Blog - Sugared Productions Blog

Bonus Holiday Tutorial

December 11, 2013 by Sharon Zambito Leave a Comment

Hello Sugar Friends!

Wow, time is flying by so fast this holiday season, I cannot believe it! Are you ready? I am not even close to being ready. My tree is standing in my den undecorated, my mantle and front door decorations are piled in my foyer just hoping someone who passes by will take the time to put them in their place. I have about three gifts purchased: none wrapped. And I haven’t even begun to think about my holiday baking. So that pretty much makes this year just like every other previous year, LOL. Somehow I always manage to get it all done in time.

Part of the reason I have been so busy is our preparing all of the wonderful holiday tutorials we are adding to the online school this month. I’m very excited about all of them, and wanted to share with you these beautiful projects.

We have over six new full-length exclusive tutorials going into the online school this month. Here is a sampling of just some of them:

Want to take a closer look at some of them?

This cake shows the popular buttercream petal technique. It’s so easy to do, and has a very striking result. (In the video tutorial, I show how to match up that tricky back seam.)

One single gelatin poinsettia is all this beauty needs. Yes, that flower is made from plain household gelatin. The process is super easy and fast, so you can get a large impressive flower ready for your cake in just a few hours.

These flowers are also made of gelatin, but it uses a different technique. The flower shown above is made using gelatin texturing sheets. These red and green fantasy poinsettias are done by making a thin floral wire frame, and dipping each petal into the gelatin mixture. Sort of like dipping a bubble wand when you were a kid. Fun.Fun.Fun.

I also love the little dashes of color on the cake sides as well.

A little disco dust makes these fun flowers pop.

Those of you who have followed my blog for a while may remember I made a version of this cake a few years back. But I modernized it a little bit for the new video tutorial.

This cake is iced in buttercream with a stucco effect applied over that. Dazzling gum paste snowflakes, and fun decorative balls on wires make this a true winter wonderland stunner.

And one of my absolute favorite things: individual desserts. In this video I show how to create the cups from chocolate to get a few different looks. We fill them with different flavors of mousse, and plate them with easy sauces and garnishing techniques. We also have a video on how to make all the fun decorations you see on top.

Raspberry sauce and mousse in a plain chocolate cup, adorned with a chocolate transfer ring and gold leaf.

A crinkled white chocolate heart cup filled with strawberry mousse with strawberry sauce and another chocolate transfer decoration.

Don’t you love the polka dot affect on this cup? And to make it even more fun it sits atop a smaller cup turned upside down. Polka dot discs and chocolate curls finish off the top.

This would be a perfect dessert to finish off a Valentine’s Day meal.

More polka dots in the reverse colors. Two of my favorite dessert garnishes: chocolate squiggles on top and a piece of bubble sugar accents the plate.

This one is our grand finale in the video. We turn off the lights and show you how to make a flaming strawberry topper for this elegant dessert.

Hopefully some of these will help give you ideas for your own holiday celebrations. We have full-length video tutorials on all of these, plus more, in the online school. In addition we are offering a bonus tutorial to everyone who joins our online school through December 15.

Get a downloadable copy of a step-by-step tutorial for this precious gingerbread snowman and Christmas tree topper. It will be yours to keep forever, even if you ever leave the school. (Which of course we hope you don’t!)

JOIN HERE

WHY JOIN US?

I hope you are enjoying your holiday season, and it’s not too stressful. (Yeah, right LOL) I will be back with another post in a few days to share with you some great holiday tutorials.

Happy caking!

Sharon

Thanksgiving Tutorial Round Up

November 25, 2013 by Sharon Zambito 5 Comments

Hi Sugar Friends!

Don’t you all just love the fall colors, the cooler temperatures and the crispness in the air? It’s my favorite time of the year! And with Thanksgiving literally around the corner, I’ve found some great tutorials for you to help make your table more festive! Some are from SugarEd and some are from our featured contributors on our new Online Sugar Art School!

