Why is it sticky when making mastic? Sugar mastic from marmalade
Today, sugar paste cakes are becoming more and more popular. Thanks to the variety of confectionery tools and ingredients, not only professionals, but also amateurs can now try their hand at this art. But you should not expect that "unearthly beauty" will turn out the first time: the art of working with mastic, like any other art, needs to be learned. Each case has its own secrets and tricks, which can be reached by trial and error. So that you can quickly and efficiently learn how to work with sugar mastic We have prepared a selection of useful tips for you.
How to roll out sugar mastic?
There are several ways to roll out:
- On a surface sprinkled with starch or powdered sugar.
- Between sheets of polyethylene, lubricated vegetable oil.
- On a mat with a non-stick surface.
Most known way- this is rolling mastic on a surface sprinkled with powder or starch. The only difficulty of the first method is that the rolled layer of sugar mastic must be constantly rotated during rolling so that it does not stick to the surface. If you choose the second option, you will need to withdraw upper layer polyethylene from rolled mastic, turn the layer over, evenly cover the cake with it and only then separate the second layer of polyethylene. However, thin polyethylene (for example, cling film) is not suitable for our purposes: here we need to use something thicker and more substantial, like a film for greenhouses.
What to do if the mastic is torn or cracked all the time?
Sugar mastic is not intended for very thin rolling. The thickness of the formation should be approximately 2-3 mm (thicker is also not desirable). Thinly rolled mastic has its drawbacks: firstly, it can tear while covering the cake, and secondly, all the defects and irregularities of your cake will be visible under it. culinary masterpiece(e.g. layers of cake and chunks of cream). All errors must be corrected before you decide to cover the cake with sugar fondant. The surface of the cake should be smooth, without protruding edges and folds.
It is also possible that when kneading the mastic, you used “coarsely ground” powdered sugar, in which whole sugar crystals come across. There's nothing to be done: such a mastic will tear even when rolling.
If the layer that covered the cake nevertheless broke at the most crucial moment, do not despair. To restore the cake, it is best to remove the layer of mastic and cover it again. If the first action is not possible, then the seams, patches and other shortcomings can be “smoothed out” with a confectionery iron and vegetable fat. Apply grease to the damaged surface and smooth the cake with an iron until its surface is perfectly even. And if air bubbles suddenly appear under a layer of mastic, try to pierce them with a needle, and then gently smooth out the “holes”.
How to properly cover a cake with sugar mastic?
In order to avoid ugly folds on the sides of the cake, the following is necessary: roll out the sugar mastic with a small margin (about 5-10 cm) and so that this margin is maintained around the entire circumference. Covering the cake, the sugar mastic will stretch under its own weight and lie flat on it. After that, take a round pizza cutter and carefully cut off "anything extra".
What to do if the base began to shine through from under the layer of mastic?
Most likely, the matter is in humidity: sugar mastic is very sensitive to it. Perhaps you did not comply with the storage conditions or used a lot of impregnation. Keep finished cake must be in a tightly closed sealed box or in plastic bag(and preferably no more than 2 days).
What should be the cake layers?
For the base, it is best to use dry biscuits or butter cakes. It is advisable to use buttercream or ganache. Soufflé, cream, sour cream can sag under the weight of mastic or make cakes moist and soft. After the cake is covered with cream, it must be put in the refrigerator for several hours. Once the cream has set, the cake can be covered with sugar mastic. If the cream does not have time to completely harden, ugly dents may form on the surface of the cake after coating with mastic.
How to paint mastic?
It is best to color sugar mastic with special gel ones. It is not advisable to use liquid food coloring, because. they change the consistency of the sugar paste, it will most likely become sticky and impossible to work with.
How to store the finished mastic?
For storage, sugar mastic is recommended to be well packed in polyethylene or put in an airtight container. It is not necessary to put this container in the refrigerator: the mastic just needs to be protected from moisture and air so that it does not dry out ahead of time and does not get wet. Any mastic can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months.
How to "make" mastic shine?
In order for the sugar mastic to shine, apply a layer of honey-vodka solution (honey and vodka in a 1: 1 ratio) with a soft brush on it. Don't worry, the vodka will evaporate quickly and won't affect the taste or smell of the cake.
Where to buy buttercream for cake?
The store "Confectioner's House" offers a wide range of fondant for the cake and the creation of sugar flowers from the best English manufacturers, as well as big choice confectionery inventory and decorating tools. We will deliver the order to any region of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan! To wholesale buyers of a discount!
The fashion for decorating cakes with sugar dough, or, as we call it, mastic, came a few years ago from America. And today this type of design is becoming more and more popular! Such a cake invariably catches admiring glances at any holiday. And this is not surprising, because with the help of mastic you can create almost any decoration for a “sweet masterpiece”.
Homemade cake is the most delicious dessert and many housewives already know how to cook it. All stages of its preparation, subject to the recipe and the use of fresh and quality products, are not particularly difficult. In addition, modern Appliances greatly facilitates work and reduces the time spent in the kitchen, which is a great advantage in comparison with those near times when, in order to obtain lush cream or a biscuit, it was necessary to rotate the whisk by hand until exhaustion.
The cost of homemade desserts is an additional argument in favor of making them yourself.
But the question of decoration homemade cake many people feel insecure, at least. Are different ways solutions to this problem: the cake is simply not decorated, or ready-made confectionery products are used - chocolate medallions, pieces of marmalade, nuts or raisins in chocolate or glaze. Of course, this is the way out. But such a way out does not satisfy those for whom pastry art- a favorite hobby in which there is a desire to constantly improve their skills.
First you need to know that mastic for cakes home cooking there are several types. Consider the most common and affordable options.
Knowing the features of the preparation and use of each of them, you can easily make mastic to decorate your cake at home.
Milk mastic prepared with condensed milk powdered sugar and dry milk.
