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Turn ANYTHING into an Edible Mosaic Cake
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Sep 6, 2024
The first 1,000 people to use my link will get a full year of Premium membership to Craftsy for only $1.49: https://go.craftsy.com/britishgirlbakes/ Turn any image into an eye-catching, edible mosaic with this simple but stunning technique! No fancy tools required! 0:00 Introduction 00:12 Assemble a layer cake 0:39 Measure the cake 0:52 Cut parchment paper, wax paper or acetate to size 1:11 Draw design onto paper or acetate 2:32 How to prepare an acetate wrap 2:56 Prepare buttercream for mosaic 3:14 How to use piping bags to create a mosaic design 4:18 How to pipe without couplers (piping bag hack!) 5:35 How to use couplers for piping 6:58 Prevent air bubbles in acetate wrap cakes 7:21 How to use ziplock bags for piping 8:02 Add background tiles to the mosaic design 8:36 Chill the piped mosaic 8:44 Pipe mosaic tiles onto the top of the cake 9:08 Tint buttercream grout 9:31 Pipe buttercream grout between mosaic tiles on the top of the cake
View Video Transcript
0:00
Turn any image into an eye-catching, edible mosaic with this simple but stunning technique
0:06
The result is a very elaborate design that only uses basic tools and materials
0:12
Alternate cake layers and filling, checking that each layer is lined up directly on top of the layer below
0:18
so that your cake is straight, not leaning, so that your mosaic wraps tightly around the cake
0:23
Cover the cake in a crumb coat, which is a thin layer of frosting to trap any crumbs that come off the cake
0:30
Normally this doesn't need to be neat, but for this design it's important, it's smooth
0:34
because the mosaic design is going to sit on top, mimicking this shape of the cake
0:40
Measure the height of the cake and also the circumference, which you can do by wrapping a ribbon or string around the cake
0:45
or just multiply the width, 6 inches here, by 3.14, and that will give you the circumference
0:52
Cut a piece of parchment paper or wax paper, so it's about a finger taller and about two fingers wider than the circumference
1:00
of the cake. Chill the cake in the fridge while you draw your design. I'm folding my paper
1:06
in half twice so that I have four sections for four different flowers. Using a thick pen or marker for
1:13
this makes it easiest to turn it into a mosaic next, because it makes these wide gaps in between
1:19
each petal so that each petal will become a separate tile. Now, I should clarify that I am definitely
1:25
not an artist when it comes to drawing and painting, and this is totally out of my comfort zone
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I should also share that I often struggle to come up with ideas for cake designs
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When I have a theme or a tool I want to use, I look in different places for inspiration
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and for this cake, I found some great ideas and some really useful techniques on Craftsy
1:45
Craftsy has classes on drawing, painting, sewing. It's your online resource for all things creative
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techniques you can use to inspire your cake designs and decorations or skills you can learn as new hobbies
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I've always wanted to be able to sketch and paint and seeing all of the classes on Craftsy
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I now feel inspired and I have access to instructional videos taught by talented experts
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so I can find new ways to satisfy that creative itch and create new things
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and even connect with fellow creatives to ask questions and share ideas
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And stay inspired. The first 1,000 of you to click the link in the video description will get a full year of premium membership to Crafty for only $1.49
2:30
Thank you, Crafty, for sponsoring this video. You can create your design on parchment paper or wax paper, but acetate is thicker and stronger, so if you have it, that's ideal
2:41
Notice that if your parchment or acetate comes in a roll, it will curve
2:46
And you want to put your design on the inner side of the curve, so that it's curling up from the table or counterfeit
2:52
top. Tape down the corners or use some objects to weigh it down. Tint buttercream whatever
2:58
colours you choose, ideally using a few shades of each colour by mixing the colour and dividing
3:03
it between a few bowls or holes in a muffin pan and adding different amounts of plain white buttercream to each There are lots of ways to create the tiles for the mosaic design
3:14
You can use piping bags with a small round piping tip in each, and I'll use these for my different yellow butter creams
3:21
I'll show you how to do this without piping bags next. Switch between the different colours to pipe your design by squeezing the buttercream out to trace over the design you drew earlier
3:32
You can see that the smaller the piping tip, the easier it is to pipe little details
3:38
If you want to make points, like at the tips of these petals, use a toothpick to nudge the buttercream to reshape it
