You will need:

Edibles:

Equipment:

• paste colours to create my burgundy shade: thrift, poinsettia and blackberry (Squires Kitchen)
• your choice of cake, covered in burgundy sugarpaste
• square cake board, covered in burgundy sugarpaste
• 100g beetroot powder

• steamer or kettle
• large soft blusher/bronzer make-up brush (used ONLY for cake decorating)

1

Cover cake tiers and cake board in burgundy sugarpaste. Allow all tiers to dry completely before stacking.

2

Steam surface of your cake, focusing on a small area at a time.

3

Dab beetroot powder onto the sticky steamed surface of your cake using a clean blusher brush. Soft makeup brushes are often inexpensive and give a great coverage for cake – just remember to only use brushes for cake on cakes! You will get a far better finish dabbing than brushing as we want the textures to be uneven and organic. The patterns that are formed by the matte powder against the damp surface of the cake will imitate crushed velvet perfectly.

4

Continue to work around the surface of your entire cake and board, steaming small sections and dabbing beetroot powder onto it. If you find areas which look suspiciously patchy or bare, you can carefully steam the area again and dab on more powder.

5

Allow beetroot powder to dry to the surface of your cake for at least an hour before carefully brushing away any loose excess powder with your blusher brush.