To make buttercream for the cake, take 1 cup of powdered milk, 1 cup of powdered sugar (and keep 1 cup of powder in stock), 150 g of condensed milk and 1 tsp. lemon juice. Sift the powder, discarding all unsifted lumps (when kneading the mastic, they will not dissolve, and the mastic will turn out with grains). Mix a glass of powder with a glass of powdered milk, pour condensed milk and lemon juice into the mixture and knead the mastic dough. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if necessary. The mastic for covering the cake should be homogeneous and elastic, should not stick to your hands. Give the finished mastic a little “rest” in the refrigerator and you can decorate the cake!
This type of mastic is perfect for covering cakes, because. mastic has a nice milky taste. However, it is important to know that this mastic will never turn out snow-white, but will have a creamy tint. If you want to make fondant for the cake in rich bright colors, then use food coloring. Coloring mastic with natural juices (beets or spinach) will be problematic, because. they will greatly "thinn" it.
To do marshmallow cake fondant(“marmyshkovy”), you will need marshmallow marshmallows (“Bon Pari”, “Clouds-Tyanuchki”, or others), lemon juice and sifted powdered sugar. For 100 g of marshmallow - 200-250 g of powder, 2 tbsp. lemon juice.
Put marshmallows in a large container, sprinkle with lemon juice and heat in the microwave until doubled in volume. It takes me less than one minute. During the heating process, you can mix the marshmallows once or twice. When the marshmallow "disperses", it must be thoroughly kneaded and kneaded with a spatula (the mass will look like chewing gum). Gradually add powdered sugar and knead the mass like dough. Keep in mind that while the mass is hot, it is able to take in more powdered sugar than necessary. Don't rush to add more powder indicated weight, let the mastic "rest" a little and cool down (ideally - an hour or two). You can add powder, if necessary, to the already prepared cold mass, but remove it if you knead too much - no longer.
The indisputable advantages of this type of mastic include the fact that this mastic is suitable for covering cakes and for sculpting figures: they added a little butter(1 tbsp) and a little less powdered sugar - you get a soft and pliable mass for coating. Without oil and with a lot of powder - dense, tight mastic for modeling.
Another advantage of this mastic is that you can get a perfectly white color using white marshmallows or a colored mass using multi-colored marshmallows. Great option for those who do not have a set of food coloring in their kitchen arsenal. Mastic has a pleasant sweet taste and the aroma of airy marshmallows (vanilla, strawberry, lemon - depending on which flavor was added to the "marshmallows").
In order to do chocolate mastic for cake("shokomastika"), take 100 g marshmallows, 100 g chocolate, 1 tbsp. butter, 2 tbsp. heavy cream, 200 g of powdered sugar.
First, melt the chocolate (in a water bath or in the microwave), add marshmallows and mix. Heat until marshmallows increase in volume and stir well. You should get a homogeneous viscous mass. Pour warm cream into this mass and add butter. Mix well, until completely homogeneous. Now gradually add the sifted powder and knead like a dough. The finished mastic is soft and pliable, but no longer sticky to the hands. Wrap it in cling film and let it rest. Such mastic can cover cakes and sculpt figures from it. Remember that for sculpting the mass should be denser than for covering (the density is adjusted by adding powdered sugar and / or a small amount of starch).
Chocolate mastic has a pronounced taste and aroma of chocolate and can be brown or creamy in color, depending on which chocolate you used. If desired, this mastic can also be tinted. food coloring, but only if you decide to make a mastic based on white chocolate. It is best to add dye at the stage of kneading the "dough".
And the last type of mastic that is easy to make at home is mastic on gelatin.
For its preparation you will need: 1 tsp. gelatin, 40-50 g cold water, 0.5 tsp lemon juice, powdered sugar, dye - optional.
To make this mastic, soak the gelatine in water until plump (according to package instructions, this can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 1 hour). When the gelatin swells, heat it until it dissolves, but in no case boil it - this will cause the gelatin to lose its properties! Add lemon juice and, if desired, coloring to the warm gelatin solution. Now stir in the sifted icing sugar. I can’t say exactly how much powder is needed (about 100 g). Look at the mass - it should be soft, plastic and not stick to your hands. Try to stretch the mastic - it should stretch well.
At this stage, it is no longer necessary to add powder (if you overdo it, the mastic will quickly become “oak”). Wrap the mastic in a film and, according to tradition, remove the “rest” for a couple of hours.
Excellent figures are obtained from gelatin mastic, because. it dries fairly quickly. But for the same reason, it will not succeed in wrapping the cake. The taste of gelatin mastic is neutral (just sweet), because, in fact, it contains nothing but sugar.
Well, now a few specific recipes for making mastic for cakes:
SUGAR MASTIC
One of these methods is sugar mastic for a cake. At home, this decoration option does not present any difficulty at all. To overcome the far-fetched fear - “I definitely won’t be able to do that” - it’s enough to remember how in childhood each of us sculpted figures from plasticine. Then, after all, there was no fear? So everything will work out.
Can be bought at specialized stores ready-made sugar paste for the cake. At home, cooking it is also not difficult.
Sugar mastic for a cake at home - basic technological principles
To begin with, let's look at the question of what mastic is, and what result you need to get in order to easily create decorations of any complexity from sugar mastic for a cake at home.
As already mentioned, in consistency it should be similar to plasticine: flexible, with a connected structure, without lumps. Sugar mastic for a cake at home should not harden immediately. This condition is feasible when using the appropriate components for binding.
Such properties are inherent even in ordinary wheat flour dough: after all, the dough also dries out, retaining a certain shape, if left in the air. If wheat flour brew, then it turns into a sticky mass. But this ingredient is not quite suitable for taste properties for sugar paste. Therefore, professionals as the main ingredient introduced into the composition of confectionery mastic sugar flour i.e. powder.
