Lindy Smith shares how to use cake stencils to decorate cakes and cookies – as seen on TV

I simply love using cake stencils on my cakes, so when asked to be a guest on the Cake Academy, a Create & Craft TV cake decorating programme, I could only say YES.

Stencilling with coloured dust

There are many different ways of using stencils to add patterns and decorations to cakes. Probably my favourite technique is using edible-coloured dust. I always think of it as a bit like ‘colouring by numbers’ – the hardest part is done for you and all you have to do is add colour between the lines, or in the case of stencils add colour to each section. For the show, I made various examples using cupcakes cookies and a variety of stencils. To start the show I used one of my current favourites my new hellebore stencil, part of my Spring Garden Flower Set that also includes snowdrops and crocuses.

Obviously, you can dust it with life-like colours. Alternatively, use a bit of artistic licence and vary the colours as on these snowdrops.

Stencilling using Royal Icing

Another very quick way of using stencils is to spread Royal icing or buttercream over a stencil pattern before lifting it away from the sugarpaste. To demonstrate this  I chose my Vintage birdcage stencil, a design that is always popular with my students. This stencil fits an 8-inch cake perfectly but you can also use parts to decorate smaller sections of paste.

My favourite cake stencil

It is always hard to choose which cake stencil to use when demonstrating, as there are so many beautiful stencils to choose from. However, one of my all-time favourites, partly because it’s so versatile, is my Vintage Botanical Stencil. This stencil is one of the very first designs I had manufactured. It’s also one I’ve used over and over again. For my TV show, I created a number of examples including this navy and peach wedding cake to illustrate how the design can be added to the side of a cake tier.

I simply love creating sugar shoes and judging by the number of you who bought my Ankle Boot Cookie Cutter you do too!! I’m so pleased that I left this particular demonstration until last…again it uses my vintage botanical stencil.

Watch how to use cake stencils – the TV show

If you have an hour to spare and you’d like to watch how I used these stencils on the programme – filmed LIVE on 19th January 2016 – simply click the play button:

I will be back on Create and Craft TV on Sunday, March 13th, 2016, so be sure to tune in. The programme will be all about the cakes and techniques from my NEW ‘Simply Modern Wedding Cakes’ Book.

Happy stencilling
Lindy

“Bringing world-class sugarcraft into your kitchen”