Clark - Chic & Unique Celebration Cakes

The following basic tools are essential for baking the cakes in this book. It is important to have all your tools and equipment to hand before you start baking.

• Large electric mixer for making cakes, buttercream and royal icing
• Kitchen scales for weighing out ingredients
• Measuring spoons for measuring small quantities
• Mixing bowls for mixing ingredients
• Spatulas for mixing and gently folding together cake mixes
• Cake tins for baking cakes
• Tartlet tins and/or muffin trays for baking cupcakes
• Baking trays for baking cookies
• Wire racks for cooling cakes and icing fondant fancies

• Greaseproof (wax) paper or baking parchment for lining tins and to use under icing during preparation
• Clingfilm (plastic wrap) for covering icing to prevent drying out and for wrapping cookie dough
• Large non-stick board for rolling out icing on
• Non-slip mat to put under the board so that it doesnt slip on the work surface
• Large and small non-stick rolling pins for rolling out icing and marzipan
• Large and small sharp knife for cutting and shaping icing
• Large serrated knife for carving and sculpting cakes
• Cake leveller for cutting even, level layers of sponge
• Cake card is a special card, thinner than a cake board, to which you can attach miniature cakes
• Large and small palette knife for applying buttercream and ganache
• Icing or marzipan spacers to give a guide to the thickness of icing and marzipan when rolling out
• Icing smoothers for smoothing icing
• Spirit level for checking that cakes are level when stacking them
• Metal ruler for measuring different heights and lengths

• Hollow plastic dowels for assembling cakes
• Turntable for layering cakes
• Double-sided tape to attach ribbon around cakes, boards and pillars
• for royal icing decorations
• Piping tubes (tips) for piping royal icing
• Cocktail sticks (toothpicks) or cel sticks for colouring and curling icing
• Acetate or cellophane sheets for run-out icing decorations, or for covering icing if you are interrupted while working to keep it from drying out
• Edible glue for sticking icing to icing
• Edible pens for marking positioning guides
• Needle scriber for lightly scoring positioning guides and bursting bubbles in icing
• Cake-top marking template for finding/marking the centre of cakes and marking where dowels should be placed
• Pastry brush for brushing sugar syrup and apricot masking spread or strained jam (jelly) onto cakes
• Fine paintbrushes for gluing and painting
• Dusting brushes for brushing edible dust onto icing
• Dipping fork for dipping fondant fancies in fondant icing
• Ball tool for frilling or thinning the edge of flower paste
• Foam pad for softening and frilling flower paste
• Frill cutters for cutting borders and pretty edges
• Blossom and star plunger cutters for cutting blossoms and stars
• Circle cutters for cutting circles of various sizes
• Shaped cutters for cutting out shapes such as leaves, diamonds, stars and wedding cakes
• Five-petal rose cutters for making large blossoms (see )
• Moulds such as lace moulds (see )

Think of a chandelier and it immediately conjures up an image of luxury and glamour, of spacious rooms and high ceilings, of ballrooms, mansions and sophisticated five-star hotels.

Here I have taken the classic theme of the chandelier design and used simple stencilling to reverse its traditional silver, gold or crystal colour scheme into a black and silver design that looks striking against the crisp white icing. This chic monochrome effect highlights the delicate shape and symmetry of the chandelier with its sweeping chains, bold candles and elegant pear drops.