Carbohydrates make up almost 100% of the mass of sugar. They, although they have binding properties, do not have the flexibility inherent in flour due to the lack of protein, unlike flour. Flour contains approximately 70% carbohydrates, but the remaining 30% contains moisture and fat, as well as proteins that can absorb and retain moisture. That is, this small amount of proteins is enough to create the necessary plasticity. But the fats contained in the flour will significantly weight the mastic. Therefore, another component is needed, with a lighter structure. Starch does not contain fat, it has both a loose structure and binding properties, so adding it to powdered sugar creates the desired consistency of sugar mastic for a cake at home.
Confectionery mastic in industrial conditions is created on the basis of collagen contained in gelatin. Through the use industrial technology more paste is obtained High Quality. Gelatin does not contain fat, and high content animal protein allows you to bind crystalline sugar carbohydrates to get a plastic paste.
Sugar paste may have different density, considering its purpose. So, when adding more you can get enough water liquid consistency to cover the surface of the cake by pouring method. Making figurines, flowers, lace from sugar mastic for a cake at home requires a thick sugar dough to keep it in the right shape.
In a word, in order to quickly and easily learn how to work with mastic, you need to know it. biochemical composition and physical properties.
This will help not only to successfully cope with confectionery mastic bought in specialized stores, but also cook the desired pasta yourself.
Adding acid to the mastic does more than just add flavor to the confection. Lemon juice or acid crystals diluted in water will slow down the drying of the mastic and give you extra time to create the decoration before the mastic dries.
Sugar flowers flavor different flavors with the help of additives. For this purpose it is possible to use fruit syrups, but then the amount of added water must be reduced, taking into account the moisture contained in the syrup.
Another important nuance: often in sugar mastic recipes there are ingredients such as glycerol And glucose. Please note that these items are only sold in specialized stores. Although they have a similar name with the components used in the manufacture confectionery, but the composition is somewhat different from glucose for injection and glycerin for external use, sold in pharmacies.
On food coloring quality helping to create culinary masterpieces should also be paid attention. When buying multi-colored powders, make sure they are edible. Otherwise, it is better to use improvised natural paints contained in conventional products. Here are some examples:
Orange color can be obtained from carrot juice;
Yellow- when adding turmeric powder, Indian saffron to sugar mastic for a cake at home;
Raspberry, any shades Pink colour - from beet juice;
Red color- from the juice of cranberries, pomegranates, strawberries, raspberries, cherries; If you add a little lemon juice to cherry juice, you get a blue color;
Blue color can also be obtained from juice red cabbage, blueberries, red grapes;
For getting Green colour it is necessary to squeeze the juice from spinach leaves (it has a neutral taste, without aromatic oils);
Brown color for mastic can be obtained by mixing powdered sugar with cocoa powder or adding melted dark chocolate to the mastic.
Other colors and shades can be obtained by combining the listed food colors. Remember that orange and red fruits contain a fat-soluble vitamin, β-carotene: therefore, to obtain rich color fruit juice must be extracted using a small amount of vegetable or animal fat. You can get the desired color by infusing the listed products in alcohol, followed by its evaporation.
Now you can get sugar mastic for a cake at home in any color and realize your most daring and exquisite ideas designing your own culinary masterpiece. It remains only to prepare the mastic by choosing an acceptable recipe:
Milk-based sugar mastic
Ingredients:
Fine powdered sugar 120 g
Powdered cream of any fat content 160 g
Corn starch 80 g
Condensed milk 8.5% 110 g
Glycerin (special) 50 ml
Vanilla or fruit flavor, alcohol
Citric acid 5 g
Water for acid solution 20 ml
Cooking:
When using powdered milk concentrates, products with any fat content can be used, as dry matter when kneading sugar mastic for a cake at home, it will not have time to transform the fats contained in it and transfer it to the dough. Fats will begin to work already when using the product, participating in the creation of taste and in the process of digestion.
Dilute citric acid in water. You can use lemon juice instead. Combine all dry ingredients of mastic.
If mask is needed different colors, then dyes can be dissolved in an acidic solution by dividing it into right amount colors. In this case, it will be appropriate to replace the water for the solution citric acid, for example, beetroot juice, which will allow you to get a hot pink or crimson mastic.
To achieve pale pink shades, combine beetroot juice with water to reduce the concentration of food coloring, but do not reduce the acid content, otherwise the mastic will dry out very quickly, which will prevent you from working with it when creating decorations.
Be sure to sift the powder so that the mastic turns out to be very plastic and the sugar crystals do not break the structure. Add the dry mixture to the condensed milk, first stirring intensively with a silicone spatula, and then transfer the dough to a silicone surface and continue kneading with your hands.
When making jewelry, take the right amount of mastic, and cover the rest with a film so that it does not weather and does not dry out.
It is also better to roll out the mastic with a thin layer using silicone rolling pins of different thicknesses. If necessary, the work surface is crushed with powder. To give gloss, finished mastic products are smeared with a brush dipped in syrup with the addition of glycerin.
Sugar mastic on a gelatin basis
Ingredients:
Powder 600 g
Lemon juice 30 ml
Starch, corn 50 g
Gelatin 20 g
Glycerin 1 tbsp. l.
Water 200 ml (for jelly and for dissolving gelatin)
Vanilla 2-3 g
Glucose 10 ml
Cooking:
Boil starch in water. When it cools to room temperature, add glycerin and glucose to the resulting jelly. Separately, dissolve the gelatin in a water bath, without bringing the heating temperature above 40ºϹ. Sift more than the amount of powdered sugar required to make the mastic, so that you can use it for baking if necessary. desired consistency, sprinkle the surface of the desktop on which you will knead the sugar dough. From the bulk of the powder, knead the dough, pouring starch jelly into it first, and then melted gelatin.
Add liquid ingredients gradually, while working intensively with a silicone spatula and mixing the whole mass. Continue kneading the mastic on a table or silicone mat until the mastic acquires the desired plasticity, uniformity and at the same time stops sticking too much to your hands. Cover the finished mass with a film and leave for a while so that all the ingredients react with each other.
