How to make a Pillow (Cushion) Cake by Toni Brancatisano

BAKE a rectangle or square shaped cake.

For this tutorial, I used my large baking dishes... large rectangles.

1: once you have baked and torted your cake, begin my carving the shape of the cushion ... I like to roughly outline with a knife on the top of the cake.... a very rough guide, but it helps.... you could also use a template.. But I am not usually that organised!!!

2: Carve the 'shape' of the cushion, tapering corners, and curving sides.... this will give the more authentic cushion shape to your cake.

3: cover one side of cushion with BC, then fondant, and flip cake over onto cake board.

4: If you wish, you can emboss the top cover of the cushion... I used the embossing mat to help lift the fondant onto the top of the cushion, and then raised the mat off the fondant once happy with the position of the fondant on the cake.

You can do whatever you like with the design of the 'fabric' for your cushion..... quilting, painting, embossing, etc...............

5: Use a ribbon to help guide your stitching wheel to ensure straight lines.

6 & 7 * Create dents for buttons

* Create cord detail, holding in place with pins until dried in place.

(I leave the pins in overnight).

8: Paint cake as desired. You don't have to paint it of course, but that is what I did for this cushion.. All painted with Lustre Dusts & vodka.

Place your pre-made ballet slippers on the cake.... and hold in place with ROYAL ICING.

9: Voila..... finished cake!

This was my first cushion cake, and remains one of my cakes that I am still proud of. I did make the error of not covering the board, and while painting, flicked colour ... making a splattering all over the board.. hence the heart cut outs............ strategically placed to cover my mess!!!

I have included this photo of a 2 tier cushion cake dummy I did for a trade fair, to give another decorating idea.

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What a brilliant tutorial!

Thank you for being our guest teacher this week Toni!

Torteditoni

**********************About Toni**********************

Toni grew up in Melbourne, Australia and as a young adult her travels took her to Italy. She met her husband, and now calls Italy her home... Pietrasanta (LU) on the Tuscan coast. Disappointed that cakes, such as a simple cupcake, were impossible to find there, Toni began making special birthday cakes for her own children. She is now is serving the public with her own special brand of cake artistry!

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Photos, patterns and tutorial by Tony Brancatisano ( Torteditoni ) 2009 all rights reserved

This tutorial was used with the expressed permission of Toni Brancatisano ( Torteditoni )

and may not be reproduced without written permission from the author.

How to Make a SugarPaste Princess Crown--- by Sharon Zambito

When I say Princess, you say Cakes.....

Me: Princess
You: Cakes!
Me: Princess
You: Cakes!

OK, so I get a little excited about cake.

And princess cakes have been a very popular design for a few years now. I have made more than I can count. I get asked quite often how I make the gumpaste crowns, so here are some step by step pictures I took many years ago. The pictures are rather craptastic, due to the fact that I had a craptastic camera at the time, and had no idea how to take a good picture back then. But I think you can get the idea of what I am doing in them. (PS. Craptastic = if crap was fantastic, this would be it)

MAKING A GUMPASTE CROWN:

Paper template:

Cut the metal rim off one end of your can (like a shortening can; I use the gumpaste mix can):

Wrap parchment paper (or wax paper) around your can and tape it in place. The end with the metal lid still on goes down on the counter:

Tape parchment or wax paper down well on counter (you do not need the blue mat under it) and grease it well with shortening:

Roll out gumpaste onto the wax paper and lay the paper template over it and trace over it to cut out the crown shape:

Apply shortening to the surface of the cut out crown with a brush:

Cut the wax paper with a knife along the bottom edge of the crown, and proceed to cut out the rest of a rectangle around the crown. Do not cut out the wax paper along the exact shape of the crown, except along the bottom edge:

Take the can and roll it onto the crown, lining up the base of can with the bottom edge of the crown. The greased side of the crown is sticking to the parchment paper wrapped around the can:

After crown is in place, wrapped all the way around the can, stand it up. Wax paper is still in place on top of the crown:

Gently peel off the wax paper from the top side of the crown. The side of the crown that was face down on the counter, touching the wax paper, is now the upside of the crown and exposed to the air:

Let that sit and dry for 1-2 days. Do not rush it or you will surely break it. (Ask me how I know):

When the crown is dry enough to hold its shape, grab the top of the parchment paper extending above the can and gently slide all of it together off the can:

Sit that on a board and then gently peel the parchment paper off of the inside of the crown:

Let that sit and dry for a few more days. When the crown is really firm you may need to wipe the excess shortening off the inside of the crown, and then dust it with a tad of cornstarch:

When fully dry, you can airbrush or paint it silver or gold. (This photo below is a lie. I was not actually airbrushing it at this time because I had to hold the airbrush with my left hand while my right hand took the picture. Impressive, eh?):

Then you can add plastic craft jewels, or even better, make edible ones!:

Pretty easy but you have to plan a few days ahead at least. Make 2, because if you make only one I guarantee you will break it. (Ask me how I know.) I like to use the Wilton gumpaste mix in the can for these because it not very elastic and rubbery, and that cuts easier than other types I have tried.
Here is a template for the crowns shown above. This is only one half of the crown. And you will have to enlarge this template to the right size for your cake:

Here is another template, the first one I ever made, an older design:

So there you have it! Now go get to making crowns!
Lots of crowns!

All kinds of crowns!
We love Princess cakes!!

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Want to see more of Sharon Zambito's work? Then visit

SugarEd Lagniappe

And to order Sharon's fantastic instructional DVDs and other great decorating supplies, visit

SugarEd Productions

Tutorial and Photos by Sharon Zambito-SugarEd Productions- copyright 2008

This material may not be republished or reproduced in any manner without the expressed permission of the author.

This material was used with the permission of Sharon Zambito, SugarEd Productions.

THANK YOU SHARON!!