Enhance cake design with airbrush
AIRBRUSHES
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Puppies, ice cream cones and the
Fourth of July go hand in hand for summertime fun. This month's cake decorating
designs feature airbrushing technique. I use the airbrush on a daily basis
to enhance a colorful floral design or accent figure piping on cakes and
cookies. In a fast-paced production setting, the airbrush allows the decorator
to base ice the cakes with white icing and apply color and detail where
needed.
Know your equipment
The key to successful
airbrushing is good, clean equipment and practice. Usually most functional
problems can be corrected by a thoroughly cleaning the needle and the airbrush
itself. Build up of food color or the presence of a hit of icing inside
the airbrush can cause an uneven spray pattern. If the color pattern is
splattered and blotchy, adjustment on the air flow mechanism on the compressor
may be needed. Practice is essential to a crisp, attractive finished product.
A simple coloring book is ideal to practice spray control and shading.
Following the out-line on a roll of patterned paper towel teaches hand
and eye coordination. For further instruction, check with http://www.sugarcraft.com
and books on airbrush art.
The Champ
Puppies steal
the hearts of young and old alike, and the Champ is sure to be a design
your customers will enjoy. Begin by base icing an oval layer with a smooth,
white buttercream icing. Set the cake layer aside until a slight crust
is formed. Gently roll a clean, dry wooden rolling pin across the top sur-face
to smooth any icing ridges.
Project the image
onto the cake. In a very small, resealable container, mix dark brown liquid
paste food color with a few drops of rum or vodka spirits. Dip a good quality
artist's liner brush in the smooth flowing brown , color and outline the
image on the icing surface. With some practice you'll find the outlining
process is easy and fast. Allow the cake to sit until the spirits
have evaporated and a stable outline remains.
Begin airbrushing
the dog following the folds of the skin. Remember, all objects have shades
of color with light
source highlights, so don't completely
fill the outline with solid colors. Your artwork will have depth and interest
if you practice this technique.
Add a complementary
color around the border area. An inscription and ac-cent piping make the
design complete.
Fourth of July
Stencil usage in cake decorating has created a whole new means of placing
a consistent design on top of a cake. A festive burst of color sets off
the in-scription on this Fourth of July cake. Cookie cutters provide a
quick and easy star outline to follow with air-brush color. Manufacturers
have created multi-ple-size, nested cookie cutters that can be used to
imprint the entire cake sur-face for a quick airbrushed design. Us-ing
two airbrush colors under the white piped borders completes the air-brushed
accent on this cake. Once you've grasped airbrush tech-nique you can create
cakes that cele-brate summer themes all season. Your customers will enjoy
your cakes' fresh looking appearances and you'll enjoy this nifty cake
decorating tool.
Add new dimension to old designs with
an airbrush
Beautiful
airbrush work can enhance your decorated cakes and add new dimension to
old designs. Subtle shadings give depth to designs. Soft-colored borders
made with the airbrush frame the cake's message. A rainbow glows in a scenic
airbrushed cake. A portrait appears in photographic natural color in airbrush
work. All this and more are possible by having control of and knowledge
of the workings of an airbrush.
Much of
the bakery use of the airbrush is confined to spraying on borders, colored
backgrounds and shading of flowers. These uses along with simple design
spraying using stencils or cut paper designs make up most decorators' use
of the airbrush.
It is important
to have good, reliable equipment and plenty of practice.
Many airbrushes
are available from http://www.sugarcraft.com. It is good to read through
their informationcarefully before making a selection. It is valuable to
go to bakery conventions and workshops to familiarize yourself with the
assortment available. Also, talk to people using them to answer questions
you might have about airbrush use. Hands-on experience with the brush is
best.
I use a
single-action airbrush that has a small color cup on top. This airbrush
sprays color as soon as you press the trigger. It also allows me to adjust
the amount of color coining out with a trigger adjustment. Check the AIRMASTER
system.
The hose
is connected to a low-pressure compressor. Some are equipped with a water
trap and filter to absorb humidity, which can cause splattering. The fluctuations
in the compressor, along with the amount of air pressure and the consistency
of the liquid color used in the color cup, cause beading when spraying.
My compressor
is equipped with a regulator gauge, which allows a variation in the air
pressure coining from it. Mine seems to work best in the 14-22 lbs. of
pressure range, depending on liquid color and type of airbrush work. For
simple stencils and borders, I use the lower pressure. For more detailed
work, I need to thin the color, apply more pressure and vary my distance
from the cake, when working on smooth, iced cakes.
Practice airbrushing on paper
Practice
on paper or white cardboard before trying cakes. Start with non no cooler
than 38 to 40 degrees. If small clots, making them even in size, customers
must freeze the cake for a controlling flare and over-spray by the time,
advise them to seal the box well angle of the brush and distance from and
bring to room temperature before the paper. Try about 12 pounds of
pressure to start and increase pressure and increase pressure in
small increments to see the results.
Progress to lines,
both thin and flared. Practice brushing from light to dark and back again.
The more you
pull the trigger, the more color you will spray. It is best to keep the
color coming out at a lower pressure. The closer to the surface you are,
the darker the hue. Do not go so close to the icing surface that you blow
holes in the icing.
Using the
airbrush like a pencil and staying close to the cake's surface will allow
you to make very fine lines and to write messages. Bracing your hand helps.
Notice the
practice board done in pink for dots, lines and writing.
The use of the stencil is illustrated
with the Scottie dog, a design I cut out of paper. If you need both hands
to spray and hold a stencil, use a corsage pin to prick a tiny pinhole
in the part of the design you wish to hold down, and insert the pin into
the cake through the hole so you can work freely. I recom-mend corsage
pins because they are easy to hold, see and remove.
Make scenic designs
Torn paper patterns
make realistic designs for cloud formations on scenic air-brushed designs.
I've thinned the liquid color used for sky and water and included some
reflections of clouds, mountains and other land masses to show light com-ing
from behind them. Note the very fine foreground detail, which can be made
with an average airbrush.
A simplified
background will be beautiful, with decorated details—such as a ship or
sailboats, waterfowl or foli-age and trees—added with icing tubes.
Remember that
the surfaces need to be free from dampness and wet spots to eliminate spray
spread and splattering.
Freezing
already sprayed cakes is difficult, as you colors may bleed and blur. If
cakes need to be held for a short time, it is best to put them in refrigeration
no cooler than 38 to 40 degrees. If customers must freeze the cake for
a time, advise them to seal the box well and bring to room temperature
before opening. This lessons water beading and bleeding.
Practice
so you may feel more comfortable with your airbrush. Keep it clean by burbling
the nozzle in clear hot water after each color and before hanging it up
at the end of the day. Be sure all liquid is expelled so the air gun is
clean and dry, ready for the next day's use.
The more you experiment
with the airbrush, the more innovative and proficient you will become and
the more enjoyment it will bring you.
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