Today, sugar paste cakes are becoming more and more popular. Thanks to the variety of confectionery tools and ingredients, not only professionals, but also amateurs can now try their hand at this art. But you should not expect that “unearthly beauty” will turn out the first time: the art of working with mastic, like any other art, needs to be learned. Each case has its own secrets and tricks, which can be reached by trial and error. So that you can quickly and efficiently learn how to work with sugar mastic, we have prepared a selection of useful tips for you.
How to roll out sugar mastic?
There are several ways to roll out:
- On a surface sprinkled with starch or powdered sugar.
- Between sheets of polyethylene lubricated with vegetable oil.
- On a mat with a non-stick surface.
The most famous way is to roll out the mastic on a surface sprinkled with powder or starch. The only difficulty of the first method is that the rolled layer of sugar mastic must be constantly rotated during rolling so that it does not stick to the surface. If you choose the second option, you will need to remove the top layer of polyethylene from the rolled mastic, turn the layer over, evenly cover the cake with it and only then separate the second layer of polyethylene. However, thin polyethylene (for example, cling film) is not suitable for our purposes: here we need to use something thicker and more substantial, like a film for greenhouses.
What to do if the mastic is torn or cracked all the time?
Sugar mastic is not intended for very thin rolling. The thickness of the formation should be approximately 2-3 mm (thicker is also not desirable). Thinly rolled mastic has its drawbacks: firstly, it can tear during the coating of the cake, and secondly, all the defects and irregularities of your culinary masterpiece (for example, cake layers and pieces of cream) will be visible under it. All errors must be corrected before you decide to cover the cake with sugar fondant. The surface of the cake should be smooth, without protruding edges and folds.
It is also possible that when kneading the mastic, you used “coarsely ground” powdered sugar, in which whole sugar crystals come across. There's nothing to be done: such a mastic will tear even when rolling.
If the layer that covered the cake nevertheless broke at the most crucial moment, do not despair. To restore the cake, it is best to remove the layer of mastic and cover it again. If the first action is not possible, then the seams, patches and other shortcomings can be “smoothed out” with the help of a confectionery iron and vegetable fat. Apply grease to the damaged surface and smooth the cake with an iron until its surface is perfectly even. And if air bubbles suddenly appear under a layer of mastic, try to pierce them with a needle, and then gently smooth out the “holes”.
How to properly cover a cake with sugar mastic?
In order to avoid ugly folds on the sides of the cake, the following is necessary: roll out the sugar mastic with a small margin (about 5-10 cm) and so that this margin is maintained around the entire circumference. Covering the cake, the sugar mastic will stretch under its own weight and lie flat on it. After that, take a round pizza cutter and carefully cut off "anything extra".
What to do if the base began to shine through from under the layer of mastic?
Most likely, the matter is in humidity: sugar mastic is very sensitive to it. Perhaps you did not comply with the storage conditions or used a lot of impregnation. It is necessary to store the finished cake in a tightly closed airtight box or in a plastic bag (and preferably no more than 2 days).
What should be the cake layers?
For the base, it is best to use dry biscuits or butter cakes. It is advisable to use buttercream or ganache. Souffle, cream, sour cream can sag under the weight of mastic or make cakes moist and soft. After the cake is covered with cream, it must be put in the refrigerator for several hours. Once the cream has set, the cake can be covered with sugar mastic. If the cream does not have time to completely harden, ugly dents may form on the surface of the cake after coating with mastic.
How to paint mastic?
It is best to color sugar mastic with special gel ones. It is not advisable to use liquid food coloring, because. they change the consistency of the sugar paste, it will most likely become sticky and impossible to work with.
How to store the finished mastic?
For storage, sugar mastic is recommended to be well packed in polyethylene or put in an airtight container. It is not necessary to put this container in the refrigerator: the mastic just needs to be protected from moisture and air so that it does not dry out ahead of time and does not get wet. Any mastic can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months.
How to "make" mastic shine?
In order for the sugar mastic to shine, apply a layer of honey-vodka solution (honey and vodka in a 1: 1 ratio) with a soft brush on it. Don't worry, the vodka will evaporate quickly and won't affect the taste or smell of the cake.
Where to buy buttercream for cake?
The store "Confectioner's House" offers a wide range of fondant for cakes and sugar flowers from the best British manufacturers, as well as a large selection of confectionery equipment and decorating tools. We will deliver the order to any region of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan! To wholesale buyers of a discount!
