ACD+ Elf Tutorial and Chocolate Ganache Recipe

ACD+ Elf Tutorial and Chocolate Ganache Recipe

Satin Ice Artist of Excellence, Beth Townsend created a spectacular sculpted Santa cake for our Holiday issue. Beth shares a cute tutorial for an Elf cake topper- the perfect sidekick to her Santa cake.

Components:

  • Rice Krispy Treats
  • Toothpicks
  • Skewer
  • Straw
  • Candy Melts
  • Buttercream
  • Rolling pin
  • Edible gold luster
  • small paintbrush
  • Satin Ice fondant: Green, Red, White, Black
  • Airbrush with Black Airbrush Color
  • Edible gel colors: black and blue
  • Modeling Tools

 

To create the Elf head and body, shape some Rice Krispy Treats (RKT) into a 3-inch ball and a 3 inch by 4-inch cone shape.

Beth notes: If the treats are a little loose, you can dip them into candy melts to set.

Place a large skewer and a drinking straw into the center of the cone piece for stability.

To create the Elf legs. Roll to sausage shapes using red fondant and squash one end flat, then, roll out a thin piece of white fondant and cut into 1/4 inch strips.

Adhere the white fondant strips to the red fondant (legs) using a little water.

Place the fondant legs onto your board to set.

Cover the RKT cone with a generous layer of buttercream. Roll out some red fondant quite thickly and cut a large triangular piece to cover the front of the cone. Create a vertical line down the front using a stitching wheel.

Roll out some green fondant and trim to create a piece large enough to wrap around the RKT cone.

Wrap the fondant around the exterior of the cone, leaving an opening in the front.

Attach the “body” to the legs using a little water and wrap a sausage of white fondant around the bottom of the “coat”.

Roll a large sausage of green fondant (tapering at either end) and cut into two pieces to create the arms.

Attach the arms to the body using a little water and using a Dresden tool, create creases for the elbows.

Roll a piece of black fondant into a conical shape and pull out one end to create a heel. Attach to the legs for the feet.

Roll two small pieces of red fondant for the mittens and create an indentation for the thumb. Attach to the arms and trim with a thin sausage of white fondant.

Add a cocktail stick to the body to secure the head.

Cover the headpiece with a thick layer of flesh-colored fondant and press in the thumbs to create the eye sockets. Use a Dresden tool to create a mouth cavity.

Attach the head onto the skewer and then taking some more of the flesh-colored fondant, create a button nose and two pointed ears and attach.

Trim the collar, and conceal the join by rolling and attaching a small piece of white fondant.

Roll a large sausage of green fondant, tapering to a thin point and hollowing out the base to form a hat. Attach to the top of the head using a little water and fold over the hat as shown.

Add a small ball of white fondant to the tip of the hat and a roll of white fondant to create a fondant fur trim.

Paint the buttons of the coat with a little edible gold paint.

Paint in the face details using a thin paintbrush and a little edible paint as shown

Add a little depth to the Elf by airbrushing grey or black airbrush color into the creases and crevices.

Tutorial created by Beth Townsend

Beth Townsend

Beth Townsend is an award-winning sugar artist specializing in sculpted cake artistry. She is a two time Food Network winner and winner of The Cooking Channel show, Cake Hunters. Beth is  a Satin Ice Artist of Excellence, cake decorating instructor and contributor to the Creativu crafting platform.

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