How To Make Pinecone And Acorn Cake Toppers

To make the shell I rolled a small piece of paste into a ball.

After dipping my ball tool into some corn flour to prevent it sticking, I pressed it into the modelling paste.

Next, I gently formed the modelling paste into a cup shape using my fingers.

I formed a stalk by gently pinching out some modelling paste from the bottom of the cup.

To texturise the shell I used the wider end of a Wilton 102 piping tip. With the cup shape still on the ball tool, I gently embossed into the paste all the way round.

Once I had finished texturising the shell, I gently bent the stalk over slightly.

To make the nut I coloured some modelling paste brown using Fractal Colors Squirrel Brown Fundustic Powder. I then rolled a piece into a small tube and lightly pinched the end to make a point. I checked that the nut would fit into the shell and then stuck it in the shell with a little vodka.

Once the acorns had hardened, I dusted them with some dark brown edible dust.

After rolling a small piece of modelling paste into a ball, I flattened it slightly and then cut indents around the edge. Using my fingers, I gently thinned all around the edge.

I then repeated this process with a slightly larger piece of modelling paste. I created an indent in the middle of each one using a ball tool and then stuck the larger one on top of the smaller piece.

Using my fingers, I gently curved the modelling paste around the ball tool creating a dish shape.

After pinching the edge all the way round, I left it to dry overnight. This formed the base of my pinecone.

After rolling some modelling paste into a tube, I cut it into small pieces. I formed each piece into a flat tear shape to be the pinecone’s scales.

I stuck each scale onto the hardened base as shown above.

Next, I glued a ball of modelling paste in the middle and flattened it slightly.

I repeated with another layer of scales. Using the wider end of a flower and leaf shaper tool, I created texture in each scale. The amount of scales needed will depend on the size of the base. Mine needed seven.

Once the second layer was completed, I again added a small ball of modelling paste in the middle. Doing this each time gave the pinecone height and space between the scales.

For the next layer I used one less scale and placed them slightly closer to the centre. Doing this starts to form a pinecone shape. So in the image above you can see I used six scales.

I found that gently pressing the centre down with a ball tool helped to secure the scales and lift them up slightly. This gave more of a pinecone shape. I then placed a ball of modelling paste in the middle and carried on with the next layer of scales.

Here you can see my layer of five scales which I am shaping with the ball tool.

Above you can see my layer of four scales with a piece of modelling paste in the middle.

The image above shows the final layer to my pinecone. I arranged the scales how I wanted them and then left the pinecone to harden overnight.

Once hardened, I gently dusted the edges of the scales with brown dust.