From SugarEd Productions:

Pilgrim Pumpkin Mini Cakes

Turkey Cake Balls (1)
Turkey Cake Balls

Turkey 3D Cookies (1)

Turkey 3D Cookies

From The Partiologist:

Pumpkin Fudge

Pumpkin Pie Cake Pops

Turkey Cake Pops

From Hungry Happenings:

Chocolate-rice-krispies-treats-turkey-pops

Chocolate Dipped Rice Krispie Treat Pops

leaf shaped crescent rolls with shredded cheese, paprika, and parsley for Thanksgiving dinner copy

Cheesy Crescent Roll Leaves

Chocolate Pilgrim Hats, Thanksgiving dessert, recipe, sweets

Chocolate Pilgrim Hats

From LilaLoa:

Harvest 1

Cookie Cornucopia

IMG_2042wm

Thanksgiving Cookies

From i heart baking!:

cupcakesThanksgiving_DSC_0837

Thanksgiving Cupcakes

From Sweet Pea’s Kitchen:

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

From Just A Taste:

Pecan Pie Bars

I hope you will find some inspiration from these cute and yummy tutorials to decorate your table this Thanksgiving! From all of us at SugarEd Productions, we wish you a happy and blessed Thanksgiving, and we are Thankful for each and every one of you!

Sharon

www.sugaredproductions.com

Chocolate Dipped Rice Krispies Treat Turkey Pops

Wafer Ranunculus with Kara’s Couture Cakes

November 19, 2013 by Sharon Zambito 188 Comments

Hello Sugar Friends!

I am so excited about this blog post. As you know, ranunculus are all the rage right now in the sugar world. And making them in sugarpaste can be quite time consuming and cumbersome. That’s why I am so thrilled that we have a guest blog post today by the amazingly talented Kara Andretta of Kara’s Couture Cakes. She is going to share with us her wonderful technique for making these beautiful flowers from wafer paper! Brilliant I tell you!

And to make it even sweeter, stay tuned to the end of this post for information on a great give-away of Kara’s wafer paper Ranunculus kit!!

Isn’t this cake just stunning? All of Kara’s cakes are.

And now I turn it over to Kara to share her wonderful technique for the wafer paper ranunculus:

I love the ranunculus. It’s like the mille-feuille of the botanical world, lush with impossibly delicate, silky petals. No matter how many different ways I’ve tried, I have never been content with the finished look of sugar paste for this beauty. Confectioner’s wafer lends the lightness, delicacy, and translucency that I find so essential to successfully imitate nature.

–Kara

Materials

1.5-inch foam ball

2 sheets wafer paper

Bright green petal dust

Coated foam or gumpaste flower center affixed to an 18- or 20-gauge floral wire

Cutting mat

Craft circle punches (1 inch and 1.5 inch)

Craft knife

Deep green petal dust

Large angled soft brush

Ruler or straight edge

Small bowl of water

Small and narrow soft brush

Small scissors

Soft round-tipped brush

Violet (or your choice color) petal dust

Instructions

1. Using the smaller circle punch, cut one circle as close to the corner of one sheet of wafer paper as possible.

2. Using the cut hole as a guide, line up your ruler or straight edge and cut a strip just larger than the hole. Use that strip as a guide to cut the remainder of the wafer sheet into equal strips.

3. Group 2-3 strips of wafer paper together. Turn your circle punch upside down, and punch holes down the length of the grouped strips of wafer paper. Having the punch upside down allows you to see that you have the paper properly centered in the cutting area and it reduces waste.

4. Repeat the process with the large craft circle punch and the second sheet of confectioner’s wafer paper.

5. The wafer circle now needs to be cut:

6. Cutting 2-3 circles at a time, cut from the edge straight towards the center, approximately ? of the diameter inward (? inch for the 1 inch round).

7. Dip your brush lightly into the water, only to dampen it slightly. Blot any excess water on the side or on a paper towel. Brush the water on the wafer just to the left of the cut. You shouldn’t see any visible moisture on the wafer; it doesn’t take much to create a sticky surface. Too much water will simply melt the wafer.