In this topic, I listed the important points that I myself encountered when working with sugar mastic. I managed to solve something myself, in some situations I looked for answers on the Internet. I am happy to share my experience! I hope it will be useful to someone.
- What proportions of powdered milk and powdered sugar are most ideal for making good mastic? How to choose the right condensed milk (
The ratio of powdered and powdered milk should be 1:1. It is not the volume of the ingredients that is measured, but their weight. You can measure the ideal ratio in a measuring cup by mixing 350 ml of powdered sugar with 500 ml of powdered milk. Powder and milk should be compacted by tapping on the bottom of the measuring cup. At the same time, the powder must be sifted through the finest sieve, in order to avoid the ingress of large sugar particles, which will adversely affect the quality of the mastic (sugar mastic is torn due to this oversight). Add enough condensed milk to this mixture so that the mastic is soft and slightly sticky.
The condensed milk must be of good quality. The jar should have the inscription "Condensed milk", not "Condensed milk". The composition should be exclusively milk and sugar, without substitutes and fats in large quantities. otherwise, there is a chance that the mastic will not hold its shape.
- How to work with mastic so that it does not stick to the work surface?
In order to prevent mastic figures from sticking to the table and dishes during modeling and drying, they should be placed on a surface covered with cellophane or cling film.
- How to paint mastic with dry dyes?
I just dilute them with lemon juice and add them to the finished mastic for mixing. Sometimes I mix the mastic with lemon juice and condensed milk before kneading, and then I add a mixture of powdered milk and powdered sugar. However, I rarely color the mastic completely. More often I cover finished figures from unpainted mastic with the necessary color, also diluting dry food coloring in lemon juice.
- How to remove an accidental blunder with food coloring on mastic?
Very simple. It is enough to grease the surface with lemon juice and wipe it with a dry brush, which will absorb the stained juice.
- What to do if the mastic is weather-beaten and has become stone? What to do to make the hardened mastic soft?
To do this, you can simply hold for 5-10 seconds (depending on the volume of mastic) in the microwave or oven. When warmed up, the mastic will become soft. I also sometimes use lemon juice so that the hardened mastic is again suitable for baking. It is enough to add the required amount of lemon juice to it and knead well. The mastic will crumble, but you should not pay attention to this.
- How and how long to store milk mastic?
Milk mastic must be stored tightly wrapped in a plastic bag to prevent air from entering. Should be stored in the refrigerator. It is advisable to use and eat it within 2-3 weeks, as longer storage will spoil its taste.
- Why does mastic not keep its shape, floats?
In the manufacture of mastic, it is necessary to use exclusively milk powder, which should not be fatty. Due to the high percentage of fat milk powder, the mastic will turn out crumbly and will leave an oily mark on the surface, the product will not keep its shape. In addition, it will melt before your eyes. The same will happen when using dried cream.
- How to use silicone molds for mastic?
Before use, the silicone mold for mastic must be thoroughly rinsed without the use of abrasive agents, and then dried thoroughly. Before laying mastic in the mold, it is necessary to sprinkle its inner surface with food starch, powdered sugar or dry milk. Push the mastic into the mold and put it in the microwave for 5 seconds at the highest power. Food silicone tolerates temperatures from -40 to +250 degrees Celsius. The softened heated mastic must be pressed again to fill the smallest parts of the silicone mold with it. Then put the mold in the freezer until it hardens for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of the figure. The frozen mastic is easily removed from the mold.
- What to do so that the cake does not shine through the mastic after coating? What cream is used to cover the cake with sugar mastic?
The base for coating with mastic should not be wet. Mastic should be covered on a dry biscuit or on a biscuit smeared with butter cream. If another cream is used, then a thin layer of marzipan mass, ganache or butter cream should be applied to its surface. Before covering with mastic, the cake should be put in the refrigerator until the cream hardens. After coating, too high humidity should be avoided when storing the cake. If possible, it should be placed in an airtight container in a cool room.
- What is the optimal thickness when rolling mastic?
In order for the mastic not to tear when covering the cake, not to shine through and hide small surface irregularities, it should not be rolled out too thinly. The thickness of the rolled mastic layer should be about 3 mm.
- How to roll out the mastic so that it does not stick and does not tear?