If you need to get mastic of different colors, then divide the finished white mastic into pieces, add the dissolved dye and continue to knead the dough until an even, uniform color is obtained. When sculpting flowers and figures, use powdered sugar to roll out layers, sprinkling sugar dough.
During the modeling process, all the colors of the mastic should be covered with a film so that a dry crust does not form: take only the amount that is necessary to make a flower or figure, and immediately hide the rest under the film. Think in advance how to lay the desired flowers and figures for drying, prepare the necessary forms for them to fix the dough in the desired position.
Bulk sugar mastic
Ingredients:
Milk 200 ml
Water 200 l
Powder 800 g
Perfume
Lemon juice 50 ml
Gelatin 40 g
Cooking:
The consistency of the finished mastic should be similar to thick sour cream. This mastic is designed to smooth the surface of the cake, when complex relief patterns are not required.
Pour powdered sugar into boiling milk and, having dissolved it while stirring, remove milk syrup off the fire and cool it down to 30-40ºϹ.
Dissolve the gelatin in water and, having strained it, pour it into the milk mass, beating both parts with a mixer at low speed. Add vanilla or the desired fragrance, dye, if necessary, to give the coating a certain color and lemon juice.
When the finished mastic has cooled down and thickened a little, pour it onto the surface of the cake, starting from the center: the mass should flow randomly from the cake. Put the cake on a stand with a rim so that the mastic does not spread over the work surface and stain the refrigerator shelves.
The surface of the torus must be perfectly smooth. To prevent the mastic from slipping on its surface, it is advisable to make a layer of marzipan, or crush the top of the cake with starch, cocoa powder or powdered sugar - depending on which ingredients are suitable for the product.
Also, before filling the cake with mastic, it is advisable to cool it well so that the mastic freezes faster. Carefully collect the remnants of liquid mastic that escaped onto the dish when pouring. You can add powdered sugar to them, knead a cool sugar dough and make figured jewelry for the cake: border, bow, lace. Glue details sugar figurines to each other with a brush dipped in water.
Sugar mastic protein
Ingredients:
Proteins 5 pcs.
Cognac or liqueur
Vanilla
Lemon juice 50 ml
Powder 1.0 kg
Gelatin 30 g
Water 100 ml
Glycerin 40 ml
Cooking:
Beat the chilled egg whites until a stable foam, gradually add the sifted powder, without stopping beating. Type in protein mass lemon juice, add vanilla and cognac.
After dissolving the gelatin, pour it hot into the proteins, continuing to knead the dough. When the mass thickens, transfer it to a work surface sprinkled with powder and bring the mastic to the state of a stiff dough, cover with a film and after a couple of hours the mastic is ready to work with it.
Sugar mastic honey-chocolate
Ingredients:
Dark chocolate 2 parts
Honey, floral 1 part
Cooking:
For chocolate cakes, or cakes covered with chocolate icing, this sugar mastic recipe is a real find that allows you to stylishly decorate a chocolate dessert.
Making chocolate honey paste is pretty easy. The only drawback: chocolate-honey mastic must be prepared in advance, because for plasticity it must be kept for at least 24 hours in the refrigerator, in plastic packaging.
Melt the chocolate for a couple and pour in the honey, without stopping stirring, until a thick mass is obtained that will stick off the dishes. After cooling slightly, wrap the mastic in cling film.
Sugar mastic with marshmallow
An effective way to get the desired consistency of sugar mastic for a cake at home is marshmallows. They are gelatin-based candies and corn syrup. In industrial conditions, these ingredients are whipped to the state of a sponge, adding flavorings and food coloring. Adding these sweets to the composition of sugar mastic for a cake at home greatly simplifies the task of cooking. sugar dough. If you want to get the most best result, then use these candies only as additional ingredient for dough viscosity, in combination with gelatin mastic prepared according to recipe 2 described above.
Ingredients:
Marshmallow 1 part
Gelatin mastic 2 parts
Cooking:
Knead the sugar dough as directed in the second recipe above. Steam the marshmallows, but do not overheat. Grind the sweets first so that they dissolve as quickly as possible. Don't use the microwave: it will dry out the marshmallows, making it difficult to work with the dough. Warming them up for a couple and thereby moistening the mass, make it easier for yourself when kneading the dough.
Only you need to prepare mastic with marshmallow in advance, letting it lie down with room temperature, in sealed packaging. Make sure that the sweets used are fresh and choose a white color so that the mastic does not turn out to be ugly, with a gray or brown tint.
Sugar mastic from marmalade
Marmalade contains fruit base and agar-agar. Only marmalade for mastic needs to be sorted by color to get a certain color of mastic.
Ingredients:
Powdered sugar 700 g
Marmalade 250 g
Water 50 ml (or lemon juice)
Cooking:
cook water bath for marmalade. cut it up small pieces, put in a smaller container, fill with water and set to heat for a couple, stirring constantly silicone spatula. Bring the fruit mass to a temperature of 60-70ºϹ so that it acquires a gelatinous consistency.
Sift the powder, pour it into a slide on a silicone surface and make a recess into which pour the melted marmalade in small portions and quickly knead the mastic. For such a mastic, heat is needed. When working with it, keep the mass sealed in a film, near a heat source.
Marmalade mastic can be used to make flowers. To cover the surface of the cakes, add to the mass more water and use the fill method.
Sugar mastic for cake - tips and tricks
-Sugar mastic is a troublesome type of decoration. To make sure that the decoration from it will turn out to be successful, prepare both the mastic itself and the decorations from it in advance, before baking the cake.
-Sugar mass in a sealed package can be stored for up to two months in the cold, except for protein mastic. Finished jewelry should dry indoors, at low humidity.
-To work with mastic, on the one hand, it is convenient to lubricate the hands and the mat with food glycerin, but on the other hand, the readiness of the sugar dough can be determined by how easily it comes off the hands. Shortly before the consistency of the mastic becomes visually plastic, to check it, wash off the glycerin film from your hands and test the sugar mass with your hands without a protective coating to determine its readiness.