3:44
while the buttercream is still soft and sticky, before it sets. The consistency of your buttercream is really important for this
3:52
If it's too stiff, it will take much longer to pipe and you'll have to squeeze the bag quite hard to push the butter cream out
3:59
which is really tiring on your wrist and will cause cramping. If the buttercream is less stiff, more runny
4:06
the consistency of whipped cream, or maybe a bit thicker, you'll be able to squeeze it easily out of the piping bag
4:12
and it will almost flood the outline you pipe, filling it quickly and without much texture at all
4:18
If you have piping bags but only one small round piping tip
4:22
put the coloured buttercream into piping bags with no piping tips, and then put the piping tip into another piping cap
4:29
bag. Now drop one of the coloured bags into the bag with the piping tip and when you squeeze the
4:35
bag you'll push the buttercream out through the piping tip but when you finish with this
4:39
colour it's easy to switch to a different colour because you just pull this coloured bag out of the bag
4:45
with the piping tip and drop the next coloured bag in and squeeze the bag to get the last little bit
4:51
of the previous colour out until you see the new colour coming through. Start with the outline of each
4:57
petal or shape and then fill it in with zigzags making sure you don't pipe over the lines you drew
5:02
because you need those gaps to stay there so that the tiles stay spaced apart from each other
5:07
which is what we'll turn this piping into a mosaic later pipe the details you want with this
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colour and then pull this color out drop the next color in squeeze until you see the new color coming
5:19
through and pipe with this color since there's a lot of piping for this technique the consistency of your
5:25
your buttercream really is important. This is my four-minute buttercream and you'll find the link for the recipe
5:30
with tips for the right consistency in the top of the screen and in the video description
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If you have couplers, it will be a bit easier because after putting a coupler into each of your piping bags
5:42
you put your piping tip onto the outside of the bag, screwing it onto the coupler
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and then fill the bags with different colours. Pipe with the colour that has the piping tip
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and when you finish, unscrew the coupler ring, take the piping tip off, and put it onto one of the other couplers
6:00
Pipe with this colour and repeat. You can add as much colour variation as you like, and the more colours the more interesting
6:08
but of course, more colours also makes it more time-consuming to create your design
6:13
I piping an outline here to fill in with another colour and using a paintbrush to gently drag the buttercream inwards This looks pretty now but I don recommend spreading the buttercream so thin
6:24
because it makes it much more fragile when you transfer it onto a cake. You're aiming for an equal thickness of the buttercream all over your design
6:32
for the smoothest finish later. If you're adding colours over each other
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it's best to let the first colour set first by putting the acetate into the freezer for about five minutes
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and then add your next colour on top. And this way the second colour won't blend with the first colour
6:49
It will sit on top of it. This side you can see here isn't going to be visible
6:54
because it will be pressed against the cake, so it's fine that it's quite messy
6:58
It's common for air to get trapped in between this buttercream you're piping
7:02
and the acetate or parchment below it. So as you fill in sections of colour by zigzagging back and forth
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within an outline, squeeze quite hard to push the buttercream down against the bottom and then
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use a toothpick to flatten it, using little dabbing motions to nudge the buttercream down so that it
7:19
presses into any air bubbles. If you don't have piping bags or piping tips, use sandwich bags
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like Ziploc bags, pushing the buttercream down to one of the bottom corners and cutting a tiny
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piece off the corner to make a hole to pipe through. You have less control over the buttercream you
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pipe through a soft plastic hole compared to a hard metal piping tip, so your lines won't be as neat
7:43
but you can tidy them up with a toothpick. Sandwich bags are really ideal, I think, for the next
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step, which is to fill in the background. I'm choosing this turquoise, and again creating
7:54
different shades by dividing the colour up and adding different amounts of plain white buttercream
7:59
to each one, to make four shades. For the background, the goal is simply to fill in an area with tiles
8:06
