Reprinted with Permission from Wilton Industries Copyright © 2003-2004 Wilton Industries – All rights reserved
Lacework is a special cake decorating technique that is particularly suited to wedding, shower and fondant-covered cakes. Usually done in white on pastel cakes for feminine occasions, lacework requires nearly perfect pressure control. Continued practice should give you pleasing results.
Apply lacework to an entire cake or within a pattern on a cake. Use thinned buttercream or royal icing for buttercream frosted cakes; thinned royal or boiled for fondant-covered cakes. (For this lesson always use thinned buttercream icing.)
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In Brief
Icing: thin consistency
Tip: plain tip 1
Positions:
- Bag: slightly less than 90° angle
- Tip: close enough to cake so that icing attaches without scraping cake with tip and without flattening icing strings.
Sequence:
- Beginning and ending at edge that will later be covered with a border, pipe a meandering icing string line.
- Move tip up, around and down to produce a lacy effect (should look like a series of “R’s” or “S’s”).
- Do not let lines touch or cross.
- Let dry before adding other icing trims.
Explanation:
- Hold your decorating bag at slightly less than a 90° angle.
- Keep tip close enough to cake so that icing attaches without scraping cake with tip and without flattening icing strings.
- Always begin and end cornelli lace at edge that will later be covered with a tip 14 border.
- Cornelli lace is a series of smooth “R’s” or “S’s”.
- Cornelli lace lines never cross or touch.
- Cornelli lace does not follow any type of pattern.
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Thanks so much... :)
Thanks!
Hi Jackie, The pressure on cornelli lace with a #1 Tip has always been a challenge for me, I'm the type that needs total concentration & silence when doing my cakes & not a lot of people around, it just breaks my concentration. This lace does take practice but you do 'R's & S's'.....I was always taught to do the 'W's & M's". Do you find R & S's easier or is it all about the same? I sort of cheat now & use a pattern maker when this design is requested then I just pipe over it. A lot simpler & easier on the hands since I don't have to always use Tip #1.
I've been doing cornelli lace for over 40 years, and especially like it on feminine cakes for any occasion. I never learned to make r's or s's in the design. When I'm training a new employee I have them doodle on a paper first, with a pencil, for getting a sense of filling in empty spaces. I didn't know they made an impressions tool to mark on the cake first.
Thanks for the tutorial..my question is what is boiled icing for fondant-covered cakes ? thanks for any insight .
I was taught it was v's and c's lol. Anywho, whatever works and gets the job done huh. I'm must happy that old school piping is making a come back!!