality.

I once saw a photo of a frozen fountain that was covered in snow and looked like a tiered wedding cake. There were long icicles hanging off the bottom basin where the frozen water had expanded and spilled over. I knew this was beautiful in real life; therefore, it would be beautiful in cake.

I thought that if the cake ended with icicles, then it must begin with snow falling from the sky, hence a giant snowball appearing to be suspended and melting [on the top of the cake]. The snowflakes fall and rest on the next tier to 'frost' the mistletoe. From here, the snowflakes get smaller (I broke down larger flakes for effect). This makes for good snowballs, [so I have used some] to decorate the sides and hold up the tier...The snow melts and... the icicles develop."

"I used traditional methods mainly, but to create the floating snowball I used an acrylic icicle with a plastic cup slid part way down for the cake to balance on, with the tip of the icicle piercing the cake. This was disguised with icing and snowflakes. "I like how [the cake] tells a story of a journey (a bit like life), with each stage having a different quality but all equally beautiful in their different ways, even at the end before [the snow] melts away."