The most convenient in my opinion are two ways of rolling mastic. The first is to roll out the mastic on a surface sprinkled with powder or starch. But I don't really like this option, as the mastic dries quickly. The second is to roll out the mastic between two polyethylene. In order for the mastic surface to be even, dense polyethylene should be used, and thin cellophane is suitable for a textured surface. In addition, the mastic rolled out in this way is easier to transfer to the cake without damage, and without fear that it will tear.
- How to make figurines from mastic shiny?
To do this, use a brush to grease them with a solution of vodka and honey, in equal proportions.
- How to glue parts of figures from mastic together? How to glue flowers and other decorations on a mastic coating?
I usually try to glue the parts of the mastic figures before they dry. But otherwise, you can glue them together with a couple of drops of water or lemon juice. It is necessary to moisten the gluing surface of the parts of the figure or decorations on the covered base of their mastic, apply and hold for some time pressed against each other.
Another way to connect sugar mastic parts together is to glue them together with mastic diluted to a liquid state.
If the parts are large, you can put them on a toothpick by breaking off the sharp end. Be sure to warn cake eaters about the presence of toothpicks in the figurines, especially if they are children!!!
- How to achieve the perfect surface when covering the cake with fondant?
If you have a layer of mastic torn when covering the cake, then the defect can be eliminated with a brush, moistening it with water or lemon juice, wiping the torn places. When bubbles form under the mastic, it is enough to pierce it with a needle and release excess air from under it by smoothing the mastic with your hand or a suitable tool.
I described all this from my personal experience. If you have any other secrets for working with mastic, share! I will be happy to use your experience in my work! And they will help other readers to master this wonderful business.
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Mastic will turn even a simple cake into a confectionery masterpiece. From it you can create any decoration. Everyone can master the basics of working with mastic - it's not difficult. From the article you will learn how easy it is to make mastic with your own hands, how to cover a cake with it, and what is the difference between types of mastic.
Covering a cake with fondant or making fondant decorations is an easy way to transform an ordinary pastry into a pastry masterpiece. You can buy mastic or make your own. You can get basic skills in the art of working with mastic using master classes with photos and videos.
Ready-made sugar mastic is always in stock in the online store Supermarket for confectioners in this section. You can buy online products made in England, the Netherlands, Turkey and other countries. Available for sale as a "basic" white mastic, and color. The price of a package of colored mastic is about 240 rubles.
This mastic for professionals and novice confectioners has all the necessary properties:
- homogeneous;
- stretches well, does not crumble;
- with a neutral sweet taste or with different flavors.
In addition, you can immediately purchase exactly the kind of mastic that is best suited for your purposes. There are three categories:
- universal;
- for covering;
- for modeling.
If you want to try to make a plastic mass with your own hands, then this is also possible.
Mastic at home
First, determine for what purposes you need to make mastic. To cover the cakes, dairy (based on powdered or condensed milk), chocolate and marshmallow mastic are suitable. To create figurines - chocolate, sugar and marshmallow.
Marshmallow mastic at home is the most popular and simple recipe. If you follow all the points step by step, then you will get an almost universal mass.
In total, four components are needed - marshmallow (100 gr.), Powdered sugar (250 gr.), A little citric acid and water.
- Put the marshmallow in a bowl, add a pinch of citric acid diluted in a tablespoon of water.
- Put the bowl in the microwave at maximum power. The marshmallow should melt well.
- Start mixing in the powdered sugar. Work as with dough - the mastic should become smooth and elastic.
- Roll the finished lump in powdered sugar, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for half an hour. After that, you can begin the process of decorating the cake!
This delicious and simple cake fondant is easy to color with food coloring. There are two ways to color the mass:
- add dye when kneading - so you get delicate shades;
- color an already finished cake or figurine. The color will be brighter, you can combine tones and color complex decorations. But be sure to let the surface dry!
Another type of mastic designed for sculpting jewelry and figurines is gelatin. It is white and dries quickly. It is good to sculpt trees, bridges from it. You will need:
- 0.5 tsp gelatin (2 grams),
- 2 tsp water (10 ml.)
- 100 gr. powdered sugar
- a couple of drops of lemon juice.
It is necessary to let the gelatin swell in water, then melt it in a water bath. After dissolving, gradually add the powder, kneading like a dough. Make sure that the mass does not become too thick - if it starts to crack, add lemon juice.
Work with mastic
Working with mastic is not as difficult a process as it might seem. You just need to consider a few important rules. 
