It's called the art of cake design and, together with the sugar art, is the latest culinary fashion arrived in Italy. It is the art of decorating cakes that ostentatiously take precedence over content. Originated in the USA, the trend was picked up in England finally arrived to Italy, it gain attention thanks to wide media coverage after a number of recent movies (american No Reservations and italian In front of the window and Chocolate lessons) and TV formats translated and distributed in Italy (Cakes by Toni, Cake war and The pie boss).
The basic materials are the royal iceing, a mix of sugar and egg whites, and more complex fondant icing, or fondant, which requires boiling a sugar syrup to a temperature of 115 °. For those who want to use different colors, there are several possibilities: the liquid dyes, powders and gels.
Like any good craftsman, the cake designer has his tools, cutting boards, silicone rolling pins, mixers, spatulas, toothed wheels, brushes, colanders, molds of all shapes and sizes, stencil, etc. The list is quite long but if you are caught by this passion, keep persisting. A lot of information for aspiring cake decorators is available online, not to mention The cake show in Bologna and the Italian Cake Design Festival in Milan) as well as cooking classes dedicated to this new art.
(photo from "Cakes by Toni")