I would like to prepare festive dishes not only tasty, but also beautifully. We pay special attention to desserts and cakes, trying to create a real pastry masterpiece. This is true in 2020, as the mistress of the year - the White Metal Pig is an incredible esthete. So, cake decorating: how to decorate an original New Year's baking to surprise everyone at the festive table?
Preparatory stage
There are quite simple jewelry options for which you will need: chocolate, nuts, dried fruits, fresh fruits, marmalade, ready-made figurines from the store. If you plan to work on the decoration yourself, you will need: sugar, food colors, confectionery powders, molds to create figures.
Of the tools, a confectionery syringe will be relevant if you decide to make inscriptions and patterns with a cream. Cream decoration provides all the necessary components for cooking. Most often it is: milk, chocolate, cream, butter, eggs, condensed milk.
The most beautiful decorations for New Year's cakes
Let's start creative experiments at home with cream jewelry. For decorating cakes, only a few types of cream masses are used:
- oil;
- creamy;
- protein.
Butter cream
Oil cream can be varied by adding cocoa or food coloring. Getting ready is easy.
- oil, fat content not less than 82%;
- sugar;
- liquid food coloring.
- Mix and whip the three components with a blender.
- Boiled condensed milk can be added to the oil cream, which will provide a thick consistency and give a pleasant taste.
Protein Cream
- 6 tablespoons of sugar;
- 3 eggs;
- a slice of lemon or a pinch of citric acid;
- colorants and flavors optional.
- We will need ¼ cup of water and sugar to make the syrup. We put the liquid on the fire and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Put the squirrels in the bowl and beat with a mixer. To get a thick white foam, add a few drops of lemon juice or throw a pinch of citric acid.
- Continue to beat, gradually adding sugar syrup. Beat a couple more minutes and at this moment you can add dyes and flavors.
- If you are worried about the density, add agar agar while preparing the protein cream.
Butter cream
Butter cream is prepared according to the same principle as butter.
- cream not less than 32% 6 Art. l
- powdered sugar 3 Art. l
- liquid food coloring
- flavor
- Before whipping the components, experienced chefs recommend cooling the container in which you will make the cream, and the cream itself.
- Beat all chilled ingredients to a dense consistency.
- If you are worried about the density, purchase a special thickener for cream in advance. You can also use additives in the form of dyes and flavorings.
- Apply cream to the surface of the cake with a culinary syringe.
- Using different nozzles, you can create floral and geometric patterns, as well as fancy lines.
Cakes are very popular for the New Year, decorated with mastic. You can make marshmallow or sugar mastic or buy ready-made jewelry in a candy store or supermarket. Mastic expands horizons, because it helps to create voluminous, beautiful and, most importantly, edible “objects”.
Sugar mastic
- 80 ml of water;
- 20 g of oil;
- 7 g of gelatin;
- 2 tablespoons of glucose;
- 1 kg of powdered sugar.
- Brew gelatin with warm water and stir until completely dissolved. If necessary, dye is introduced at this stage.
- We add glucose and oil to gelatin, mix and cool.
- It's time to add powdered sugar and mix thoroughly so that it is completely absorbed into the mastic.
Marshmallow mastic
- packaging of chewing marshmallows;
- powdered sugar;
- butter.
- Marshmallows with a piece of butter are heated in the microwave until it becomes twice as large. For heating, you can use a water bath.
- Add the necessary dye, powder to the marshmallow and knead until a plasticine consistency is obtained.
With marshmallow mastic, they not only cover cakes, but also create original figures, for example, the White Rat - a symbol of 2020.
Meringues
Another option for creating a culinary decor is meringue. You can buy ready-made or make them yourself.
- 5 eggs;
- food coloring;
- 250 g of sugar.
- We cool the eggs, separate the proteins and pour them into the mixer.
- Add sugar or powder in the ratio: 1 part protein - 2 parts sugar. We introduce gradually, without ceasing to whip the proteins.
