January 18, 1998
The BOSTON GLOBE Magazine

THE ICING ON THE CAKE (cont)

Gum-Paste Pansies
For amateur cake decorators, Argyropoulos suggests making this simplified version of pansies, which won’t look exactly like hers. With practice – and real pansies in front of you – you’ll acquire more skill. Use these flowers to decorate any plain frosted cake. Ambitious bakers might want to try baking cakes inside untreated 5-inch terra-cotta flowerpots (first line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper, then butter and flour the insides of the pots). The pansies, which are made on tape-covered florist’s wire, can stand up in the flowerpot cakes. Alternatively, make short flowers and decorate the edge of a frosted cake. All of these ingredients are available in cake-decorating stores or craft shops; florist’s tape is available at flower shops.

Number 26 to 30-gauge florist’s wire, covered with green tape
Strong scissors (for cutting wire)
Green florist’s tape (to twist wires together)
A cool, smooth work surface (like marble tile)
About 8 ounces prepared gum paste (in an airtight container)
1 large zipper storage bag
Small rolling pin
1 (1-inch) rose petal cutter
Small paintbrush
Purple liquid-paste food coloring (to paint the faces of the pansies)
Yellow powdered food coloring (for the pansy centers)

Cut 12 3-inch pieces of florist’s wire.

On the smooth work surface, remove a walnut-sized piece of gum paste and store the large piece of paste in the zipper bag. Roll out the small piece, and when it is about 1/8 inch thick, stamp out as many rose petals as you can. Reshape the scraps and tuck them back into the zipper bag. Cover the work surface with plastic wrap. Working on one petal at a time, flatten the edges of the petal to make the edges thinner than the centers.
On the tip of a piece of covered wire, pinch the pointed end of one petal right onto the wire. Using the paintbrush and the purple liquid-paste food coloring, paint the petal and let it dry. When it is dry, dust the pinched end with a dot of powdered yellow food coloring.
Take another wire and insert it into the pointed end of a petal (like a lollipop). Make 4 lollipops altogether. Paint them with purple coloring.
Lay 2 lollipop wires on the work surface. Lay 2 more ¼ inch below the first set. Set the yellow-centered petal in the center of the cluster. Use green tape to wrap the 5 wires together like a flower. Snip the ends of the short wires and arrange the pansies on your cake, taking care not to let the colored flowers touch the frosting.

Marzipan Fruits
Argyropoulos, like many cake decorators, has only to look at a flower to be able to make it. One way to practice this technique is by making marzipan fruits, which you can copy by shaping the individual fruit while you have a real piece of fruit as a model on the table. Marzipan is available at supermarkets. You will also need liquid-paste food coloring (in the colors of your fruit – yellow for bananas, with brown for the stem ends; yellow and brown for pears, brown for the stems, with green for the leaves, and so on).
Unwrap the marzipan and break off an egg-shaped piece covered tightly. Use almond-sized pieces of marzipan (the fruits will be 1 to 1½ inches tall).

PEARS: Shape the marzipan into an oval and gently press it in the center to make the tops slightly more elongated, forming the classic pear shape. Form a small stem and two leaves. Insert the stem into the neck of the pear and pinch two leaves on each side. Paint the pear yellow. Paint it lightly with brown just to make a faint coating. Paint the stem brown and the leaves green. Continue shaping, then stand the pears on parchment paper to dry.

STRAWBERRIES: Shape the marzipan into an oval, gently pointing one end and flattening the other. Lay the oval down on parchment paper. Shape a stem for the flattened edge and press it along the top of the berry. Use a toothpick to poke tiny holes all over the berry to give it texture. Paint the berry with red liquid paste, the stem with green. Continue shaping, laying each one on the parchment paper to dry.

BANANAS: Shape the marzipan into 1-inch-thick logs, Curve them gently, as you point the ends. Use a knife to flatten one side of the bananas and lay them down on parchment paper. Paint the bananas with yellow liquid paste. Use brown coloring to add “ripe” marks and color the stem ends. Let them dry.
Use the fruits in clusters around the top edge of a frosted cake, decorating at the last minute to prevent the colors from bleeding.