Easiest way to do a camo icing??

[cakenovice]

Hi! I have to do a pink camo cake for a little girl...and ideas on how to best get the icing done? Im a bit fussy too so it has to look tidy aswell...just to make it more difficult ay!!! I practised on some cup cakes, just did buttercream and individually piped 'splodges' trying to keep them as tidy as possible, but it still loooked messy (to me anyway!). HELP PLEASE???? Many thanks in advance!!

[Beka]

could maybe use fondant in one colour to cover the cake and paint the other spots of colour on

[zestee]

Pipe general camo shaped areas with a piping tip, doesn't matter what size. Just make the shape, then fill it in. When the buttercream starts to crust, get yourself a dense foam roller (from wallpaper store), and lightly roll over it. Any gaps will be filled in, and you'll be left with a smooth surface, to fulfill your tidy requirement! It must be only just crusted, if you let it crust too much it will all crack and break. If you do it too soon, the icing will stick to your roller.

[Stephanie]

Does it have to be buttercream? You could use different colours of fondant, cut them and then slightly roll them out so they merge. Or even use white fondant and paint the camo on?

[cakenovice]

Thanks for the ideas! Must be having a blank out - I hadnt even thought of doing fondant or painting the colours on at all!

Zestee: i had kind of done of done that, even put a couple in the fridge to crust the buttercream, but tried using baking paper and my hands (which may have softened the buttercream a little) and it lookd ok until i had to peel off the baking paper!

Will get practising - but still open to more ideas!!!

[zestee]

I would think the fondant would be a lot more difficult. Check out SZ's tutorial on it:
http://sugaredblog.blogspot.com/2009...-camo-hat.html

If the baking paper is sticking, then maybe it hasn't crusted properly. Are you sure your buttercream is crusting? Crusting is related to the amount of fat versus sugar. More fat = less crust. So if it's not crusting, add some more icing sugar.

I was trying to remember where I saw the buttercream technique done, and I remembered while laying in bed last night... lol.. isn't that always the way!
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorati...df7ff1ac9b0967

To get more information on the paint rollers, google the 'melvira technique'. (a cake decorating named melvira is the one who told everyone about it, so I guess it gets named after her). Otherwise your baking paper and hands technique should work well, as long as it's crusted the right amount. I've used paper towels successfully before, never baking paper, but people say it works fine, so I'm thinking it must be the crusting.....?

[cakenovice]

Wow zestee thanks so much for that!! Yep i always remember the strangest things to do etc in the middle of the night! Had a look at both the links...given me much to think about! The fondant does look time consuming - especially when i think about getting the colours right! As for the buttercream...my recepie usually crusts.....i think it was more my impatience (fair bit of that!!) and it was a bit warmer on the day i tried it that didnt help but thats good to know my idea was going the right way- ish! Note to self - put impatience on the shopping list! LOL