Here’s the final part of our Fancy Shoe & Shoebox tutorial. Part III of the tutorial reviews the following:

• Attaching the heel to the sole
• Creating the Vamp of the shoe
• Making the Bow for the shoe
• Attaching the bow to shoe
• Dressing up the board
• Putting it all together

Part I Video Tutorial | Part II Video Tutorial | Part III Video Tutorial

Part II of the tutorial reviews the following:

• Fondanting the Shoebox
• Applying the side fondant panels
• Applying the fondant lid
• Covering the Heel with Gumpaste
• Creating a foot for the heel

Part I Video Tutorial | Part II Video Tutorial | Part III Video Tutorial

Part I of high heel cake tutorial describing how to create a high heel structure out of gumpaste and modeling chocolate. The video shows how to create the high heel sole, inseam and heel. Below are some tips from the video:

Section 1: Create sole of the shoe

• I take a real shoe and cut away the entire the top of the shoe so that all is left is the sole.
• Create a template that fits on the shoe and use that to cut out gumpaste to place on the shoe.
• Tip: If you want speed up the process you can add tylos to your gumpaste it will help it dry out a little better.
• When making shoes, make the shoe pieces as far in advance as possible so they will be sturdy. This will help ensure stability when moving the cake structure.
• Place powdered sugar on top of the sole of the shoe template so it doesn’t stick when you want to take it off later.
• Roll the gumpaste to 1/8″ thick. Platform shoes should be thicker.

Section II: Making the High Heel Instep

• First create a template out of black gumpaste using an exacto knife. I rolled it out to about 1/16 of an inch.
• You can create a template if necessary -- in this case I did the cut freehand.
• The black instep should be a bit smaller then the white sole me made previous. I cut about 1/4″ inch on each side.
• To create stitch pattern, I used a stitch tool to give the impression the instep was sewn into the shoe.
• Place water on top of the sole before applying the Instep.
• Let the instep dry for a few days to ensure firmness

Section III: Making the Heel

• I use modeling chocolate or gumpaste to make the heel.
• When using modeling chocolate I let it dry for about 2 weeks and then wrap gumpaste around it to match the color of the shoe.
• Tip: You can create several heels out of modeling chocolate to use as basis for other future designs.
• First I roll the modeling chocolate into a log. I measure the height of the heel using the model shoe we started with.
• Tip: I like to add a skewer through the heel to add extra support. This is also good when placing the shoe on top of the cake as it can be used to support the shoe.
• I put a 45 degree angle for the heel to fit the sole appropriately.
• I let the heel dry a few days. In the case of modeling chocolate it generally only needs to dry for one day.

I hope you enjoy the video. We are taping for another cake challenge in California this week so expect the next one to be posted a week from now…

Part I Video Tutorial | Part II Video Tutorial | Part III Video Tutorial

Here’s a clip from the video:

Our segment highlighted our groom’s cakes including our popular cheeseburger cake, beer cake, and a rafting cake we created for a outdoor enthusiast. Below is a clip from the special:

In this clip we introduce our dresser cake and demonstrate how to create a cheeseburger cake. Please don’t mind the fact that I’m looking a bit uncomfortable at the beginning of the segment -- they didn’t tell me I was on yet…

In this clip I demonstrate how to decorate butterfly and ice cream sugar cookies. Enjoy!

Off to the right you’ll notice our dresser cake that we recreated for the Morris magazine shoot. The original dresser cake was created for the British Pine Emporium in Madison, NJ.

The video includes quick and easy decorating ideas:

• Explain basics of piping including selecting your tip, setting up your pastry bag, and piping buttercream on cupcakes
• Using shredded coconut decorations for your cupcake topped off with a tropical umbrella
• Using fondant to make acorn and leaf decorations
• Kneading fondant and how to deal with sticky or dry fondant (Shortening vs sugar)
• Decorating cupcakes with Savorski crystals
• The idea of using cupcake displays including tiered stands and cupcake display plates

Having trouble viewing the video? Try viewing it on You Tube.

Frosty the Snowman	Gingerbread Cookie
Dove Cookie	Mitten Cookie

My performance and our video skills are still a work in progress… but we hope you find the videos useful!  You can also view our videos on our You Tube cake and cookie decorating channel.