How to cover a biscuit with this sugar-gelatin mastic:
First, the biscuit must be smeared with cream, boiled condensed milk or jam to even out all the irregularities of the biscuit.
On the surface of the biscuit prepared and primed with cream, boiled condensed milk or jam, sugar mastic will lie evenly and smoothly, there will be no protrusions and irregularities.
After the surface of the biscuits is prepared, you need to measure the diameter of the workpiece to cover the cake.
The diameter should be no less than the diameter of the biscuit, plus double the height and another 5 centimeters for folds and bumps. For example, if you have a cake with a diameter of 20 cm and a height of 5 cm, then you need to roll out the mastic to cover the biscuit to a diameter of at least 35 cm = 20 + 2x5 + 5.
It is convenient to roll out confectionery sugar mastic on a table greased with butter and sprinkled with powdered sugar, and even better between two sheets of plastic film, the mastic rolled out on plastic film is very easy to transfer to a biscuit, this can be done directly with the film, which then you just need to separate from the mastic and continue leveling the mastic on the surface of the biscuit.
The thickness of the rolled sugar mastic to cover the biscuit should be about 5 mm, after you put it on the cake and level it, it will stretch to the required 2-3 mm.
If you roll out sugar mastic immediately to a thickness of 2-3 mm, it can easily tear when working with it.
If there are no professional tools, then buy plasticine in a box with modeling tools attached. You also need 2 irons for covering the cake and a knife for cutting mastic, such as for cutting pizza, a food felt-tip pen, if you make an inscription directly on the mastic.
On a note! Any mastic - from marshmallow, sugar-gelatin or milk - will perfectly replace marzipan at home. Just keep in mind that it is not always desirable to cover the entire cake with mastic - mastic coatings, although very beautiful, are quite hard.
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"Cooking mastic at home"
"Making a rose from mastic"
"Chocolate mastic"
"Making a bear from mastic"
Tips for beginners on working with sugar mastic.
TIPS FOR WORKING WITH MASTIC
Why sometimes through the coating of sugar mastic, the base begins to shine through?
Any kind of sugar paste that is used to cover the cake is very sensitive to moisture, so it is necessary to protect the cake covered with sugar paste from moisture.
Firstly, it is necessary to use dry biscuits as a base, butter cakes or purchased biscuits.
Secondly, do not be too zealous when soaking the cake sugar syrup or liquor.
Thirdly, the cake covered with sugar mastic should be stored in tightly closed airtight boxes or plastic bags.
How long can a cake covered with sugar mastic be stored?
If the cake is wet, then it will take longer for the cake to dry.
If the cake is very dry, then there is a danger that after two days the mastic with which the cake is covered will warp.
It should also be borne in mind that in a dry and hot climate, the shelf life of a cake covered with mastic is less than in a cool and humid climate.
Why does sugar paste break?
When rolling out sugar mastic, it should be borne in mind that its thickness should not be very thin. It is enough to roll out the mastic to a thickness of 2-3 mm.
In addition to the fact that during the coating of the cake, thinly rolled mastic can tear, under the thinly rolled mastic, all the irregularities of the base of the cake are visible.
On what basis to roll out sugar mastic?
There are several options for rolling mastic.
1) sugar mastic can be rolled out on a table sprinkled with powdered sugar or starch
2) it is convenient to roll sugar mastic between two large sheets of polyethylene, which are lubricated with vegetable oil.
The advantage of the second method is that it is not necessary to separate the mastic from the polyethylene to cover the cake. After the mastic is rolled out to a thickness of 2-3 mm, it is enough to remove the top sheet and transfer the mastic on polyethylene to the cake, and only when the mastic already covers the cake, separate the polyethylene from the mastic.
With this method, I did not get a smooth surface of the mastic, because I used thin polyethylene, which, when rolled out, moved out and formed wrinkles. But I liked the resulting “structured” surface of the mastic, so I did not take thicker polyethylene.
I think the polyethylene that is used for greenhouses will allow you to get a smooth surface, since it is dense enough not to form wrinkles when rolling mastic through it.
How to make sugar fondant on a cake sparkle.
To make the sugar fondant on the cake shine, after you have finished decorating the cake, cover the fondant with a 1:1 solution of honey and vodka.
To do this, take a soft brush and, wetting it in the solution, apply a honey-vodka solution to your creation. After a few minutes, the vodka will evaporate and your cake will be shiny.
How to store mastic and how much?
Any sugar mastic can be stored for several days, up to a week, in well-closed plastic bags or plastic containers.
There is nothing to spoil in sugar mastic, it is important just to protect the mastic from air so that it does not dry out and from moisture so that the mastic does not get wet.
A few tips when working with mastic from "Marshmallow"
1. When buying sweets, their name does not have to be "Marshmallows". It is enough that the name contains a combination of "..mallows.." or "..mallow..".
For example, "Chamallows", "Frutmallows", "Mallow-Mix", "Mini Mallows", "Banana Mallows", etc.
In Russia, marshmallows are produced by the Nestle company - "Bon Pari, tutti-frutti soufflé" and "Bon Pari, soufflé".
2. Powdered sugar for mastic should be very finely ground. If sugar crystals are caught in it, then when rolling, the layer will tear.
Depending on the type of candy, powdered sugar may be required much more than indicated in the recipe, so she needs to stock up in advance in large quantities.
If during kneading the mastic remains sticky for a long time, then you need to stir in and mix in the powder until the desired consistency is obtained.
3. Mastic coating should NEVER be applied on a wet base - on impregnated cakes, on sour cream, etc. Mastic quickly dissolves from moisture.
Therefore, there must be a "buffer layer" between the mastic and the cake. It can be marzipan or a thin layer of buttercream.
If an oil cream is used, then before applying the mastic, it is necessary that the cake stand in the refrigerator until the cream hardens.