8. Fold the right side of the cut over top of the dampened left side and press gently together. You do not need to hold it or apply much pressure, it sticks almost instantly. This step should produce a slight cup to the wafer petal.

9. Repeat step 8 with all of the circles.

10. Paint a circle of water around the top third of the flower center. (You can use a bit more water in the following steps than you used in creating the cupped petals.)

11. Begin applying the small wafer petals in a circle, slightly overlapping each other, all meeting at the center top of the ball.

12. Use 4-5 petals to form your first and innermost layer.

13. Apply your second layer of petals about ? inch lower than the first set of petals. Overlap these as well. Use approximately 5 petals to complete this layer. (Each following layer should be applied slightly farther down than the previous layer, just as you did here.)

14. Before you add subsequent layers, you’ll notice that there are some pointed areas from the cupping of the petals and where they may overlap. Tamp down the points with the side of your slightly wet brush. Don’t get too close to the tops of the petals, but also don’t be afraid of using water at this point. The center does much to absorb excess moisture as does the layered petals.

15. The petals don’t have to be flush to the center. A little irregularity will create more volume and visual interest.

16. Once you are content with the look and quantity of the first smaller petal layers, you can begin using the larger petals.

17. These petals will overhang the ball a bit at first. Paint water at the edges of the petal.

18. Use your fingers to arrange the look of the petal and to pull the petals down and closer for the first few layers of the larger sized petals. This will help the flower to still look a bit tight rather than opening up too abruptly. Allow the last few layers of large petals to open more.

19. Once you’ve finished applying all of your petals, use a wet brush to secure the bottom visible layers of petals to the center and create a flush surface.

20. You can leave your petals as applied like in this picture. They have crisp, clean edges and look very refined. Or…

21. …You can use a lightly wet brush and run it around the edges of the outer side of the edges of the petals, as in this picture. The wafer will curl to the side you applied the water and create a more worn, shabby chic look. I find this look to be more natural, but each look has their place in design.

Yes, you’ve just finished these flowers. And if you’re accustomed to working with sugarpaste you may move on to a different task, have a cup of coffee, or call it a day. We’re used to allowing the sugar to dry for at least 24 hours (in general) before we apply the finishing touches. No need with these wafer flowers! You can begin dusting right away! Just be sure your edges have dried if you applied water to curl them.

ranunculus19

22. To dust them and add life, I used three shades of green petal dust: Holly, Moss Green, and Apple Green for the center.

23. First start with the Apple Green, applying your largest diameter coating of color with the small, soft, narrow brush.

24. Add the Moss Green and Holly to the center to gradually deepen the shading towards the center.

25. Using your large, soft, angled brush, load a very light amount of violet (or your chosen accent color) onto it, tapping the excess off.

26. Hold the brush at an angle to the petals and make short downward motions to gently apply the color to just the edges of the petals. I used a bit more color on the outermost petals.

27. The accent color is very, very gentle (and very difficult to reproduce on camera!) but it highlights the edges and gives the flower life and dimension.

ranunculus24

This flower took 20 minutes, from punching the wafer paper to finishing dusting!

About the Author

I am a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America and have studied under some of the best pastry chefs and cake decorators in the world. I specialize in fondant covered cakes, gourmet cupcakes and cookies, custom designed to perfectly fit each client’s unique occasion. The only thing better than how my cakes look, is how they taste! Ask me about cake!

Kara’s Couture Cakes
making the world sweeter, one cake at a time.

Kara’s Facebook

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AND NOW FOR THE GIVE-AWAY!

Kara has been so kind as to donate three of her wafer paper ranunculus kits (available in her Facebook shop here) as prizes!

TO ENTER:

One entry into the raffle will be given for each of the following actions: (the more you do, the more chances you have to win)

1) Leave a comment under this post

2) Subscribe to our blog via email using the box on the right hand side of this page

3) Sign up for the SugarEd Newsletter via the box on our homepage here: www.sugaredproductions.com

4) Enter via Facebook for more even chances to win using the tab on our Facebook page here: SugarEd Facebook Page

Winners:

Three winners will be chosen by random draw from all entries. Deadline November 26, 2013 midnight central time.

