Today, almost everyone is familiar with the interesting word "mastic." Cakes made to order, decorated with her, became very popular and in demand. With the help of this substance, beautiful desserts are made, but not simple, but real pastry masterpieces. The masters who create this beauty, even the language does not dare to call simple confectioners. These are artists, these are true geniuses of their craft!
What is mastic?
Mastic became widely known about ten years ago, but still remains at the peak of its popularity. She has no equal for one simple reason: with her help you can create almost any figures and flowers, she has a plastic-like consistency and is not bad taste. And our article will tell you about how to make jewelry yourself from mastic with your own hands. Step by step we will reveal to you all the secrets of this beautiful and delicious art.
Types of Mastic
Mastic is different. It will be very difficult for a person just starting to work with her and looking, for example, at a specialized store, in all its diversity. And surely you need a detailed consultation of the seller about for what purpose this or that kind of this sweet plasticine is needed. So what is it like?
- Marzipan
- Chocolate
- Flower. It is it that is most often used to create very complex works, for example, the finest rose petals. The thing is that it is plastic, easily rolls out and dries quickly enough. Such qualities are ideal for these purposes. Therefore, if in the near future you will find decorating a cake with mastic with your own hands, plus your skill already allows you to make complex elements, choose this particular look.
- Honey.
- Sugar. This type of mastic is usually used for wrapping cakes.
- For modeling. From such mastic it’s good to make figures and simple decorations.
- Homemade from marshmallows.
What kind of mastic should a beginner choose?
Making a DIY decoration with mastic for beginners can be quite a challenge. Therefore, at first, for easier and faster improvement of skills, it is worth stopping your choice on purchased, rather than home-made mastic. The first is more expensive. But to create flowers and figures, you need to gain a certain skill, which is much easier to do with purchased mastic.
In stores you can find a wide variety of manufacturers, this will vary and the price of the product. Russian brands can be found for 250 p. / Kg, import (Italy, Sweden) - 500 p. / Kg. The novice master wants to advise the mastic for modeling. It is universal, suitable for covering the cake, and for creating figures and not very complex colors.
How to make mastic yourself?
If there are no specialized pastry shops nearby, but you really want to learn the art of decorating cakes with mastic, do not despair! You can make it yourself, but the base for this will be a marshmallow chewing souffle. The most common brand of this dessert that can be purchased in almost any grocery market is Bon Paris.
Yes, it is precisely these viscous sweet candies that we will need. A pair of sachets with a total weight of 180 grams can be purchased for 110-120 rubles, and the finished mastic as a result of this amount will turn out 900-1000 grams! As you can see, the savings are obvious. But this is not the only plus of homemade mastic. Many people consider it tastier than a purchased competitor.
So, do you need to decorate the cake with mastic with your own hands? We will tell you how to make this product yourself using marshmallows. Everything is very simple. You need to put the souffle in a bowl, melt it to a viscous state in the microwave, add 2 tablespoons of room temperature butter to it, a couple of teaspoons of natural lemon juice and mix it all well. After this, you need to add one tablespoon of powdered sugar to the mass (stock up on it, you will need a total of 500-700 grams of this product) until it acquires the consistency of batter. After this, the future mastic must be kneaded (like a regular dough). Homemade wonderful product is ready! It is necessary to store such mastic in the same way as purchased mastic - always in cellophane film and in the refrigerator.
What does a beginner need?
In order to create figures with jewelry yourself, of course, you need to have the appropriate confectionery equipment. These are special sets, which are sometimes accompanied by a brochure that describes what this or that tool is for.
To create petals, leaves, felling is necessary. They can be metal or plastic.
To create a specific texture, for example, natural lines of petals and leaves, so-called winners are used. They are not cheap, but with their help your creations will become ideal and simply irresistible.
For convenient work, it would be nice to have a silicone mat and rolling pin. And, of course, the novice cake decorator always needs to keep the appropriate training book at hand, where it would be shown in great detail why this or that tool or cutting is needed, how to create a rose or violet, orchid or lily with their help.
Secrets of working with mastic
Each confectioner has his own unique and original ways of working. We will tell you about the basic and well-known. Knowing these secrets, you can even more easily create jewelry from mastic with your own hands.
- In order for the pre-cut parts from mastic not to dry before time, cover them with polyethylene.
- If you want to color the mastic, use gel dyes, not dry ones. They already have a liquid texture, so using them is easier to color the product evenly.
- After your decoration is ready and dried, to give it a more saturated color and shine, hold it for 10 seconds over a saucepan with steam.
- If you want to give the jewelry a glossy shine, arm yourself with a brush and a mixture of vodka with honey in a 1: 1 ratio. Brush your masterpiece. Do not worry, the smell of vodka will evaporate, and the mastic will look smooth and shiny.
