Our love for creating beautiful luxury bespoke couture cakes knows no bounds and we always ensure we use the best ingredients possible. This ranges from the ingredients used in our bakes to the best the sugar paste and fondant we use in enrobing all our cakes.
For the past 10 years, we have exclusively used Massa Ticino, arguably the best sugar paste in the world. We share a little insight as to why it will always be our go to sugarpaste/fondant below.
The origins of Massa Ticino sugarpaste
Made in Switzerland by chocolate manufacturer Carma, Massa Ticino sugarpaste was invented in the beautiful canton of Ticino, the Italian speaking part of the country by two brothers.
Carma’s founding father Carl Maentler was so taken by the invention that he decided to industrialise the product in 1963 and it quickly earned a reputation for being the world’s best sugar paste.
How I got to know about this fabulous product
Many moons ago, I decided to take a class with the awesome Colette Peters, the originator of contemporary wedding cake techniques that are widely used today. During the course of the class, she used this amazing sugarpaste, Massa Ticino Tropic, which was very elastic, with great workability. It did not rip, tear or crack! It seemed almost like a miracle, especially for such an inexperienced newbie like myself. She even poked a hole in the sugarpaste with a knife and we watched in awe as she smoothed over the hole in no time.
When I came back to the UK, I started a quest to find a stockist for Massa Ticino and with great difficulty, I tracked the only stockist down. Years later, with the advent of social media, I was able to make direct contact with a Carma representative and introduce them to a number of online cake product retailers. This coincided with the launch of their colour range and the rest as they say is history. I am now very proud to be the UK’s ambassador for this incredible sugarpaste, a role I have had for 5 years.
The colourful world of Massa Ticino
Carma invested a lot of time and energy to develop and produce their distinct colours of sugarpaste that has the same consistency and workability of Massa Ticino tropic. They include three primary colours, Lovely Red, Mellow Yellow and Sailing Blue and also Grass Green, Perfect Purple, Chocolate Brown (which has real chocolate in it!), Pitch Black, Pretty Pink and Vintage Ivory. The colours were achieved using all natural ingredients and they are free of E numbers or Azo dyes. They are also gluten and dairy free and suitable for vegans.
With these colours they also developed a colour mixing guide (CMG) to help create a variety of tones, tints, hues and shades and the guide can be found at www.massaticino.com/cmg. It is in the form of a comprehensive colour wheel and easy to use. All you have to do is click on the colour you wish to create and the sugarpaste colour combinations and proportions will be detailed.
Using pre-made coloured sugarpaste for mixing, instead of gel or paste colours, gives accurate and consistent results that can be replicated over and over again. This method is less messy and darker colours can be produced without adversely affecting the texture, pliability and consistency of the sugarpaste.
Our colourful cakes
At Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium, when designing a luxury wedding cake or a bespoke couture celebration cake, colour is one of our first considerations. We have been fortunate to attract clients who want something a little different from the norm, and the diversity of our cakes range from our classic baroque designs to more contemporary cakes.
Using Massa Ticino sugarpaste has enabled us to achieve incredible designs over the years and we look forward to create more in the future.
For more information on how we can create your bespoke luxury cake contact us at
info@elizabethscakeemporium.com or 07958069116