Home-made Piping Gel recipe - Yessss! We Can!!

If you are like me you are gonna love this recipe. I mean if you live in India and love to decorate cakes . If you are perennially, unjustifiably envious of folks who live in the US / UK - only for the sole reason that they have easy access to cake decorating shops. How unfair!! They have cake decorating stores, baking aisles in every super market and have a plethora of baking and cake stuff easily available. People at stores do not stare at them when they ask for rice paper or piping gel or fondant or Dr. Oetker's Whip It or Ener-G. Forget these things, for me it was a victory to get a muffin tray, whipping cream, cooking chocolate, good pistachio essence, flaked almonds and a lot of other basic stuff. Excuse me if I am making India sound like an extremely under-developed country.. but that's reality.  How I wished we did better in Bangalore!! Sigh!! Double sigh!!

I have loved looking at glossy decorations made with the versatile piping gel and the freedom it offers to decorate a cake. Imagine my delight when I found a recipe for making piping gel at home here. I had Googled and found other recipes too, but this one was one to be tried as it did not have gelatin and sounded so easy and do-able. I tried this successfully and was able to paint my rolled fondant. This was my first ever tryst with piping gel and a home-made one at that!! I was of course over the moon...


I have halved the recipe and made it. Even half of this makes sufficient quantity to decorate one cake. Of course it would also depend on how elaborate your design is.

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup sugar( I have used a 1/4 measure and halved)
1 tablespoon cornflour
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

, ( I used a teaspoon or so as I felt the gel would be too sour)
1/4 cup water.

METHOD 
Mix sugar and corn flour in a small saucepan, gradually add juice then water. Stir over high heat until mixture boils then thickens. Colour as desired using liquid or powder
Dont take your eye off the ball whilst making it or it goes lumpy you have to stir it all the time. It keeps for weeks in the fridge 

The  first time I made the gel, I used it immediately after it cooled. I made the Pooh and it turned out quite well for the first time. The second time when I made the Helicopter Cake , I made the gel and kept in the fridge, found that the sugar had crystallized( less lemon juice???). I could have tried reheating it, but I made the gel again as I did not want to take any chances at the last moment with the cake. The gel was perfect again.

Its worthwhile making the gel at home. If it thickens, add a couple of drops of water and adjust the consistency. Add the water with a medicine dropper to avoid making the gel too watery. Color and decorate as u please!!

Again, tips and advice would be very helpful and extremely appreciated!