- If you are making your own mastic, use high quality powdered sugar. It should be without grains - because of the sugar crystals, the layer of mastic will tear.
- To stick the fondant decoration on the cake, moisten the desired part of the surface. Parts of the assembled figures can be glued together with egg white.
- Large figures must be made in advance and allowed to dry.
- Complex and voluminous flowers after drying should be stored in the refrigerator, and glued shortly before serving the cake on the table. Otherwise, they will absorb moisture from the air and may lose their shape.
- To make the surface shine, grease the cake with vodka 10-20 minutes before serving. The alcohol will quickly evaporate and the cake will be shiny.
- Dry and gel dyes are best suited for coloring.
- It is easy to color the mastic at the kneading stage if you roll it into a ball and make a depression in the center. The dye is applied with a toothpick. Then knead.
Do not immediately take on complex shapes and figures: cover a round cake, make simple flowers or decorations cut out using shapes.
The nuances of working with mastic for cakes
If you want to cover the cake with mastic, you must first prepare the surface of the product. Suitable for mastic chocolate ganache, butter or caramel cream, marzipan. Such a “layer” will help the mastic to keep its shape: it “floats” from moisture, so it cannot be applied to impregnated cakes or sour cream.
Sometimes it is advised to cover the top cake and sides with apricot jam. But in this case, the mastic "wrapper" of the cake will swell from moisture.
A few more tips:
- Pre-level the surface: apply the cream, smooth it with a spatula, let it harden in the refrigerator, and then check that the layer is even. Mastic will not hide irregularities.
- Ready cake is better not to store for a long time in the refrigerator. If you pulled out the product, and it was covered with microdroplets of water, do not wash it, let it evaporate on its own. Otherwise, spots will remain on the mastic.
- Do not roll out the mass too thin. The ideal thickness is 3-4 mm. The table or board should be sprinkled with powder or starch. A silicone mat works well too.
Working with fondant for cakes is easier if you use a few useful tools. These include:
- perfectly smooth rolling pin;
- leveling iron;
- rotating stand;
- edge trimming roller.
All this can be bought in the section "for mastic and marzipan" on the website of the online store Supermarket for confectioners.
Decorating a cake with fondant - how to make
To make a cake with mastic - simple or complex, you do not need to rush. Then even a novice confectioner will be able to make his own little masterpiece. The algorithm for a simple cake wrap looks like this:
- roll out a circle of mastic. The diameter of the circle should be about twice the height of the cake plus its diameter. Add to this a couple of centimeters "for trimming";
- wind the mass on a rolling pin and transfer it to the cake;
- smooth the top with an iron, being careful not to stretch the mass. Then smooth the corners;
- Carefully smooth the sides, removing the wrinkles. Walk the iron over the surface;
- cut off the excess with a roller.
On average, for a cake with a diameter of 15 cm and a height of 10, you will need a pound of mastic. And for large ones, with a diameter of 35 cm - two kilograms.
If you did not calculate and bubbles remained on the surface, then you can get rid of them by lifting the edge of the layer and laying it again. If you have leveled the top and moved to the sides - you do not need to return to it and smooth further, because the mastic will stretch.
Cake decoration with mastic can be done using prepared circles exactly the same diameter as the cake and contrasting color ribbons for the sides.
The textured surface is easy to create with tongs. With confectionery tongs, like tweezers, a piece of mastic is “captured” and pinched. With this device, you can make geometric ornaments, leaves, hearts.
Ideas for decorating mastic cakes
Mastic decorations can decorate cakes of any size. Elements from this mass go well with sugar beads or pearls, sprinkles and other confectionery decor.
An elegant and simple option is to cover the cake with elongated mother-of-pearl mastic triangles. Elements need to be layered on top of each other to get the effect of gathers on the fabric. Several large sugar beads can be placed in the center.
A very effective decoration of mastic cakes is the use of figures cut out with cookie cutters. Snowflakes, hearts, leaves look good against a contrasting background.
Delicate and very romantic decor - multi-colored "skirts" made of mastic on the sides of the cake. You need to cut out the ribbons, carefully make "assemblies" with a wooden knitting needle or stick and stick it on the cake. For a more secure fastening, you can use needles or pins - when the decoration dries, they are easy to remove. Additionally, you can cut mastic bows.
From mastic of different colors, you can make a "marble" decor or "zebra": contrasting ribbons thin ribbons should be placed on a mastic circle, and then rolled out until smooth.