- After pouring all the sugar, beat for about 8 minutes. Perhaps, due to the power of the mixer, it will take longer, so focus on the final result: the protein mass should be dense.
- If you want to get colored meringues, paint half the mass in the desired color.
- Put our whipped squirrels in a pastry bag. If there are colored meringues, place a white mass on one side of the bag and a colored mass on the other.
- Take a baking sheet, cover it with baking paper, squeeze the meringue from the bag. The oven must be preheated to 90 degrees. Bake for about 2 hours.
If you want the symbol of 2020 - Metal Rat was pleasantly surprised by your culinary experiments, create an unusual decor using chocolate glaze.
Dark chocolate icing
Chocolate and chocolates are very popular. Pour the finished cake with icing from white or black chocolate, and then place a lot of chocolate treats on it. This can be a chaotic combination of sweets of various shapes, pieces of chocolate, straws, dragees and bars.
Ornaments made from candied berries - cherries or cranberries are also appropriate. On a white chocolate base, the berries look especially beautiful and create a New Year's decor. And on the basis of dark chocolate pink figures of pigs from mastic look great.
- 100 g of dark chocolate;
- 75 ml of milk.
- Melt the chocolate in milk.
- This is best done in a water bath.
White glaze
The principle of preparation is the same as in the previous recipe.
- 100 g of white chocolate;
- 100 g of powdered sugar;
- 50 ml of milk.
Put the container in a water bath and melt the white chocolate in milk, add the icing sugar and mix everything thoroughly until smooth.
If you want to create figures of the White Rat from chocolate, stock up on stencils and cookie cutters. For novice cooks, a mold is best suited, where you can pour the chocolate mass and send it to the refrigerator. Molds in the form of snowflakes, Christmas trees, snowmen and, undoubtedly, piglets are very appropriate as decoration new year's cake.
Caramel
Caramel is ideal for decorating festive pastries.
- 200 g of sugar;
- 5 drops of vinegar essence;
- 150 ml of water.
How to cook:
- We mix sugar with water and put on a slow fire, stirring constantly with a spoon.
- You can make caramel figurines using a potato cliche. To do this, take half the potatoes and cut out the desired shape inside.
- Dip the cliche in a still hot caramel and put on a plate greased with vegetable oil. The caramel sticks to the surface of the plate, but retains the necessary shape.
- Until the figure has frozen, modify it.
Step-by-step recipes for New Year's cakes
New Year's celebration implies a special menu for the holiday. Dessert also have to be special. I made a selection of delicious cakes for the New Year 2020 Metal Rat, which you can cook for your household and guests.
"Berry"
The cake with a juicy name combines the tenderness of puff pastry and the aroma of wild berries, so everyone will like it without exception.
- 360 g of condensed milk;
- 320 ml cream 33% fat;
- 410 g frozen blueberries;
- 360 g of raspberry ice cream;
- 0.5 kg of flour;
- 400 g of oil;
- 1 egg
- 1 spoon of vinegar;
- ½ table salt;
- 175 ml of cold water.
Step by step cooking:
- Mix the chicken egg with vinegar and salt, pour in the water, mix and send to the refrigerator.
- In the flour add frozen grated butter. Mix, form a slide and make a notch in it.
- We take out the egg mass from the refrigerator and add it to the dough. Knead thoroughly. The formed dough is placed in a bag, sent to the refrigerator for several hours.
- Preheat the oven to 185 degrees.
- We take out the dough, divide into parts for cakes. Roll out each cake so that its thickness does not exceed 2 mm. It should turn out 5-6 cakes. Each bake for about 10 minutes.
- Whip cream, gradually introduce condensed milk.
- Put on a dish and coat with cream, spread a layer of berries. Repeat the action first: cake-cream-berries.
- Berries can be laid out both mixed and alternating layer by layer.
- We coat the top cake with cream, put it in the refrigerator.
- Before serving, decorate with berries and mint leaves.
"Bright"
We fully justify our name, and will be an ideal option for the New Year's table.
