Julie Rogerson - Modelling Figures for Cake Toppers

MODELLING
FIGURES

for cake toppers

Julie Rogerson

MODELLING
FIGURES

for cake toppers

First published in 2022 by
The Crowood Press Ltd
Ramsbury, Marlborough
Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2022

Julie Rogerson 2022

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 0 7198 4010 4

Cover design: Sergey Tsvetkov

Acknowledgements

As a self-confessed book lover, it is an absolute privilege to be in a position to be writing my own book, and I have a few people to acknowledge and thank, as they have certainly been instrumental in getting me to this point. I am going to start with my family, as they are my whole world.

The most influential person in my life growing up was most definitely my late mum, Joan Rogerson, and I like to think I have inherited some of her stubborn nature and strong determination, which have definitely helped me in more recent years with starting and running my own business. It is with such sadness to think that although she was instrumental in my love of baking, she knew nothing of my adventures through cake decorating, which have led me to this point. But I do like to think that she would have been very proud of what I have achieved.

It seems natural to move on to thanking my dad, Jim Rogerson, next. An absolute rock of a man, always there for me, no matter what, and a very big part of my life. Such a family man, you couldnt want for a better dad, and he has helped me through the bad times as well as the good. I hope I have made you proud, Dad.

Huge shoutout to my partner, Mark Wilde, who has taught me that I need to take chances and opportunities when they present themselves. We only get one shot at life, it is not a rehearsal! is one of his favourite things to say to me (whilst I am being constantly indecisive), as well as If you want to, just do it. He has certainly helped me to believe in myself, and I really owe him so much for bringing out the best in me. I should also take this opportunity to thank Mark for some of the photography in this book (as well as for a few of my other projects).

I think perhaps my greatest achievements to date have been my three fabulous children (in age order no favouritism): Andrew Towse, Rachel Towse and Jack Towse. They have brought me so much joy, and now they are older, they are so supportive in my chosen path. I love their enthusiasm for my seemingly never-ending parade of Look what I have made! cakes and cake toppers as well as for eating the cake offcuts, of course. I am so proud of you all.

To Suzi Witt I owe a huge gratitude, for mentoring and coaching me to believe I can and will succeed in whatever I put my mind to, and to know that I am never too old to do something new. You inspire me to be the best version of myself every day, to which I am very grateful: thank you.

I must also thank Melanie Underwood for being the first person to give me the opportunity to have one of my cake-decorating tutorials published in Cake International magazine, back in 2017. She gave me the confidence to believe I could do it, and it has also been a pleasure working with her on several projects over the past few years at the Cake International Show.

To the staff at Cake Decoration and Sugarcraft magazine, for whom I still write cake-decorating tutorials. Leeanne Cooper (former editor) and Joanne Garwell, you have both been amazing to work with: thank you for your support.

Finally, I would like to thank the amazing team at The Crowood Press Ltd for getting this book off the ground, from concept and into print.

Introduction

A s a cake decorator, whatever your skill level, and regardless of whether you make cakes as a hobby for family occasions or as a business owner, selling your creations to customers, you will probably have been asked to make a figure to be used as a cake topper at some point. Trust me, if you havent yet, it wont be long, so prepare yourself!

Whether you are looking to create a figure to resemble the recipient of the cake, a cartoon-styled figure for a childrens birthday cake, or even just a generic figure to compliment the theme, being able to create a person to put on a cake is most definitely a useful skill to have.

One of my absolute favourite figures that I have created to date was this pirate mermaid figurine for a display table at the Cake International Show in 2018. She was modelled entirely from modelling paste and modelling chocolate, with an internal armature. The table of piratethemed exhibits was awarded first place in our category at the show, for a collective display by a group of international cake artists.

Figures make very popular choices for cake toppers, especially when they are made to resemble the recipient of the cake, along with their favourite things.

When you first start making models, particularly figures, it can be a daunting prospect, though I totally understand, Ive been there too. Perhaps you have already tried without much success, or maybe you keep putting it off, as the thought just terrifies you?

What equipment do you need? There is such an array to choose from how do you know what to buy, and maybe more importantly, what not to buy? Then there is the question of pastes: what is the difference between sugar paste and the other more specialist types of paste on the market? Which should you use? Why did your paste crack when you tried to model with it, or sag when you tried to stand it up?

I certainly remember thinking all of these things (and more besides) when I first started modelling figures back in my early days of cake decorating. I had many failed attempts, not really knowing where to go for help, as well as finding so many conflicting answers to my questions during my online searches. So I started to experiment, buying different pastes to test, seeing what worked and what didnt. I bought lots of different tools and gadgets, many of which were relegated to the back of a drawer when I found they didnt give me the results they had promised and that I wanted to achieve! But through this search, I narrowed it down to what I actually found worked.