Let them mold cake

Chattanooga artist Stan Townsend and his wife, arts administrator Peggy Townsend, have seen their trademark casting putty, Knead-a-Mold, used by sculptors, jewelry makers and even scrapbookers.

Never had they seen it on cake.

Then, earlier this year, Martha Stewart’s Weddings magazine wrapped the Townsends’ taffy-like goo around architectural details to create a cake more reminiscent of English manors than of snow fields.

The results can be seen in “A Taste of Color” in the winter 2009 Weddings edition or in “The Art of Cakes II” program on the Style Network today.

Throughout his career as a sculptor, Mr. Townsend tinkered with formulas to wrap, encase and reproduce objects of all sorts for art.

“Artists were the first chemists,” he explained.

In 2006, he and his wife introduced a line of casting products under their new name, Townsend Atelier. Thousands of pounds of Knead-a-Mold have since been sold to jewelers, scrapbookers, sculptors, restorationists, taxidermists, fossil scientists, bakers and cake decorators, Ms. Townsend said.

Chattanooga sculptor John Petrey, for example, uses it to reproduce vintage pins for his retro dress sculptures.

“The way I usually do molds is very time-consuming. This is a quick solution for a small item,” Mr. Petrey said.

This summer, Katie Hatch, Weddings magazine’s style director, saw Ms. Townsend demonstrating Knead-a-Mold at a trade show. She ordered some and then asked Wendy Kromer, of Wendy Kromer Confections in Sandusky, Ohio, to bake a cake inspired by neo-classical architect Robert Adam.

Ms. Kromer and the Martha Stewart team molded wooden architectural details from Decorators Supply (an online architecture supply store) then filled the flexible silicone-like Knead-a-Molds with creamy fondant.

“There was a bit of a learning curve and some trial-and-error. We cast quite a few molds to see which ones we wanted to put together,” Ms. Kromer said.

Two casting products were used. Ms. Kromer said she preferred the putty-type Knead-a-Mold because of its quick cure and handling qualities.

A home baker might enjoy molding a child’s favorite toy, then filling it with chocolate, for example, to decorate his or her birthday cake, Ms. Kromer said.

The Townsends said they knew they could bake cookies with Knead-a-Mold. But they’d never made cake. Entering the culinary world pleased them, and it ushered them into Martha Stewart’s universe.

“You always hope for something like this — we’re thrilled,” Ms. Townsend said.

On Style

“Martha Stewart Living: Good Things,’ ‘The Art of Cakes II’ ” airs at 10 a.m. today on The Style Network. Check for repeats at www.mystyle .com.