- If the mastic is dry, just send it for 5-10 seconds in the microwave, and then knead thoroughly.
- In order not to overdo it with the color intensity when staining the product, use a toothpick. With its help, it is very easy to intervene the dye in the smallest doses and control the process.
- Mastic can be cut with ordinary scissors. With their help, you can, for example, cut cloves on a leaf of rose.
Do-it-yourself jewelry from mastic. Workshop using silicone molds
The easiest way is to make some figure out of mastic using silicone mold. With him, everything becomes easier and faster. Molds can be large and small. With their help, you can make 2d-decorations (in which only the "front" part is created) and 3d-figures. In the latter case, a complete product is obtained, beautiful from all sides.
Let's take a step-by-step look at how to make jewelry from mastic with your own hands using silicone molds? For example, create a colorful 2-d flower.
We will need:
- Mastic of 3 different colors.
- 2-d mold.
- A confectionery tool in the form of a narrowed “shoulder blade” (but you can do without it).
The manufacturing process is very simple.
- Take the mastic of the first color. Fill it with a piece of the bottom hole of the mold, pressing it with your fingers and a spatula on all sides. You need to be sure that the mastic has completely filled the entire capacity, without leaving a single mm of free space. Only under this condition will the figure have a high-quality performance.
- Take a piece of mastic of a different color, in our case - light green. Fill them with the middle part of the mold.
- Take a blue piece of mastic, for convenience it can be folded into a circle and fill the rest of the mold.
- Press the mastic well. If there is a surplus, they just need to be carefully cut with a knife.
- Place the mold in the freezer for 3-5 minutes.
- Very carefully remove the resulting figure from the mold, stretching its walls.
- Leave the decoration in the open air until it dries completely.
Just like that, within 10 minutes and with the help of silicone mold you can make a beautiful flower of mastic yourself .
Examples of decorating with wedding cake mastic
Wedding cakes are one of the most popular desserts ordered in pastry shops. But they are usually not the most complex. You only need to have the right inventory. And then any housewife will be able to cope with decorating a wedding cake. Do not believe? See for yourself!
For example, very popular handmade jewelry made of mastic is pearls or beads.
They can be quickly and accurately made using just such a silicone mold.
Then it will not be necessary to sit all evening for the shaping of each ball. Smooth, the same size, one to one beads, undoubtedly, will delight guests! A similar performance of a wedding dessert will be simple, but very sophisticated!
Cake mastic decorations for men
Does your soulmate have a holiday soon? Birthday or promotion? Why would you decorate a cake for your beloved? After all, he is a man! And they do not like butterflies and flowers, "shusi-pusi" is not for them. Strong sex! And that's it! In this case, you can buy the appropriate "male" silicone mold in the form of a car or phone (a pack of money will also be helpful). And do-it-yourself jewelry from mastic for your husband, or rather, for a gift cake, can be done very quickly! You can please and surprise your soulmate not only with the most delicious biscuit, but also with your resourcefulness. Your loved one will tell you: “Thank you, dear!”
Do-it-yourself jewelry from mastic. There are gifts for boys too!
Boys are the same little men! And they are not far from dads in desires. Cake decorations in the form of cars, pistols and other joys are also great for them. You can decorate dessert with figures in the form of cookies, sweets, candies or chocolate. If your little son is a fan of some cartoon character, then you can try to find and purchase a mold with the figure of his idol.
Happiness and delight in the eyes of your child are 100% guaranteed to you!
Decorations from mastic on a cake for the girl
Decorating a birthday cake for a daughter or niece will be easier than for a boy. Molds with various colors and bows will help here, as well as the figures mentioned in the article in the form of sweets, and butterflies, and dolls, and much more.
A special chic and long-awaited gift is a cake for the girl, made in the form of a doll. We will give an example of making such a decoration from mastic with our own hands (with photo) for a girl.
For this, the most ordinary Barbie can be used. In this case, the biscuit is baked in the form of a dome-skirt, the doll’s legs are inserted into it, and then with the help of mastic it is decorated both its upper part and the resulting skirt. Mastic in this case is perfect, as it can be easily cut with a regular knife or scissors into ribbons, circles, canvases and (it would be a fantasy!) To make the most beautiful dress out of these pieces!
As you can see, it is not necessary to order a cake from mastic in special pastry shops. It is quite possible to try to master the simplest techniques of this art by yourself. And the main assistants to the novice master will be silicone molds. On sale there is a huge number of them with a wide variety of ideas - from floral to New Year's, from male to female.
Try and do it! It’s a pleasure to make mastic decorations with your own hands for a birthday or any other holiday. Your relatives will surely appreciate your efforts and with admiration will thank you with all my heart!