Ornaments from mastics - we learn to do independently

Confectionery mastic is one of the most common materials used to make cakes and cakes. With her, they look much prettier, more appetizing and eaten many times faster. And what else should a mistress for happiness?

No less popular are ornaments made of mastic, which can be very diverse. Flowers, trees, vases, baskets, people, figurines of animals and even entire palaces are molded from it. The main thing is desire and imagination.

What is mastic?

The composition of the mastic is quite diverse, but its basis is always the powdered sugar. For this, it is often called sugar. The following components can add to it:

• marzipan;
• Marshmallow;
• starch;
• gelatin;
• milk;
• protein.

To change the color and smell of mastic, it adds a variety of flavors and food colors. Some even manage to add to it delicious pastry beads, sprouts, flowers - any options are possible. Thanks to all this, decorations from sugar mastic are always very diverse and look like real works of confectionery art.

Mixing

Different mastics are mixed in different ways. We will consider the simplest one, made from marshmallow. For its preparation you need the marshmallow candies and fine powdered sugar. If when mixing you will use a large powder with whole crystals of sugar, the mastic will break even when rolling.

The cooking process is simple. First, candies are melted to the state of mass, and then sugar powder gradually interferes with this mass. Finished mastic should be plastic, homogeneous and dense. It should not stick too much to your hands or objects. This is necessary in order to decorate the mastic was convenient to mold. To ensure that everything has turned out as it should, watch the proportions (which is more, and what's less) and try not to overheat the candy (it's enough to wait until the marshmallow will swell and melt).

Roll out

Then mastic should be rolled out. This is done on a powdered or starched table or between greased with any vegetable oil sheets of polyethylene. The downside of the first method is that the rolled sheet will have to be "stuck off" from the table, hold it by weight. Decoration with mastic cakes is easier to implement in the second way. In this case, you just need to remove the top polyethylene, turn the rolled sheet over, cover it with a cake and only then remove the remaining layer of polyethylene. The thickness of the rolled sheet of mastic should be about 3 mm. If it is less, it can break. It is thicker if you are going to sculpt something.

All taki it was torn?

If the sheet of mastic that you covered the cake, suddenly broke at the most crucial stage, do not despair. Plaster the seams, patches and other defects with a wide brush, previously moistened in water. Use such a brush with a cake until its surface becomes even.

If you find air bubbles under the layer of mastic, pierce it in these places with a needle and also carefully, with the help of a brush, smooth the holes.

What is better to paint?

Of course, it's best to use food colors, but it's not always possible to find them. Instead of them it is possible to use usual colors for Easter eggs, however it should be done very cautiously, since in such paints salt usually is present, and the mastic should not be salty. You can try and natural dyes: beet juice - for red color, spinach juice - for green, carrot juice - for orange. Of course, ornaments made of mastic painted in this way will be less beautiful, but 100% harmless.

The hardest thing to do is black mastic. To do this, mix three dyes: red, yellow and blue (1: 1: 2). Observe the proportions very clearly, but even so, there is absolutely no guarantee that you will get a neutral black tint. You can also get a black mastic, first preparing a brown (with burnt sugar or chocolate), and then adding a drop of blue dye to it.

Do you want mastic glistening?

To make the ornaments of mastic glisten, apply a layer of honey and vodka (1: 1) on them with a soft brush. Do not be afraid that vodka will affect the taste and smell of the cake, it will quickly evaporate without having time to harm.