4. For bonding different parts figures from mastic or for gluing decorations on a coating of mastic, the place of gluing should be slightly moistened with water.
5. When exposed to air for a long time, the mastic dries out.
Some figurines, such as flowers, cups, spoons, plates, tables and chairs, are best made in advance and let them dry well.
6. Marshmallow figurines can be decorated on top with food coloring.
7. If the mastic has cooled down and began to roll out poorly, then it can be slightly warmed up in the microwave or hot oven and it will become plastic again.
8. You can store underused mastic in the refrigerator (1-2 weeks) or in the freezer (1-2 months), after wrapping it in plastic film.
9. Ready dried mastic figures should be stored in a tightly closed box in a dry place. Such figures are stored for several months.
Marshmallows are often mistakenly called marshmallows. But this is not a marshmallow, although it looks like it, but it is prepared without eggs. Marshmallows are marshmallow-like candies made from sugar or corn syrup, edible starch, softened water, gelatin, dextrose, and flavorings, beaten to a sponge.
Marshmallow tastes like marshmallow or marshmallow, but more airy and viscous.
This is a soufflé, which was originally prepared from marshmallow. The name "marsh mallow" itself is translated as "marsh mallow", that is, marshmallow. A sticky, jelly-like white mass was obtained from the marshmallow root. Over time, marshmallows were replaced with gelatin and starch. Modern "airy" marshmallows first appeared in the US in the 1950s. They were made by Kraft. The new generation of Americans no longer knows true taste sweets from "swamp mallow", only the name remains.
Small pieces of marshmallows are added to salads, desserts, ice cream, they decorate cakes and pastries. American children love to put marshmallow pieces in a cup of hot cocoa. Also this traditional delicacy on picnics. A piece of marshmallow is pierced on a long twig and lightly roasted over an open fire.
Marshmallows are also used to make mastic for decorating cakes and pastries.
Compound:
Marshmallow - 90-100g (one pack of marshmallows)
lemon juice or water - ~1 tbsp. spoon
powdered sugar - ~ 1-1.5 cups
To do this, add a tablespoon of lemon juice or water to 100 g of marshmallow and heat it in microwave oven 10-20 seconds, or in a water bath, until the marshmallows slightly melt and increase in volume.
Then gradually introduce the sifted icing sugar and stir the mass with a spatula until thickened.
Then spread the mixture on a table sprinkled with powdered sugar and knead with your hands until a mass similar to plasticine is formed, which will not stick to your hands.
Mastic is wrapped in cling film and put in the refrigerator for half an hour. The finished mastic is rolled out with a rolling pin and figures are cut out or molded from it to decorate desserts.
If the layer of mastic that covered the cake is torn
And all these seams, patches can be easily removed with a wide brush, which you dip in water and “plaster” to a perfect surface, smoothing the mastic and sealing the seams and imperfections. And where there is an air bubble under the mastic, you can simply pierce it with a needle and smooth this place with your hand.
What is the best cream to use under cover?
The cake is better to align:
- oil cream
- boiled condensed milk
- ganache
- marzipan mass
In the first three cases, the cake must be removed in the cold so that its surface hardens.
at what stage is oil added to the mastic?
I added oil when I sent the mastic to the microwave.
how to knead marshmallow mastic:
The mastic should become homogeneous, dense, not porous, not sticky, plastic. If during operation the mastic becomes too elastic and hard, it should be slightly heated in micro, rumpled with hands, or if it is overheated, knead it in powder and work on. If the mastic begins to crumble, you can add a little water or lime. juice and knead again.
A little about the batch itself. I read a lot of tips on how to make marshmallow mastic. I am categorically against the complete melting of marmosets and stirring them to a homogeneous mass. I heat them up, wait for them to swell and immediately pour them into sahs. powder and knead. If they are overheated, the mastic will be grains and crumble. And one more thing, when marmyshkas are very hot (actually melted) when sugar is added. powder she (powder) begins to gather in lumps Pts. dense and these lumps then interfere with work ...
how to cover a cake evenly with fondant
There will be no wrinkles on the sides if you roll out the mastic with a large margin and when you start to cover, the mastic will stretch well under its weight and lie flat. Only the cream for leveling under the mastic should be very good. well cured so that dents do not appear during coating.
when I cover the cake with mastic, I have at least 10-15 cm in stock around the entire circumference. That's when she has weight and she can pull off. First I smooth out all this stock on the table so that it lays down without wrinkles, and then the sides of the cake are easily smoothed out. And then I just cut everything in a circle with a pizza knife, leaving 0.5 cm in reserve (otherwise the mastic can rise).
You first got together decorate the cake with buttercream And of course, you immediately have a lot of questions?
Most importantly, arm yourself with inspiration, imagination and good mood! And about some subtleties and secrets when working with mastic we will tell you in this article.
So here are some helpful tips:
What base to choose for mastic?
Always, before covering the cake with fondant, apply the right foundation, it will help to level the surface of the cake and hide all the imperfections. It could be:
buttercream, hot apricot jam, ganache, boiled condensed milk, marzipan mass.
Protect the mastic from moisture otherwise it may melt. That's why, it is forbidden apply mastic on a wet base (whipped cream, soaked cakes, sour cream, etc.)
How does mastic harden?
Mastic dries out when exposed to air for a long time.
How to roll out mastic?
There are several options:
1. You can roll out the mastic with a rolling pin on a flat surface, and so that it does not stick, sprinkle the surface with starch or powdered sugar.
2. It is convenient to roll out the mastic between two large plastic sheets greased with vegetable oil. When rolled out, you can simply remove the top sheet and transfer the mastic directly on the polyethylene onto the cake. When you cover the cake, you can separate the second sheet.
3. You can use a special non-stick mastic mat.
How to cover the cake with fondant evenly?