- 210 g granulated sugar;
- 110 g of strawberries;
- 3 cups flour;
- 210 g of oil;
- 8 eggs;
- 2.5 tablespoons of cocoa;
- 350 g cream cheese;
- ¼ spoon of food coloring;
- 1 pack of baking powder;
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar.
- We heat the oven to 185 degrees.
- Beat eggs for about 10 minutes.
- Add baking powder to the flour.
- We put 110 g of butter in a stewpan and put it on a small fire so that the butter melts a little.
- Pour the butter into the flour, stirring slowly. Add the eggs and mix thoroughly.
- We divide the dough into three parts: we add pink dye to one, cocoa to the second, and the third is left without additives.
- Cover the baking dish with paper, put the chocolate mass into it and put it in the oven for 15 minutes. Then bake pink cake, and after - cake without additives.
- Mix 100 g of melted butter with cream cheese and beat for about 10 minutes, pour in powdered sugar and continue to beat for about 7 minutes. As a result, we should get an air mass.
- Put chocolate cake on the dish, grease with cream and cover with pink cake. Again, coat with cream thoroughly and spread the cake without additives.
- Lubricate the top of the cake and the sides with butter cream and decorate the cake with strawberry berries. It is best to cut them into slices.
- We put it in the refrigerator for 4 hours. This dessert will be a decoration on any table.
Mega Chocolate
Better than chocolate on New Year's Eve, there will only be a Megash Chocolate cake, which simultaneously contains the taste of black, milk and white chocolate in combination with Amaretto liqueur and a delicate cream. I am sure that this cake will be a New Year's hit and will win the hearts of the sweet tooth.
For biscuit:
- 200 g of sugar;
- ¾ Art. flour;
- 5 eggs;
- 1 pinch of salt;
- ¼ Art. starch.
For the basics:
- 210 g of milk chocolate;
- 210 g of dark chocolate;
- 210 g of white chocolate;
- 1 gelatin plate;
- 6 yolks;
- 65 g of butter;
- 455 g of heavy cream;
- 25 g pine nuts;
- 25 g of walnuts;
- 25 g of cocoa;
- 1 bottle of whipped cream;
- 55 ml of Amaretto liquor.
- Separate the yolks from the proteins. We put the proteins in the refrigerator, and grind the yolks with sugar until smooth.
- We add flour and starch to the yolks, knead quickly to avoid lumps.
- Salt the cooled proteins, beat until high foam, introduce the mass into the dough gradually.
- We lay out the form with parchment, coat with oil. Preheat the oven to 185 degrees. Put the dough in a mold, align the top and set for 40 minutes to bake. After 20 minutes, turn off the oven and leave a biscuit in it. You can use a cake biscuit only 3 hours after baking.
- Grate the cake, roll the nuts with a rolling pin, mix the biscuit and nut mass in a bowl, add liquor and cocoa to it.
- We coat the form with oil, spread the parchment, spread the biscuit-nut mass.
- Divide the gelatin plate into 3 parts and soak for 10 minutes.
- Crush black chocolate, 2 tsp. leave for powder, put the rest in a water bath, introduce 2 yolks, ⅓ part of the oil, ⅓ gelatin. As soon as the mass reaches homogeneity, let it cool down a little.
- Whip the cream and pour into the chocolate mass.
- We repeat the previous procedure for milk and white chocolate, allowing the workpieces to cool slightly.
- We spread a mass of milk chocolate on a biscuit base and refrigerate for 25 minutes. After that, spread the mixture of white chocolate and put it in the refrigerator for 25 minutes. We also do with dark chocolate.
Before serving, decorate with whipped cream and chocolate chips.
Cake without baking "New Year's mood"
On New Year's holidays in 2020, I want something special, so take some new recipes into service. Cakes without baking remain relevant for several years. Perhaps I’ll start with them.