(Open to USA and Canada only please.)

GOOD LUCK!

Sharon

www.sugaredproductions.com

Witchy Cupcakes by Vik the Chef

October 23, 2013 by Sharon Zambito Leave a Comment

Hello Sugar Friends! Today we have a guest blog post by the very talented Vik the Chef. She will show us how to make these simply adorable crashed witch cupcakes:

Let’s get to it:

Bake, cool and top cupcakes with buttercream.

Cut circles from black fondant for the base of the witch hat.

Hand form a cone shape with a point for the witch hat.

Cut a thin strip and a small square from colored fondant.

Attach fondant cone to top of the fondant circle with gum glue or water. Attach strip and square around the base of the cone.

For the witch legs I used candy sticks. They come in lots of fun color stripes. Snap the candy stick in half. Hint: it’s easier to do evenly before it’s unwrapped.

With red fondant form two teardrop shapes for the witch’s shoes.

Insert a candy stick into each one.

Pinch the back of each teardrop to create a “heel” shape.

Curl the toe of the shoe up with your fingertips.

Place the witch hat on and insert the witch legs into each cupcake. Finish with Halloween sprinkles!

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Vik The Chef is a sugar artist from Toronto, Ontario with a background in Professional Culinary cuisine. Her cakes feature hand made sugar flowers and highly detailed custom designs. In 2011 she participated as an assistant on the Canadian filmed Cake Walk TV series, achieving a first place win against two other teams. Please visit www.vikthechef.ca to view more of her beautiful work.

Thank you Vik for sharng this wonderful idea with us! Happy Cupcaking everyone!

Sharon

Lil’ Fondant Pumpkins

October 8, 2013 by Sharon Zambito 3 Comments

Hello my Sugar Friends!

Today we have a wonderful guest blog tutorial by the very talented Brittany Rumohr of Edible Details. She is a very accomplished sugar artist and pasty chef, and specializes in the cutest little fondant toppers you have ever seen. Please visit her full biography here.

Brittany is a regular contributor to the SugarEd Online Sugar Art School. You can find more of her tutorials in the photo tutorial section here.

Thank you, Brittany, for sharing your talent with us!

So now, I turn it over to Brittany:

I am so happy to be here, sharing with you how to make these cute little fall pumpkins. Let’s get started!

Supplies you will need:

Orange, black, white, green and brown fondant
Black food coloring
small dish to mix edible paint in
cotton swab
petal dust (color of choice)
double ball end tool
veining or dresden tool
container of water
knife
larger paint brush for painting on water for gluing
fine tip paint brush for painting pumpkin mouth and eyes

Roll out 5oz of orange fondant into an egg shape. Use a veining tool to make lines down the pumpkin starting from the top and pulling the tool downward.

Cut out the desired mouth shape with a sharp knife. NOTE: This will look rough at first cut and when the excess fondant is pulled from the mouth.

Use a desired tool to press and smooth out the inside of the mouth.

Press 2 indentations (to create eye positioning) using your finger or a ball tool.

Use a ball tool to make 2 oval holes to inset the eyes. Use the sharp end of a veining or dresden tool to indent slight “bags” under the eyes.

Roll out a tear shape for the nose. Attach it with a dab of water.

Mold 2 white ovals and press them together. You can use a little water to adhere them together if desired. Attach the eyes into the sockets with water.

Use a round piping tip to cut out 2 black fondant circles. Attach them to the eyes.

Cut out an orange circle using the round piping tip. Cut it in half and attach one half to the top of each eye to create an eyelid.

Roll out approximately 1gr of chocolate brown fondant into a long cone shape. Flatten the tip of the cone by pulling it across the worktop surface.

Make a hole in the top of the pumpkin.

