The sugar fondant coating quickly turns a simple homemade cake into a work of art. Perfectly smooth, shiny mastic will hide small mistakes of the pastry chef and will become a great background for decor: chocolate monograms, marzipan figurines, sugar glaze lace.
Mastic coating: features and benefits
Confectionery mastic is a plastic mass made from a mixture of powdered sugar, refined fat and lemon juice. Sometimes a little glycerin is added to it, which allows the mass to remain elastic longer. Correctly prepared mastic is smooth, homogeneous, it is easy to paint it in any color with food dyes. An essential remark is the high calorie content of the product. To prevent the finished cake from becoming too cloying, it is recommended to reduce the amount of sugar in the cream and use impregnations from sour fruit syrups.
The main purpose of the mastic is to wrap cakes, pastries and muffins. The dense, glossy mass creates a perfectly smooth coating, hiding minor defects made when baking the cakes. The mastic retains the shape of the cake, prevents the cream from blurring, and serves as an excellent background for decoration. Decorations can be made from the sugar mass: voluminous flowers, garlands, figurines, various inscriptions and monograms. Cakes and pastries decorated with mastic look great in photos and videos.
You can buy ready-made mastic or confectionery fondant in specialized stores; in the departments for restaurateurs, it is sold in blocks from 1 to 5 kg. However, the homemade product turns out to be no worse, besides, homemade mastic can be stored in the refrigerator, using as needed.
Making mastic: a step-by-step recipe for beginners
Those who are just starting to master the subtle art of home baking need to learn how to make the simplest mastic. You can cook it in about half an hour, from the specified amount of products you get 600 g of elastic mass.
Ingredients:
- 500 g of very fine powdered sugar (excluding the product for rolling and sprinkling);
- 75 g of white vegetable fat (can be replaced with melted lard);
- 3 tbsp. l. freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Put the fat in a deep frying pan and melt over low heat with lemon juice and a couple of tablespoons of water. Add half a serving of powdered sugar, bring the mixture to a boil, but do not boil. Stir the contents of the pan constantly, ensuring complete uniformity and elasticity.
Pour some of the remaining powder into the mixer bowl and put the hot fat blank. Beat at low speed, adding sugar powder in portions. Sprinkle powder on a clean and dry board, lay out the mastic and knead it with your hands to perfect smoothness and plasticity. At the end of the process, food coloring is added to the mass in the form of a liquid or gel. To make the color uniform, the mastic is stretched several times in the form of a long sausage, and then folded several times.
Cake coating: a phased approach
To keep the cake perfectly in shape, it is better to first cover it with a layer of marzipan and only then wrap it with a layer of sugar mastic. For a round product with a diameter of 20 cm, you will need 700 g of the product, if the baking is square or curly, you need to cook at least 800 g.
To make homemade baked goods look professional, you need to proceed in stages and take your time. An important condition - before rolling out the sugar mass, the cake must be measured and added up the values of the diameter and height multiplied by 2. Then, on a board sprinkled with starch, roll out a thin layer with a diameter equal to the figure obtained. If the pastry is round, the mastic is rolled out in the form of a circle; for a square cake, you need a square of sweet mass. Do not make the layer too thin, otherwise the sugar mass will creep and flow. If it feels too soft, you can add some more powdered sugar and knead it well with your hands. The same should be done if the mastic was stored in the refrigerator before wrapping the cake.
It is convenient to lay the elastic sugar coating using a rolling pin powdered with starch. A rolled layer is freely wound on it, transferred to the center of the cake and the edges are carefully released. With hands sprinkled with starch, you need to slightly stretch the mastic layer, tightly wrapping the cake. Cut off the excess at the bottom with a very sharp knife. Do not throw them away - you can roll sugar mastic again and make flowers out of it.
Cake Decorating: Master Class for Beginners
The classic cake will be especially decorated with roses. It's easy to make them. In order for the petals to keep their shape well, add a little more powdered sugar to the coating mastic, the mass should be elastic, but dense enough.
Separate a small piece from a piece of mastic, drip a dye and knead until the color is completely uniform. For the middle of the roses, roll up mini-cones, roll the remaining mastic into a layer and cut out the circles with a small notch. For one rose you need 5 pieces. Wrap the rest of the mastic in a film and place in the refrigerator, in the open air the mass quickly winds up and begins to crumble.
Place each round petal under the cling film, pressing with your finger, slightly lengthen one end. Moisten the thicker edge with water and wrap around the cone. Attach all the petals one by one, forming a bud out of them. Turn the outer edges slightly to make the flower more magnificent. Place roses on a paper towel lined plate and leave to dry. To strengthen the decor on the cake, squeeze a drop of fresh fondant onto the bottom of the rose and lightly press the product to the surface.