- 1 biscuit;
- 400 g of yogurt;
- 12 g of gelatin;
- 1 orange
- 2 tangerines;
- 50 g canned pineapple;
- 1 banana
- Take a ready-made biscuit or bake it pre for our cake. Dice.
- Pour gelatin with 3 tablespoons of warm water, mix yogurt with icing sugar.
- Cut the orange and banana into slices, pineapple into slices, divide the mandarin into slices.
- We cover the detachable form with a film, lay out the biscuit and fruit beautifully, but leave some of these components for the second layer. We recommend placing orange circles on the sides of the mold.
- Pour gelatin into yogurt, mix thoroughly; Pour half the mass into the mold. Again, lay out a layer of fruit and biscuit cubes and fill with the remaining yogurt.
- We put in the refrigerator until the cake freezes.
- Turn it over to a flat dish, remove the film and decorate with Christmas trees made of chocolate. You can use other New Year decorations for this delicious cake.
Curd Cheesecake
Curd Cheesecake on the New Year's table will be appropriate, since its taste and appearance are entirely consistent with the winter celebration.
- 0.5 kg of cottage cheese;
- 1 can of condensed milk;
- 10 g of gelatin;
- ⅔ cup of milk or plain water;
- 250 g of cookies (it is better to take shortbread);
- 100 g of oil;
- 100 g currant or cherry jam with whole berries.
- Grind cookies into crumbs, add melted butter, mix.
- We cover the bottom of the form with paper, lay out our basis for the future cake in it, tightly tamp.
- We dilute gelatin in 2/3 cups of warm water, leave for 10 minutes. Stir so that the gelatin becomes homogeneous and without lumps.
- Mix curd with condensed milk, add gelatin, whisk.
- We spread the curd mass in a mold, cover it with cling film and put it in the refrigerator for several hours.
- Before serving, divide into portions, and pour each piece of jam with jam and decorate with a leaf of mint.
Quick chocolate cake with cream and cherry
For cake:
- 4 tablespoons of cocoa;
- 2 tbsp. flour;
- 2 eggs;
- 1 cup of milk;
- 1 cup of sugar;
- 1 tsp baking powder;
- 1 tbsp. l vinegar
- 1 tsp soda;
- vanilla.
For cream:
- 400 ml cream;
- ⅔ Art. Sahara;
- 2 tbsp. pitted cherries.
- We mix cocoa, soda, flour and baking powder in a large container.
- Separately, in a bowl, beat the butter with sugar. Add eggs and beat until smooth.
- Add the vinegar to the milk, which will allow it to ferment.
- It's time to mix all three pieces in one bowl. Mix thoroughly and beat with a mixer. So get the chocolate dough. Pour out its baking dish. First, cover the bottom of the form with parchment paper, and grease the sides with oil.
- We send the future cake to the oven, preheated to 180 degrees. We check the readiness of the cake with a toothpick in the thickest place: if the dough does not stick and does not stretch, you can turn it off.
- In the meantime, prepare the cream: clear the cherries, whip the cream with icing sugar for 3 minutes at low speed.
- We divide the finished cake into two parts, each coat with cream and sprinkle with berries. Cover the lower crust with cream more thoroughly.
- You can decorate the cake with grated chocolate.
Useful Tips
If you want to surprise guests for the New Year 2020 not only with the taste of the cake, but also with its appearance, you can use the latest trends in cake decorating.
- A “rustic” or “naked” cake. The point is not to cover the sides and top of the cream. Instead, decorate the pastries with what nature has given: berries and fruits, leaves and fresh flowers.
- Rainbow. All cakes should be of different colors. The top can be decorated with white cream or continue the trend of rainbow decoration. For this, multi-colored mastic or dragees are used.
- Color transitions. You can choose 1-2 colors using all kinds of shades. As a result, you get a confectionery ombre.
- Quilling decoration. This technique from needlework turned into cooking, only in this case apply patterns from mastic. Such cakes look simply bewitching.
My recommendations are aimed at making the New Year's table, and with it the holiday, truly special, surprising and bright.