Attach the stem to the pumpkin while still soft (as shown in this example), or let it dry before attaching to have it stand upright.

Roll out 2 thin strands of green fondant (aprox 2” in length) and curl around a wooden skewer.

Let them dry completely on the skewer, then carefully attach them to pumpkin.

You now have a cutie little pumpkin. If you desire, you can proceed to color the mouth black:

Combine black food coloring with a small amount of water to create an edible paint. Paint the inside of mouth (and the black pupils if shine is desired). Let that dry a few hours before touching the painted areas.

Use desired shade of red, pink or dusty orange petal dust – apply to cotton swab and shade the cheeks of the pumpkin. NOTE: Make sure the surface you dust with color is completely dry to prevent over coloring.

Final product! Perfect little cake or cupcake topper!

I hope you enjoy making your own!

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Thank you, Brittany, for this wonderful tutorial! I can’t wait to see all the cute little pumpkins appearing on the internet. 🙂

We also have a Halloween Tutorial Blitz going on in the Sugar Art School

COME HAVE A PEAK HERE!

Happy caking!

Sharon

Buttercream and Cake Recipes

September 19, 2013 by Sharon Zambito 36 Comments

Hello Sugar Friends!

I hope you all are doing well! Things have been super busy over here as we have launched our online Sugar Art School. The response has been wonderful, and we are getting some great feedback from or members! More on that later.

Today I want to make a blog post featuring my crusting buttercream recipe and my go to doctored cake mix recipe. I get tons of requests for these, and am more than happy to share:

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Sharon’s Crusting Buttercream Icing:

Ingredients

5 – 5.5 generous cups Sweetex shortening or other brand of hi-ration shortening (or may sub up to half butter)
5 pounds powdered sugar
4 Tbsp. Wedding Bouquet flavoring (or substitute your flavoring of choice in the appropriate amount)
11 – 12 Tbsp. hot coffee creamer liquid

** the hot coffee creamer liquid is made by mixing one part Coffeemate (or other brand) powdered creamer with one part super duper hot water.

Directions

Cream the shortening, flavorings, and hot liquid with the paddle attachment until well combined and creamy. Then stream in the first 3 pounds of powdered sugar with mixer running at speed one. When incorporated somewhat, stop and scrape down sides of bowl well. Stream in last 2 pounds of powdered sugar at speed one. When incorporated, turn the mixer up to speed 6 and let it beat for 5 – 7 minutes, until very smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl very frequently while the mixer is going at speed 6.

The goal is to get all of the icing down into the belly of the bowl and fill the bowl from side to side with no air gaps around the walls, as well as covering the paddle up to the springs. If the icing is making a “kissing” noise after all the sugar is in, add just a few drops more of liquid, while scraping down the sides, with the mixer running, until that stops. You should create a bowl full of icing side to side, where the paddle is completely submerged and beating in a vacuum under the icing. Five to seven minutes at speed 6 and you should have a smooth as silk and nearly airless icing. Cover and cool before using.

I make this recipe to fill my 5 quart mixer. Adjust the recipe volume to fill your mixer properly.

Note: here is a link to a free video from the online school on how I make it with no air.

** Amounts for 6 quart mixer bowl:

3 lbs sweetex or other hi ratio shortening

6.5 lbs powdered sugar (use a 4 cup measuring cup, 4 cups = 1 lb)

9 tbsp wedding bouquet or flavorings of choice (adjust total liquid as needed)

11 tbsp hot coffee mate liquid

Cream sweetex and liquids on first speed very well. add half amount of powdered sugar, let mix 30 seconds, then add rest of powdered sugar. scrape sides of bowl very well turn speed up one notch, mix for 9 minutes. scrape sides of bowl around top, mix for 1 minute longer. (Do not turn off mixer during this scraping) Now, turn off mixer, remove paddle and cover with plastic wrap. let sit for 1 hour or longer.

