Mastic for cake - original and beautiful decoration of confectionery

The decoration of cakes, pies and cakes is a real art. Recently, a very popular method of decoration has been the use of culinary mastic, from which you can create a variety of compositions.

If you are a beginner decorator, then you will need to pick up your mastic cooking recipe, with which it will be convenient for you to work. We warn that from the first time mastic can not work, so we advise you to be patient and not to give up the intention to learn how to use mastic after the first failures.

One of the most popular recipes for baking decorations today is mastic for a cake made from marshmallow. This mastic turns out to be quite tasty, for the preparation of a pleasant acidity during its preparation, water can be replaced with lemon juice or a solution of citric acid. In addition, during the preparation process, various flavors and coloring agents can be added.

So, how to make marshmallow mastic? Take a cup of two hundred and fifty grams and pretty tightly put candies in it. For this serving of marshmallow, we need two tablespoons of water and a little less than two glasses of powdered sugar.

Put the sweets in a dish, suitable for use in a microwave oven, pour in the same water and put in the microwave oven for thirty seconds. If you do not have a microwave, then you can melt the candy in a water bath, but it will take a lot longer.

As a result of the action of microwaves, the sweets will increase in volume and become soft. We need to mix them with water to form a homogeneous mass. Then start gradually adding portions of sifted sugar powder, carefully stirring the mass. We need to get the mastic elastic consistency. The properly prepared mastic for the cake from marshmallow at this stage is quite sticky. It must be rolled into a ball and rolled in sugar powder, and then sent for thirty minutes into the refrigerator, tightly wrapped with a film. Keep in mind that after proofing, the mastic will become denser, so do not try to get a stickiness in the mixing process. And to add to our mass of elasticity, you can enter into its composition about half a teaspoon of butter.

I must say that this recipe is not entirely accurate. Each time you prepare the mastic, you will have to choose the proportions yourself, since the amount of the necessary powdered sugar depends on various reasons, in particular, on the type and quality of the marshmallow used.

If you need a colored mastic for a cake, then you need to tint it with food colors. If you have gel dyes, then they are used already with the finished mastic. Liquid dyes are added at the beginning of the batch, replacing some of the water with them.

Mastic from marshmallow can be used for making flat and three-dimensional decorations for a cake. For modeling of three-dimensional figures it is necessary to knead a slightly more dense mass, slightly reducing the amount of water.

If you need to make strong and solid figurines, you should use gelatinous mastic. To make it, you need a half kilogram of powdered sugar, fifty grams of starch, six grams of gelatin (in plates, not granules), 55 milliliters of water and a few drops of lemon juice.

Gelatin soak in water with the addition of lemon juice, powdered sugar mixed with starch. Then combine these mixtures, thoroughly mixing. At the initial stage it is better to use a mixer, since the mass is sufficiently dry and difficult to mix. Finally, we mix the mass with hands and send it to the refrigerator for twenty minutes, tightly wrapped in a film

Producing figures from this mass, you need to remember that gelatin mastic quickly dries in the air. Therefore, you need to separate from the total mass of small pieces needed to manufacture a particular part. The rest of the mastic should be covered with a film.

And how to make mastic for cakes, using gelatin in powder? Use the following recipe. Take two teaspoons (without a slide) of gelatin and fill it with cold water (30 ml). Let the gelatin swell and dissolve it, heating it on a fire or in a microwave. It is very important that the solution does not boil, otherwise gelatin will lose its properties. Then, into the dissolved gelatin, pour a teaspoon of liquid glucose and begin to gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing the mass first with a spoon, and then hands on the board. Total sugar powder will take about three hundred grams. It is necessary that the mass become elastic, but not thick. Mastic for the cake, cooked according to this recipe, should stand in the refrigerator for at least four hours, but it is better to leave it there for the night.

When preparing any type of mastic, remember that the amount of powdered sugar is approximate. You may need much more of this product than it is written in the recipe. And be sure to sift the powder before use, otherwise you will not be able to get a uniform mass.

You can apply decorations from mastic only on a dry surface. Otherwise, it will simply dissolve. As a layer between the cake and a layer of mastic, you can use marzipan paste or an already frozen oil cream.