When buying a holiday cake or a set of cakes in a store, we often admired the amazingly beautiful appearance of these sweets. Airy creams whimsically form lush flower beds or fancy patterns. Chocolate icing is covered with silver dew, and beckoning to try a treat. But special admiration is caused by mastic decorations. Why not just fashion out of it! And medieval castles, and noble frigates, and figures of fabulous creatures. Let's see how this splendor is done.
Product introduction
To get started, let's figure it out. So, mastic. What is this substance all the same? A word has several meanings. Firstly, this is the name of a special paste, which covers small openings, holes. In construction, this putty is used to seal the seams, etc. Still mastic what is it? This is a resin of trees of special species called pistachio trees. Thirdly, in Bulgaria they call it strong vodka, which is prepared on an anise basis (an analogue of the famous Russian “Anisovka”). And finally, fourthly, there is a culinary term: pastry mastic. What this product is, we already know: a kind of sweet cream that decorates desserts and sweets. Flavors, dyes are added to it to get the material of the desired color and smell. The consistency resembles plasticine, so anything can be molded from fresh mastic. True, when ready-made, the cream quickly freezes in air. Therefore, the billet should be stored for future use in a tightly closed plastic bag.
Main ingredients
It takes some skill and experience to get the “right” mastic for the novice housewife. What is the right one? As practice suggests, no matter how accurate the recipes are, still much is determined “by eye” and depends on the quality of the products used, their consistency, etc. Powder sugar is an obligatory component of any mastic. Egg whites, condensed and powdered milk, gelatin, marzipans, starch, marshmallows can be auxiliary.
About some products
Surely you have not come across some names before. For example, marzipan is a mixture of almonds crushed into flour with sugar syrup or powdered. With the right quality products and proportions, an excellent "dough" is obtained. And marshmallows are sweets resembling marshmallows or marshmallows. Naturally, do not forget about such a component as dyes for mastic. They are either taken artificial or natural (fruit and berry juice, “toasted” sugar syrup, etc.).
Tips you can't do without
So that when preparing goodies your first and subsequent “pancakes” do not turn out lumpy, listen to the advice of experienced pastry chefs. They will help you out in a force majeure situation.
- Remember that any preparation of mastic requires the finest icing sugar. Grains a little larger just tear mastic "dough" when it has to be rolled. Often, powders are required much more than specified in the recipe - when the mastic is too stuck to the hands, it needs to be kneading and kneading, pouring grated sugar.
- If you made a mastic for the cake, you can’t decorate it, if the top cake or sides are covered with sour cream, soaked in syrup. In contact with moisture, the “pastry putty” immediately begins to melt, dissolve. To prevent this from happening, either apply it to dry cake, or to thick crumbs from cookies, a layer of marzipan or a creamy butter cream.
- As already mentioned, any mastic dries very quickly in the air. This property can be used if you make any figures: just prepare them in advance. And if you need to connect several separate objects, slightly moisten and glue the joints. So that at room temperature the mastic does not begin to melt, and the products settle and lose their shape, keep sweets in the refrigerator until the last.
Marshmallow Candy Recipe
Consider the first option on how to make mastic at home. Buy a pack of Marshmallow candy souffles (sold at supermarkets). In general, the name can be anything - the main thing is that it is a souffle. Next, take a pack of powdered sugar - for one serving of the product you will need a glass and a half. And a tablespoon of lemon juice (you can orange, apple and others - with sourness) or water. Since the candies are packed in different colors, put them in small saucepans. In monophonic ones, add liquids (juice or water) and send for 10 seconds in the microwave. It is also possible in a water bath: when heated, the candy mass should increase in volume. Then take out, put the dye (if necessary) and mix thoroughly.
Now, so that you get a good elastic mastic, the recipe (with a photo) of which we offer you, pour in powdered sugar in small portions. Previously, it needs to be re-sieved to remove clumped lumps. When the mass becomes dense enough, "throw" it on the table, sprinkled with powder, and knead. Mastic is considered finished if it is tight to the touch and does not stick to hands. Carefully pack the product in cellophane (so that there is no air), put it in the refrigerator for half an hour. Take a little starch, sprinkle a worktable or cutting board and gently roll the mastic removed from the refrigerator. From the resulting layer already sculpt products or just cover the surface of the cake with it.
Creamy mastic
For this recipe, buy 100 grams of candy and 250 to 350 g of powder. Take a little food coloring and butter - a tablespoon. Cooking technology is already familiar to you. Add butter to sweets and warm them until soft. Then mix, adding sugar powder, and prepare a “mastic” dough of the desired consistency (plasticine). If you want to sculpt products of different colors, divide the mass into parts, add dyes to each separately. Then prepare the products, give them a day to dry. And you can decorate desserts.
Chocolate mastic: ingredients
The proposed option of treats for confectioners is considered almost a win-win, since such mastic is prepared easily. And the appearance of products made at home, will not yield to factory ones. Ingredients: a small 100-gram plate of dark chocolate, marshmallows already familiar to us (about the same amount or 90 grams), 40 g of fat cream (at least 30%), one and a half tablespoons of butter, the same amount of brandy or liquor / brandy. And icing sugar - on demand, but not less than 100 g. We proceed to cooking. Break the chocolate into pieces, put in a saucepan, melt. Deliver the souffle and continue to warm, stirring constantly. When the sweets melt well, add the butter and pour in brandy and cream. Cook until you have a thick, homogeneous mass. Then remove the saucepan from the heat, pour in powdered sugar in a portion, knead the “dough” and process it until it becomes elastic, smooth, not sticky to the fingers by touch. Roll the finished mastic into a ball, let it “infuse” for about 10 minutes, then proceed to make figures. You can store the workpiece in the refrigerator in a bag. Warm up a little before processing.
Milk mastic
And here is another recipe, very simple and affordable. Take a can of condensed milk and a glass of powdered milk and powdered sugar. Thoroughly mix the foods so that you get a mass resembling softened plasticine. The amount of powder may turn out to be different than what we wrote, depending on whether
boiled condensed milk or raw. The color of the mastic in the latter case will be white. To add shades, take either food coloring or some cocoa powder.