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Sharon’s Chocolate Buttercream Recipe

Ingredients

2.5 cups hi ratio shortening
2.5 cups salted butter softened
splash of vanilla
5 pounds powdered sugar
hot coffee creamer (adjust the amount as needed)
powdered cocoa (amount as desired)

Directions

Cream the butter, shortening and vanilla. Dump cocoa in amount as desired. I go for dark brown. Stream in powdered sugar and add hot creamer liquid as needed, to get the desired consistency.

Note: Fine at room temperature for several days. May be refrigerated or frozen as well. This is a crusting icing.

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Sturdy Doctored Cake Mix

Ingredients

1 box cake mix (I use Betty Crocker)
1 small box instant pudding in a coordinating flavor
1 cup sour cream
1 whole large egg
3 large egg whites
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp. oil
1 tsp. vanilla flavoring (optional)
1 tsp. almond flavoring (optional)
1 tsp. butter flavoring (optional)
other flavorings as desired

Directions

Mix all ingredients in mixer at speed one or two, scraping down the sides, until just incorporated. Batter will be very thick. Fill pans just a little over half full.

Bake at 325 until center bounces back and toothpick is clean. Be careful not to underbake. The will take longer to bake than an undoctored mix due to the added ingredients.

Note: white chocolate or cheesecake flavored pudding will keep the batter more white in color, and vanilla will make it more yellow. Recipe may be doubled.

** I hope that you guys give these a try, and let me know how you like them! The buttercream recipe is very stable, forgiving and easy to work with. The cake recipe makes a somewhat dense, very moist cake suitable for carving.

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Grab a free one week trial to my online school here.

Here is what some of our members are saying:

I just wanted to tell you that I love, love, love your online school! and I am soooo happy you did this. You really are the best of the best and I will follow you forever–

— Rosie

Your online school has been an absolute life saver!!!! Thank you sooooo much!!!

— Janell D

This video was an incredible Lession. Just incredible! IT’S OFFICIAL, you are my FAVORITE designer/teacher/promoter. I have been a customer for years and I have to tell you, I don’t for one tad bit feel a single cent has been of waste, whether you’re promoting someone else’s product, DVD’s or this wonderful SugarED School. I applaud you! Gratitude Sharon Z!!!!!

— Tala P

The school is absolutely awesome! You did a wonderful job putting it together. I love it when people take time these days to get things right before launching a product. It makes a world of difference!

— TaM

Thank you for the tutorial on Airbrush in the Sugar Art School. Thanks to that tutorial I learned that my “gun”/airbrush wasn’t a total loss. I just ordered a repair kit and will soon be able to use it again. Thank you, thank you, thank you… ***that tutorial is Awesome, btw.

Oh and the double barrel one, and the Ganache, and the Tropical Fish and the Marshmallow Fondant and…. Ok, let’s just say I love School.. SugarEd Productions Sugar Art School, that is. 🙂

— Annette C

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Happy caking everyone!

Sharon

www.sugaredproductions.com

Sharon’s Buttercream and Cake Recipes

September 18, 2013 by Sharon Zambito 22 Comments

Hello Sugar Friends!

Today I want to make a blog post featuring my crusting buttercream recipe and my go to doctored cake mix recipe. I get tons of requests for these, and am more than happy to share:

————————————————————————————

Sharon’s Crusting Buttercream Icing:

Ingredients

5 – 5.5 generous cups Sweetex shortening or other brand of hi-ration shortening (or may sub up to half butter)
5 pounds powdered sugar
4 Tbsp. Wedding Bouquet flavoring (or substitute your flavoring of choice in the appropriate amount)
11 – 12 Tbsp. hot coffee creamer liquid

** the hot coffee creamer liquid is made by mixing one part Coffeemate (or other brand) powdered creamer with one part super duper hot water.

Directions

I make this recipe to fill my 5 quart mixer. Adjust the recipe volume to fill your mixer properly.

Note: here is a link to a Youtube video on how I make it with no air. This is just a home video, but we have more detailed and professional videos on this in our online school.