First, measure the diameter of the cake and the height of the sides, add a small margin (about 5-10 cm), and roll out the mastic to the desired size. When shifting to the cake, the mastic will stretch under its own weight and lie flat. After that, take a special round knife for mastic and carefully cut off the unnecessary, leaving about half a centimeter in reserve. Then carefully tuck the edges of the layer under the cake. If waves and bumps form on the cake, smooth them out with a spatula.
What to do so that the mastic layer does not tear?
If you cover the cake with sugar paste, you do not need to roll it out too thin, about 2-3 mm is enough.
This is due to the fact that during the coating of the cake, a thinly rolled layer of mastic can tear, and all the roughness and imperfections of the cake base will also be visible.
When you transfer the mastic to the cake, it will additionally stretch under its own weight.
What to do if the layer of mastic with which the cake was covered nevertheless broke?
Don't worry, we'll fix it! A defect can be corrected, and seams and patches can be easily removed with a wide brush moistened with water, smoothing the brush to a smooth surface. If air bubbles form under the coating, you can simply pierce this place with a needle and smooth it out.
How to remove traces of starch or powdered sugar from a product? Just go over with a slightly damp, wide brush and brush off the remaining starch.
How to add shine to sugar mastic?
After you have finished decorating the cake, cover the fondant with a 1:1 solution of honey and vodka. It is convenient to do this with a silicone brush. Vodka will evaporate, leaving no smell, leaving only a pleasant sheen.
How to paint mastic?
To achieve the desired color, special food coloring is best suited. They can be added directly to the mastic, or applied with a brush to the surface of the product. Can be used natural dyes: for green - spinach juice, for red - beet juice, for orange - carrot juice.
How to dye sugar paste black?
Mix dyes of the following colors: red, blue and yellow. The ratio depends on the shade you want to get:
For neutral black: 1 part red: 2 parts blue: 1 part yellow
For black with green tint: 1 part red: 1 part blue: 2 parts yellow
For purple-tinted black: 1 part red: 1 part blue: some yellow
For black with a red tint: 2 parts red: 1 part blue: 1 part yellow.
How to mold figures from mastic?
If you want to connect different parts of the figures or attach finished decorations to the mastic coating, you only need to lightly moisten the junction with water. Also, for gluing different parts of mastic figures, you can use protein or protein with a small addition of powdered sugar.
To make colored figures, it is not necessary to use mastics of different colors: you can mold figures from plain white mastic, dry them, and then paint the finished figures on top with food coloring.
Try to make large figures in advance so that they dry well.
Volumetric figures, such as flowers, attach to the cake not long before serving. Otherwise, if you attach them and put the cake in the refrigerator, they may absorb moisture from the environment and fall off.
Good luck and creative success!
In addition, mastic is edible and, by the way, very tasty. It’s just that it’s a pity to eat it - the cakes are so beautiful. Mastic can be prepared according to different recipes, but the base will always be powdered sugar.
Mastic recipes
Milk mastic
This mastic is easy to make and easy to use. You will need equal parts milk powder and powdered sugar. Add another part of condensed milk. Knead the resulting mass until the consistency soft plasticine. If desired, you can add a little food coloring.
From this mastic you can sculpt any figures: leaves, flowers, cartoon characters. Finished jewelry before use for its intended purpose will need to be dried. And you can also roll out the mastic into a layer, two millimeters thick, cut out figures from it using cookie cutters. Just roll out the mastic on cling film, sprinkling with powdered sugar in the process.
If the mastic sticks to your hands, then you should add a little more powdered sugar. And if the modeling process drags on for a long time, wrap the bulk of the mastic in cling film or parchment so that it does not dry out. Milk mastic has one minus - a yellowish color. If this does not suit you, you should use another mastic recipe.
Gelatin mastic
Cooking it is somewhat more troublesome than dairy. But if you ever make this mastic successfully, you will always use it. You will need 10 grams of gelatin, 900 grams of powdered sugar, 10 tablespoons of water. Gelatin pre-soak for 40-60 minutes, heat in a water bath, and then cool. In a slightly cooled, but still liquid, gelatin, gradually add powdered sugar, while mixing thoroughly. You can add food coloring if you like. Delicate flowers are especially well obtained from this mastic.
Marshmallow sugar mastic
You will need marshmallows (this is a kind of marshmallow or soufflé) - 50 grams, 200 grams 
powdered sugar. Put the sweets on a plate, add a tablespoon of water and put in the microwave for 20-30 seconds to melt the marshmallows. Add coloring and powdered sugar. First you need to knead the mass with a fork, and then with your hands. You may need a little more powdered sugar, but just do not overdo it so that the mass does not turn out too dry and thick: the mastic should stick slightly to your hands.
Secrets of marshmallow mastic (useful for other types of mastic)
1. Powdered sugar for mastic should be of the finest grinding. Sugar crystals. Which may be in the powder, will tear the layer when rolling.
2. Required amount powdered sugar for marshmallow mastic may vary depending on the variety of candies. Therefore, it is worth stocking up with powdered sugar in large volumes. In the end, it will be required when sculpting.
3. It is impossible to apply mastic on impregnated cakes or on cream, since it quickly dissolves from moisture.
4. As a layer between the mastic and the cake, you can use only butter cream, already frozen in the refrigerator, or ganache or marzipan.
5. If you want to stick a figurine made of mastic on a coating of the same mastic, or glue the parts of the figurine together, slightly moisten the place of gluing with water. Also for gluing parts of the figure, you can use egg white or protein with a little powdered sugar.
6. Marshmallows are rarely sold in one color. Ideally - buy candy white color. But if it didn’t work out, just “take apart” the candy in parts: put the white particles in one dish, the colored ones in another. If the colored halves are not useful in making mastic, just eat them with pleasure.
7. Marshmallow figurines can be painted on top with food coloring, or dye can be added during the mastic manufacturing process.
