1. Cut out the shape of a shoe sole. I did this by placing my boot on the paper and marking the outline with a pencil. I then decided what size I wanted to make the cake and scanned the sketch and saved it as a jpg. I then placed that onto an A4 Word document and (holiding the shift key) pulled the corners in until it measured the correct size. Your page needs to be on 100% view. I used a 10” square chocolate fudge cake for this. Simply print out two if you require a left and right and turn one of them upside down.

2. Cut layers of cake, applying ganache in between. making each layer slightly shorter to match the shape of the shoe until you reach the height you require.

3. Cover the boot(s) with ganache and leave to set overnight if time allows. In the morning smooth the surface using a hot knife dipped in boiling water and leave to set again.

4. Start making the ‘uppers’. Inspect the real shoe to see which order the stitched pieces of leather are sewn on to the boot to decide which areas of the upper to apply first.

5. Continue to add the ‘leather’. Apply ‘stitching’ as appropriate using either a stitching wheel or small fork or even a toothpick (time consuming but does the job!). Make creases and dirty marks on the boots as you go along if required. I dipped my stitching wheel into yellow colouring powder to introduce ‘yellow thread’. Slightly lengthy processes as you have to keep applying the colour to the stitching wheel.

6. Add a strip of paste around the bottom of the boot and press it close to the boot to form the outer sole. mark with a tool to create ‘studs’ and crease lines.

7. Make the sections for the lacing and poke holes through while still soft. Apply stitching and allow to ‘sit’ for a short while before applying to the boot cake to make it easier to handle.

8. At this stage I coloured the board with greens and browns before adding the second boot (which I made at the same time as the first one).

9. Continue to add the features of the boots, including eyelets and laces. Laces are easily made by rolling long strips of paste and cutting as long a ‘lace’ as possible. Cut this into the sizes required as you go along ‘lacing’ the shoe (I didn’t take photos at this stage as time was running out!).

10. Leave to set overnight if possible with the kitchen roll in places.

11. The essential ‘cutting cake’ (they won’t want to cut their boots straight away!). This was being shared at my husband’s workplace and they were very appreciative of this or they wouldn’t have had any cake at all because he wanted to take the boots home to his wife and daughter to enjoy.

12. And the final boots. I made the label out of sugarpaste and the words are a standing joke… not intending to be as formal as it looks!

I hope this is helpful. There are more tutorials on my Facebook page and at some point I will put a handbag tutorial together for this site. This tutorial can also be found on my page https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.419123754838496.97298.183774861706721&type=1&l=10c808cab7

Thank you for looking! If you make any boots using this guide I would love you to post them on my Facebook page.

xxx

1. Roll out fondant onto board. Mix the fondant to the lightest shade of the stone and add bits of darker shades, roughly moulded in to the paste (I use fairly old fondant mixed with tylose to avoid ripping of the fondant at this stage and also mix bits of old and dry fondant in to create more of an ‘outdoor’ look!)

2. using the end of any round narrow instrument, mark the areas of paving out. I didn’t follow any picture or pattern, just made it up as I went along, so you can be as random as you like. Make sure you round off the corners of each ‘slab’ rather than make squares. smooth the lines where necessary.

3. Use the flat of your hand to smooth the ‘stones’ a bit and work them closer together.

4. Crinkle up some foil and randomly squish it over the stones. Keep turning the foil and re-squishing so you don’t get repeated patterns.

5. Use a knife to cut little pieces of fondant away to create dips in the stone if you wish.

6. Create colouring of your choice. In this case I sprinkled Sugarflair dusting colours, starting with a little brown on my (super clean) fingers and dabbed here and there. I sprinkled black on the palms of my (super clean) hands and did the same, adding a bit more here and there. Then I sprinkled gin on my palms and rubbed all over the stones adding more gin where required to lighten areas. This can also be done with water but I prefer gin because it dries quickly, doesn’t leave a shine and also sterilises the board! These next four photos show that process. In the last photo, the colouring has dried and so is no longer shiny. If you have added too much colour, rub a bit more gin over and dab it off with a kitchen towel.

7. Here is the board with the boot on. I had to make a second board to match it because the boot was horizontal in the end instead of vertical (it was a very tall thin hunting boot and gave way to gravity! but they loved the cake just the same – thankfully I had time to rectify it).

Have fun! questions always welcome.

thank you for looking
xx
x

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.389819501102255.92548.183774861706721&type=1&l=c52b3c2e1a
Fifi
x

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