so the exact size and shape of the tiles doesn't matter like it did with the flowers I piped first
8:12
That's why sandwich bags are perfect for this step. These slightly blobby shapes are fine and the sharper angles or narrow points aren't necessary like they were for the petals
8:24
The more random these shapes are, the better, so don't worry about sticking to any regular alternating between different shades
8:32
When you've covered the acetate or parchment paper with tiles, pick it up and put it into the freezer for 15 minutes
8:40
to set the buttercream so it gets very cold and firm. Meanwhile, pipe a design onto the top of your cake
8:47
or just cover it with the background colour tiles. Use the same technique of piping individual shapes
8:53
with gaps in between them. If you're piping a design, like another flower
8:58
you can sketch out your design with a toothpick first if you like. scratching the shapes into the frosting on the cake
9:05
Put the cake in the freezer for 15 minutes to set these tiles while you prepare whatever color you want to use
9:11
to fill in the gaps between the tiles, which would be grout on an actual mosaic
9:17
Gray or a sandy color are the most common for mosaics, but you could use chocolate buttercream for brown if you wanted that flavor You can use the leftovers of the other colors you tinted to make this color but save a little bit of every color for touch later
9:32
When the tiles on the cake have set, spread this color on top, covering up the tiles
9:37
Don't try to smooth this yet because you'll knock off pieces of the tiles
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and spread those colors into the gaps. Put the cake back in the freezer for 15 minutes
9:46
and then use a warm metal cake comb to scrape the top flat
9:50
I'm using a blowtorch to heat the straight edge of the comb, but you could hold it under hot water instead
9:56
Scrape off the excess buttercream, revealing the smooth, colourful tiles underneath and creating a flat, level, sharp edge around the top of the cake
10:06
Now take the design out of the freezer and spread that same colour, grey for me, over the whole design
10:13
You're pushing this colour into the gaps in between the piping to fill them in like the grout in between mosaic tiles
10:19
and also spreading it over the whole design because since it's been in the freezer
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it's not sticky anymore. So this final colour of buttercream will act as glue to attach the tiles to your cake
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Spread back and forth with an offset spatula or a cake comb to flatten and smooth the frosting
10:36
and straight away lift up the acetate or paper and wrap it around your cake
10:41
By piping onto the inner side of the curve, it will wrap easily around the cake
10:46
doing most of the work for you. focus on lining up the bottom of the design against the bottom of the cake
10:52
so there are no gaps there, and pressing it tightly around the cake so it doesn't buckle or crease or warp
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especially if you're using parchment paper instead of acetate, since it's thinner and not as strong
11:04
Press gently against the cake to attach the design and flatten and smooth it
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especially along the join of the beginning and the end of the acetate or parchment
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which should overlap slightly. Put the cake in the fridge for at least an hour or the freezer for 30 minutes
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and then pinch a corner of the acetate or parchment and peel it off to reveal this eye-catching mosaic design
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To level off the top edge, use the side of the blade of your offset spatula or a sharp knife to slice around
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taking off the excess butter cream. To tidy up any imperfections, hold your metal cake comb under hot water or run a blowtorch along the edge
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and then scrape around the cake a few times to smooth any bumps or imperfections. perfections in the frosting. The hot metal will melt the very outer layer of frosting and drag it
11:50
around the cake, filling in any tiny air bubbles, which happen when the buttercream you pipe
11:55
doesn't go all the way down to the acetate or parchment paper, because there's air trapped down there
12:01
If you need to, you can pipe or spread any of your colours into any deep air bubbles to fill them in
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and then scrape over that part of the cake to take off the excess buttercream and leave a flat surface behind
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The result is a very elaborate design that only uses basic tools and materials
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From start to finish, this cake took two hours to assemble, frost and decorate
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What do you think? Will you try this? Tell me in the comments and ask me any questions there too
12:29
Thanks for watching
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