Learning Curves! #1: How I made a Sugarpaste Harley Davidson - 2010

I have been asked several times for a tutorial on this, so I have made this video which is a collection of photos I took at the time and is by no means the best way to do one. It is merely a guide if you haven’t made one before and need ideas! I was very new to cake decorating and did not follow any guides or tutorials and was simply working from a photograph of a bike… so… there are many, many flaws. This was my first technical sugarpaste construction for a friend whose mother was turning 84 and used to ride a Harley simlar (ish!) to the one I made.

Anyway, the main rule is START 3 WEEKS AHEAD and make the wheels first. They need to be rock hard, so make with petal paste. Ideally, make them white and paint them black afterwards. I find that black and other dark colouring pastes weaken petal paste.

It is much, MUCH easier to make a bike that is leaning against something, so if the cake design can allow for this, so much the better. This took a tumble in the car on the way to the party so came back to me for repairs. The ‘restored’ bike sits happily in the lady’s cabinet on a new mount, made sturdier by surrounding the wheels with firm petal paste which I then coloured a dark green.

So, things to make (technical terms not known…!):

Wheels, Saddlebags, Handlebars (all in one with brake cable, using wires), mirrors, pedals, seats, head (the thing with the petrol cap and speedometer), Lights, Wheel Arches, engine bits, exhausts, discs in the centre of the spokes (where the rods attach). Some people use wires for the spokes but I made them with royal icing and, as you will see from the photos, the royal icing sagged as I did it while they were upright after I had attached them to the board. Not a good move..!

You will need:

Petal paste, colours of your choice, rolling pin, wires, cocktail sticks, royal icing, skewer or any thing to poke small holes and patterns with, knife, paintbrushes, various props, piping bag and nozzle for studs, rice paper (optional, you can use sugarpaste), a board to mount the bike.

In hindsight, I would have made a wooden board with spokes to mount the front and rear wheels and centre body of the bike, so that is my advice now!

Thank you for looking. Good luck!

Fifi

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