Big Changes Coming!

Hi Cakeland!

As I gear up to kick off my fall classes - starting with my classes at Sweet House in Las Vegas NV - I am very excited to be embarking on an new journey in my cake career!

Only my family and very close friends were in on the secret until late last week when I took to social media to make the official announcement.....I am over the moon excited to tell you all that I have proudly joined The Cake Tool Company family!

The Cake Tool Company is owned and run by the amazingly talented Mercedes Strachwsky and her family.  I have long been a fan of Mercedes' work since purchasing here pdf tutorial, "The Magic of the Sea" now available on DVD!

Having just launched a little over a month ago, I answered an open application on facebook for artists to join the team, and honestly wasn't sure what my chances were given the number of followers the company has.  Needless to say, when I checked my e-mail a couple of weeks ago, I had to make sure I wasn't dreaming (it was 5am afterall).  I had an e-mail saying Congratulations.  I thought I won something as I had entered a few contests they were sponsoring, and in all reality, I feel I have won....the first line actually read, "Let me be the first to say congratulations and welcome to the family"!  There was some details I needed to send which was followed up with a phone call.  All I can say is in a few short weeks, I certainly feel like I am part of the family.

The Strachwsky family has been nothing but welcoming and nurturing, helping me navigate these new waters I am swimming in!  It feels like such a great fit, that every time we speak, I feel even better about this venture!

So what does all of this mean?  Well for starters, I am a member of their team of artists hand chosen to help promote the brand.. You can view their retail store here.  I will be playing with all of the line in the coming weeks (you all know this boy loves his cake toys) and giving you feedback, tips and tutorials for working with these awesome, high quality tools (and maybe a giveaway or two).  It also means down the road you can expect to see more of me in the way of instructional DVDs (perfect for those of you who are to far to make one of my classes in person) and maybe even a few tools I design to help bring your sugar skills to the next level!

Please be sure to follow me and The Cake Tool Company on Facebook, and keep your eyes posted here for more updates on this awesome adventure I am starting!  In the meantime, please leave me a comment here and let me know what you think my first digital class should be!

Until Next Time,

Happy Caking!

Free Tutorial - Gothic Lace Flower

I recently spent an amazing 3 days in Kitchener ON learning from my friend James Roselle as he was guest instructing at Icing Inspirations.  While I was there, I was able to pick up all the molds I pre-ordered from the Elissa Strauss fashion line.  On my drive home, I had a bunch of ideas going through my head, including one that I thought would be awesome on a goth style cake.

To make my Gothic Lace Flower, you will need:

Tricot Lace Mix – white

Tricot Décor Nature LaceMold

Bench Scraper

Black Airbrush Color

Skull Cameo Mold

Black Gel Color

Gumpaste (I prefer fondarific brand)

Spray Glaze

Gum Glue

Silver Highlighter

Lemon Extract

Start by making your center.  Make a small amount of grey gumpaste using the black gel color.  Take a tiny amount of the grey and color it black.  Use an even tinier amount of black, marble it in with the grey and cast your skull cameo.  Allow to dry overnight.

Mix some tricot lace medium using the package instructions.  To get black, I substituted in some black airbrush color by weight with the water.

Spread the medium over your lace mat (my mat is black, so I used a white mat for you to see it easier)

Bake according to package instructions (I usually leave it in until it is no longer tacky to the touch).

Remove leaves from mat and pace on bumpy foam to give them some shape and allow them to dry.

Paint the base of the cameo with highlighter mixed with lemon extract.  Allow to dry then spray with glaze – this will prevent the silver from coming off and will also help you achieve a true marble look to the skull.

Use a small circle of gumpaste as a base and adhere 3 of the same leaves to it with gumglue.  

Repeat with a second layer of leaves (different style) to fill in the spaces.  Add your skull cameo center and you have a fairly quick and easy Gothic Lace Flower (I left mine on the bumpy foam since it was really humid the day I was shooting the tutorial).

I really hope you enjoyed this tutorial – it helped me get into a dark place and come up with a few cool projects for a class I will be co-teaching with Suzanne of Savauri Sugar in early October – “Macabre Flowers”.  If you want to take part in the class, be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter (@morselsbymark) to keep up to date when the class is officially announced.  Also, be sure to check out the Morsels By Mark Store  where I am now making available some of the most requested tools from my classes.

Until Next Time – Happy Caking!