sugar fans

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A dramatically tall cake tier deserves an incredible, unique design. These fans were created from hand-cut forms of rolled sugar paste pressed into a silicone mold I made myself (although you can use any store-bought lace texture mold).

A few summers ago at the Brooklyn Flea, I bonded with a vendor over our love of antique fabric and walked out an hour later with a box of lace she passed on to me at an incredible bargain. At the time, I was experimenting with making silicone molds, and it only seemed fitting to make use of one of those beautiful lace pieces. To this day I find this lace pattern sneaking its way into many of my cake designs.

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THESE FANS CAN BE CREATED WITH ANY TYPE of large lace mold: see page 332 for resources. By hand, cut teardrop shapes out of thinly rolled sugar paste in a variety of colors, and then press each one individually onto a mold to imprint it with a lace pattern. Let the pieces dry on a flat surface for 48 hours to 1 week before handling. Once dry, use a modest amount of royal icing on the underside to adhere various groupings in a fan shape, overlapping each piece.

To cover the unfinished bottom edges of the fans, make a few sugar paste buttons or brooches in similar colors (see page 234) and attach them in clusters using royal icing. Let the assembled fans dry overnight. Once the royal icing is dry, the fans and buttons can be dry-dusted using a paintbrush and iridescent powders to highlight the different textures.