Frequently asked questions about mastic
1. How to roll out mastic?
Mastic can be rolled out either on a table sprinkled with powdered sugar, or between sheets of polyethylene, which also need to be sprinkled with powder, or greased with vegetable oil. The disadvantage of rolling the mastic on the table is that later it will be extremely problematic to lift the layer from the surface so that it does not tear or stretch. And with the second method, you will only need to remove one of the sheets of polyethylene, cover the surface of the cake with mastic, and then remove the second sheet of polyethylene. cling film not suitable for this method, as it is too thin. It is better to take a tight bag or even pieces of film for greenhouses.
2. Why mastic is torn and what to do with it?
Most likely, you're just making too thin a layer. And with mastic, such a number will not work. The most suitable thickness of the rolled layer for work is 2-3 millimeters. If you make it thinner, it will tear, and if it is thicker, it will not lie on the cake and will wrinkle. In addition, too thinly rolled mastic will not hide the flaws on the surface of the cake and will not make the surface even.
Also, when rolling, the mastic can tear because you used it in its preparation. 
coarse powdered sugar, in which sugar crystals come across. In this case, either start work all over again, and use the failed mastic, for example, for sculpting figures, or resign yourself to the fact that a flat layer and, accordingly, Smooth surface you won't get cake.
And if a layer of mastic, even of optimal thickness, still broke at the most crucial moment, do not panic. Carefully lay out the mastic, and “cover” all the seams and patches with a wide soft brush dipped in water. In general, this way you can level the surface of the mastic to give it perfect smoothness. If air gets under the layer of mastic and a bubble forms, gently pierce it with a needle, and also cover the puncture site.
3. How to evenly cover the cake with mastic?
Avoiding unintended folds on the sides of the cake, after you have covered it with a layer of mastic, is quite simple: roll out the layer in such a way that a margin of 10-15 centimeters is formed on all sides. Then the mastic's own weight will stretch it over the surface of the cake, and everything will be even and smooth. And then with a pizza cutter, simply cut off all the excess, leaving a margin of half a centimeter.
4. Why did the base (cake) begin to shine through from under the layer of mastic?
Most likely, the surface of the cake for mastic is too wet. These are either incorrectly selected cakes, or an excess of impregnation, or non-compliance with storage conditions (the finished cake is stored in a tightly closed box or in a plastic bag, but not more than two days).
5. What then should be the basis?
For the base of the cake that you plan to cover with fondant, it is recommended to use dry biscuits, butter cakes, or purchased cakes without impregnation. And as a cream for mastic is better to use marzipan mass. Classic butter cream, boiled condensed milk or chocolate buttercream(ganache). But only, in this case, after applying the cream, keep the cake in the refrigerator for two hours so that the cream freezes, and only then lay out a layer of mastic. If the cream does not harden, ugly dents may form on the surface of the mastic.
6. How to paint mastic?
Of course, special food colorings are best suited, which, unfortunately, can not always be found everywhere. You can try to replace the special dye with dyes for eggs. But you need to do this carefully, since salt is included in their composition, and the mastic can turn out to be salty. It is better to take not powder paints, but paints in tablets: salt is not added to them. And if you are against "chemistry", use natural dyes: green color- spinach juice, red - beet juice, orange - carrot juice. Of course, you will not get bright shades, but everything is natural.
Often, when creating figures, black mastic is needed. But it's the hardest thing to get. To paint the mastic black, you need to mix 2 parts blue dye, 1 part yellow 
dye and 1 part red. It is important to keep the right proportions, and even then there is no guarantee that you will get exactly the shade of black that you need (neutral black). If you break the proportions, the mastic can turn out to be either greenish, or reddish, or even purple.
Also, the black color of the mastic can be obtained if the mastic is first dyed brown (for example, with chocolate or burnt sugar), and then a drop of blue dye is added to it.
7. Can I store ready-made mastic?
Of course you can. Mastic does not contain anything in its composition that could deteriorate in a few days. Only for storage, the mastic must be well packed in polyethylene, or put in a plastic container with a lid. You don't even have to put it in the fridge. Just protect the mastic from moisture and air so that it does not get wet and dry out ahead of time. Marshmallow mastic can be stored in the freezer for up to two months!
8. How to make the mastic shine?
Since the composition of the mastic includes powdered sugar, and when rolling out the layer, you could also use powdered sugar, the mastic will not shine. But you can fix this if you apply a honey-vodka solution to the mastic with a soft brush (the proportions are equal). The vodka will evaporate and will not affect the taste of the cake in any way, but the honey will remain.
9. How to sculpt figurines from mastic?
There is nothing complicated here. Modeling figures from mastic is no more difficult than modeling from plasticine. Different parts of the figures, if it was not possible to mold the whole, can be glued together if the place of gluing is moistened with plain water. If you have planned a colored figurine, it is not necessary to make a little bit of mastics of different colors. You can mold a product from white mastic, and then paint it with food coloring. And the remnants of powdered sugar or starch from the surface are easily removed with a damp brush.
Note!
1. If the room has high humidity, cake. Covered with mastic, after being removed from the refrigerator, it may become covered with a film of condensed moisture. In this case, it is better to serve the cake immediately, before the mastic begins to melt. If this is not possible, gently blot the surface of the cake with a tissue or place the cake under a fan.
2. If during operation the mastic has cooled down and began to roll out poorly, heat it up a little in a microwave or hot oven until the mass becomes plastic again.
3. Mastic stocks are stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks, and in the freezer - 1-2 months. But it is only important to tightly wrap the mastic in a bag or put it in Plastic container.
4. You can also store ready-made figures from mastic. Just to begin with, they must be dried, and then folded into a tightly closed box. Figures can be stored in a dry place for up to several months.
5. Although the mastic layer cannot be placed on a damp surface, the mastic will not lie flat on the cake if the top cake is not smeared with anything. Use butter cream or marzipan to smooth the surface of the cake: the surface for the fondant must be perfectly flat.
With these recipes, tips and secrets, you can try your hand at creating a wonderful designer cake for the holiday.
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