** Amounts for 6 quart mixer bowl:

3 lbs sweetex or other hi ratio shortening

6.5 lbs powdered sugar (use a 4 cup measuring cup, 4 cups = 1 lb)

9 tbsp wedding bouquet or flavorings of choice (adjust total liquid as needed)

11 tbsp hot coffee mate liquid

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Sharon’s Chocolate Buttercream Recipe

Ingredients

2.5 cups hi ratio shortening
2.5 cups salted butter softened
splash of vanilla
5 pounds powdered sugar
hot coffee creamer (adjust the amount as needed)
powdered cocoa (amount as desired)

Directions

Cream the butter, shortening and vanilla. Dump cocoa in amount as desired. I go for dark brown. Stream in powdered sugar and add hot creamer liquid as needed, to get the desired consistency.

Note: Fine at room temperature for several days. May be refrigerated or frozen as well. This is a crusting icing.

————————————————————————————————

Sturdy Doctored Cake Mix

Ingredients

1 box cake mix (I use Betty Crocker)
1 small box instant pudding in a coordinating flavor
1 cup sour cream
1 whole large egg
3 large egg whites
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp. oil
1 tsp. vanilla flavoring (optional)
1 tsp. almond flavoring (optional)
1 tsp. butter flavoring (optional)
other flavorings as desired

Directions

Mix all ingredients in mixer at speed one or two, scraping down the sides, until just incorporated. Batter will be very thick. Fill pans just a little over half full.

Bake at 325 until center bounces back and toothpick is clean. Be careful not to underbake. The will take longer to bake than an undoctored mix due to the added ingredients.

Note: white chocolate or cheesecake flavored pudding will keep the batter more white in color, and vanilla will make it more yellow. Recipe may be doubled.

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As I mentioned, our online Sugar Art School is now open! 24/7 access to a huge and ever growing library of video and photo tutorials, recipes, articles, photo gallery, message forums and more.

Here is what some of our members are saying:

I just wanted to tell you that I love, love, love your online school! and I am soooo happy you did this. You really are the best of the best and I will follow you forever–

— Rosie

Your online school has been an absolute life saver!!!! Thank you sooooo much!!!

— Janell D

— Tala P

— TaM

Oh and the double barrel one, and the Ganache, and the Tropical Fish and the Marshmallow Fondant and…. Ok, let’s just say I love School.. SugarEd Productions Sugar Art School, that is. 🙂

— Annette C

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I hope you will come join us! We have many fun activities going on in our forums and community. There is always something new to do, learn and share.

JOIN NOW LEARN MORE

Happy caking everyone!

Sharon

www.sugaredproductions.com

SugarEd Online Sugar Art School Open!

August 26, 2013 by Sharon Zambito 8 Comments

Hello my sugar friends!

The time has finally come! It has been a long and crazy journey, but we made it! The SugarEd Productions Online Sugar Art School is now open!

I am SO very excited about the new school and all the features we have to offer. It is your one stop place to learn all things cake.

Here is a list of just some of things waiting for you:

library of outstanding video tutorials featuring myself and other celebrity instructors
printable photo tutorial library with tons of amazing ideas and how-tos created by some of the brightest talent in the industry.
printable recipe bank chock full of deliciousness
access to business, photography and decorating articles you won’t find anywhere else
member tutorials and recipes – share your favorites with the rest of the community
member photo gallery where you can marvel at your friends’ creations and post your own
advice and chat forums with positive conversation and useful information; interact with me and other members anytime you want
enjoy games, contests and other interactive activities within the SugarEd community
valuable resources include lists of classes, events, organizations, and offsite tutorials
special SugarEd store discounts for members only
new content is added (at least) weekly

We have wonderful guest instructors lined up for you as well. Kathleen Lange will teach us her Lambeth and embellishment piping techniques:

Wayne Steinkopf of Swank Cake Design has filmed four videos for us. This beautiful celebration cake is just one example of what he has in store for us:

The amazing Bronwen Weber and Francois Long have fun filled videos on sculpted cakes and structure coming soon:

Here are some more examples of tutorials we have waiting for you, as well as some coming soon:

Gorgeous piping and fantasy flowers:

Fondant figures of many types will be added to our growing library:

Do you want to learn how to ganache and fondant cover a tall double barrel cake? And learn the popular luster and leaf techniques? We have the videos that will show you how! (The ganache and fondant videos are available now and the luster video will be added Monday)

Learn how to get your cakes perfectly smooth, with level tops, sharp edges and no bulges!