Secrets of mastic cake for beginners
The best cake layers for a buttercream cake are biscuit, but there are recipes that allow you to use sand and even soufflé. However, if you want to make a soufflé cake, there should be biscuit layers on top and bottom. Otherwise, the mastic will flow, and the cake will lose its shape.
The basic option for a biscuit is a dough made from eggs, sugar, flour and butter. The proportions vary depending on the recipe. The cake layered with the selected cream must be removed in the refrigerator for impregnation. You can even press it on top with a press so that it takes shape.
Then you need to trim the sides to make it easier to cover with mastic. If the cake is made up of several parts, you need to make the desired shape. For convex elements, you can make a mixture of biscuit crumbs and mastic cream. It is also easy to mask irregularities.
A simple cream recipe - from butter and condensed milk. Beat a pack of butter with a mixer until a white mass is obtained and add half a can of condensed milk. Whisk again. Coat the cake with cream and put it in the refrigerator. Then, with a heated dry spatula, smooth out the bumps.
You can start covering the cake with mastic!
On a mastic cake for beginners, you can apply any drawing or inscription using a stencil and a special dye or food markers.
Simple flowers are made using cups and other containers of different diameters: circles are cut out, and then a flower is collected.
Simple mastic cake, basic recipe
If you want to make a cake quickly, then the easiest option is to use ready-made cakes. Next, you need to "assemble" the product: 
"Internal" cream, which layers the cakes, you can take almost any one to your taste, for example, creamy, custard, oily.
- To make the cake tastier, layers can be additionally laid with dried fruits, fresh fruits that do not soak, or alternate cream and sour jam;
- The top layer is covered with oil cream.
- An even easier option is to use ready-made chocolate paste. It needs to be slightly heated so that it spreads better, and then cool the cake in the refrigerator.
- You need to cover the finished cake with mastic as usual. If the excess mass was cut off unevenly, the bottom edge of the cake can be decorated with sides or cut-out openwork ribbons.
This is the easiest mastic cake, a basic recipe - you can even cook it with children who like to sculpt from a pliable mass, like from plasticine.
AT Supermarket for confectioner you can buy felt-tip pens for drawing on mastic, supplies for creating flowers and figurines, ready-made sweet flowers and much more. You can make your little confectionery masterpiece in just a few hours.
But this does not mean at all that you will be able to achieve the desired result the first time. You need to learn how to work with mastic, mastery can only be achieved through mistakes and trials, and of course there are some tricks that we will tell you about.
Methods for rolling mastic
Most often, confectioners roll out mastic, which can be purchased at pro-konditer.com, on the surface lightly sprinkled with starch or powdered sugar. But this method is quite complicated, since the rolled layer must be periodically turned over so that it does not stick to the surface. To facilitate the task, you can grease two sheets of dense polyethylene with odorless vegetable oil and roll the mastic between them. Or a mat with a non-stick surface can be a great option.
Mastic is constantly torn, what should I do?
The ideal thickness of the rolled layer is 2 - 3 mm. If it is thinner, then the mastic will tear, and all defects will be clearly visible. Rupture can also be caused by the use of coarse powdered sugar, the cause in this case can be whole sugar crystals. If, nevertheless, the mastic is torn on the cake, and there is no way to redo it, use vegetable fat and a special confectionery iron.
How to cover a cake?
To avoid unaesthetic folds on the sides of the confectionery, roll out the mastic with a margin of 5-7 cm around the entire circumference. The rolled layer, covering the cake, will evenly stretch under its own weight, after which the excess residue can be cut off with a round knife.
What to choose cakes and cream?
Best for mastic cakes is a biscuit smeared with ganache or buttercream. Other creams can infuse the cake with extra moisture, causing it to sag. The finished cake is covered with mastic only after the cream has completely solidified, otherwise cavities may form on its surface.
How to give the mask color?
For coloring, only gel food colors are used, liquid ones can change the structure of the mastic, which will make it difficult to work with.
Mastic does not shine, what should I do?
A solution of honey and vodka in a ratio of 1 to 1 will help solve this problem. Moreover, you should not worry about the smell of alcohol, alcohol will quickly disappear and will not affect the taste of the product.
Rules for storing finished mastic
Sugar mastic can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months, but first it must be placed in an airtight food container or wrapped tightly with polyethylene.
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