Love surface patterns but hate working with fondant? Well, meringue-based buttercreams are incredibly versatile, but most decorators don’t know that you can use them to create flush patterns that are embedded in the final coat of the cake itself. Join buttercream enthusiast, Azara Goldston, in this class as she pipes patterns into the final coat, leveraging Swiss Meringue Buttercream’s firmness upon refrigeration to scrape down surprisingly clean, colorful designs. To get started Azara demonstrates an easy and exciting entry point into this type of decorating by creating a Bokeh design. This freeform circular pattern is a forgiving way to get used to the pipe & scrape approach. Once you have tried your hand with this buttercream technique, you will quickly realize that the design options are endless. Azara ups the creativity level with a second cake design showing a more involved inspiration-driven floral design with additional detailing to make it pop! To accomplish these designs, you don’t need any super specialized tools. Simple piping equipment, a turntable, an icing spatula, a paring knife, and a bench scraper are your core tools which you likely already have in your kitchen. You will also find two cake recipes and a recipe for Swiss Meringue Buttercream so you can start making your own delicious and stunning buttercream designs that will have your guests or clients wondering how you pulled it off in buttercream!
Class Sessions
Introduction
3:13
What is bokeh buttercream? Join Azara in this lesson to learn all about Bokeh and how it found its place on buttercream cakes. She will also introduce you to a color palette that works best for this design style and some alternative suggestions to change the style.
Bokeh Buttercream Design
13:01
In this lesson, Azara will share her tips for getting a smooth and colorful buttercream perfect for the scrape technique. She will also show you how to get and stay organized when using six different colors of buttercream to pipe this design. And lastly, you will learn how to assemble and fill piping bags so the decorating can begin.
Piping the Bokeh Design
23:31
Getting your cake prepped for piping is an important step. Join Azara, in this lesson to hear her recommended cake size, cake height, and the amount of crumb coating necessary before piping designs. Then grab your buttercream bags a pipe along with Azara as she discusses which colors to start with, how large the dots should be, and how to space the dots for a naturally organic look.
Bokeh Design Backfilling
17:26
While backfilling a patterned buttercream design is basically like applying a final coat there are a few special details that will make this process more effective. In this lesson you will learn how to minimize air pockets in your final design, how to extend your buttercream if you are running low, and how to work cold buttercream into the right consistency.
Bokeh Design Scraping
25:52
In this lesson, Azara will teach you how to use a bench scraper to scrape down the excess buttercream and reveal the pattern. Along the way she will show you how to create straight sides and maintain the curve of the round cake. And most importantly, she will guide you on when to stop scrapping to avoid hitting the cake.
Piping the Floral Design
14:01
Now that you know the basics of Azara’s buttercream scrape technique, let’s increase the creativity level and see how she transforms a floral fabric pattern inspired by Marimekko into a colorful cake design. Azara will take you through the steps of breaking down a pattern into shapes that can be piped and imagining what a scrape will reveal.
Floral Design Backfilling
9:05
Just as in the Bokeh design it is important to backfill the floral design carefully, but this time Azara is using a brightly colored base buttercream color which presents different challenges compared to a white translucent buttercream. In addition, she addresses how to tackle the top edge of the cake with a design that builds up over the edge as well as designs that have piping with a variety of thicknesses.
Floral Design Scraping
32:27
Even though the scrapping technique is similar for every cake, there are always varying nuances that are addressed slightly differently. In this lesson, Azara shows how to scrape down a cake that has too much buttercream versus too little. She also gives you insight into how she might alter the application for a slightly different style flower. In addition, you will find out how to achieve a perfectly flat top edge and how to add over-piping accents like textured flower centers and stems.
Adding the Finishing Touches
2:44
In this final lesson, Azara shows off the completed Bokeh and floral cake designs and how complex the designs look despite this scraping technique being easy to accomplish. She also shares a simple way to transition a basic cake into something a bit more celebratory with addition of a topper.
Your Instructor
Azara Golston
Azara is the cake-obsessed baking nerd behind Milkmoon Kitchen, a years-long Instagram-based project to develop and share unique cake decorating techniques, and inspire other decorators to explore their own unique creative voices. Azara is also a business coach who specializes in helping members of underserved and overlooked communities launch and scale wildly successful businesses at her and her partner's practice, InspoJuice. Connect with her on Instagram: @milkmoonkitchen @inspo.juice
Bonus Material
Bokeh Buttercream Cake Tools
Dark Chocolate Cake Recipe
Rich Vanilla Cake Recipe
Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe
Bonus Materials available for download after purchase.
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