You can have 24/7 access to the entire online school from any computer or mobile device. We add new content every week (or more), so there is always something new to see, learn and explore.

We have tutorials on:

cake projects
chocolate work
flowers
figures
desserts
candy
cookies
cupcakes
specialty techniques
business
food safety
marketing
and an exclusive series on cake photography you won’t find anywhere else!

AND we have a special bonus for our new members. Everyone who joins will get an exclusive bonus PDF tutorial for this adorable elephant…….

…….AND this cute badge for your profile page:

It really is a wonderful place to learn and share. Our current members are loving it. (And I thank those of you who have already joined.) I look forward to chatting with you in the forums; we have a wonderful community growing; Please come join us!

www.SugarEdProductions.com

Happy Caking,

Sharon

Quickie Graduation Cake

June 21, 2013 by Sharon Zambito 3 Comments

Hello all my sugar friends!

I hope you all are having a great summer so far. Down here is NOLA it is hot and humid as always! I hope those of you that were in the path of the recent tornadoes and bad storms are doing ok, and that the effects were minimal. I pray daily for those who sustained injury to home or person.

Well, graduation season is just ending, so I thought I would post a picture of this cake I had to get done really quickly. (And I apologize for the low quality cell phone pic at that.)

My oldest son has graduated from college this summer (how in the heck is THAT possible?) He has 3 cousins also graduating from high school and college, so my sister in law and I combined them all into one big crawfish boil/BBQ party.

There were 3 schools, 5 colors, 2 genders, and 4 graduates I had to incorporate all into one cake somehow. And I had to do it in 48 hours. I have been so insanely busy getting the new online cake decorating school website ready, (more on that coming very soon!), I just did not have a lot of time to do stuff ahead of time. So I went for a clean and simple design incorporating the 3 schools and the graduates’ names.

I applied colored fondant bands with coordinating trim, each tier representing the color of one of the schools. I used clip art of the school logos and printed them out onto edible icing sheets. I applied those to a fondant backing and let the plaques dry firm overnight. The next day I applied them to the bands with melted white chocolate. (Be aware of summer heat of you use chocolate as glue!)

I used this JEM alphabet cutter set to make the names. I made the black hat by cutting out a grad hat silhouette shape from black fondant with some tylose added, and let that dry until firm. I put that into my food dehydrator to speed up the process and make it very hard. I glued sucker sticks to the back and inserted that into the top of the cake.

A few fondant curly ques and balls were the finishing festive touch.

Not an overly complicated design, and even with all the opposing colors, it still seemed to work. The grads loved it, so that is all that counts, right?

I hope all of your grad cakes are a huge success this year. Enjoy the summer and have fun with your family and friends when you can.

I will be back soon with a post letting you know more details about our online school opening soon. We will have a library of new and exclusive photo and video tutorials, recipes, articles, a message forum, photo galleries, and lots more for our members to enjoy. Stay tuned and sign up for our newsletter here to be kept up to date on all the news!

Happy Caking Everyone!

Sharon

Share Your Photos on our Facebook Page

March 27, 2013 by Sharon Zambito 1 Comment

Hi everybody!

Today and tomorrow are photo sharing day on our Facebook page!

Easter is fast approaching, so I invite all of you to post a photo of your favorite Easter creation on our Facebook wall. Cake, cookies, cupcakes, candy. Tag your FB page or website so we can all check out your other work. I will feature a few of my favorites Friday. Let’s help each other out with some last minute Easter ideas. Happy posting; I can’t wait to see what you guys have to share!

Hope to see you on Facebook!

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