Paint the surface of an inverted loaf of any kind of cake with white of egg, then sift over it while it is moist enough powdered sugar to whiten it. Place a star stencil on top, get it exactly in the center, and sift powdered cocoa into the opening.
The star could be made of granulated sugar, colored pink, if preferred, or a space could be filled with small candies called “hundreds and thousands.”
TO MAKE STENCIL
Place a piece of stiff paper over the bottom of the inverted pan in which the cake was baked and crease it enough to indicate the circle. Outline the circle with a pencil and draw inside of it two other circles, the first half an inch and the second one and a half inches inside the outer one. Draw two lines across the circles at right angles, then two more lines at equal distances between the others, then draw pointed lines in the eight spaces between the second and third circles.
CAKE DECORATED IN TWO SHADES OF WHITE ICING
The illustration shows a simple pattern for decorating a loaf of cake. The cake can be made of any mixture. It is first covered with icing No. 3, page [192], which gives a clear icing and makes a good background for the white lines. If it does not run evenly dip a knife in water and smooth it. Most irregularities can be smoothed out with a clean, wet knife. The lines are made of decorating icing, which is white (No. 16, page [195]), pressed through a pastry-bag with tube of small opening. Each one of the center figures of the pattern holds a small silvered pellet of candy.
ICED CAKE DECORATED WITH PINK BOW-KNOT
Cover the cake with a smooth, hard icing (No. 2 or No. 4). Put decorating icing (No. [16]), colored pink with cochineal, into a pastry-bag with tube of plain, small opening, and trace a bow-knot with it. Fill the space between the outlines with pink icing, and flatten it, to look like a ribbon, with a wet knife.
If the tracing is not satisfactory, take it off with a knife, wipe the cake with a dry cloth, and make another trial. A little practice with a pencil, drawing a knot of the right size on paper, will enable one to trace more easily the outlines on the cake.
