Abstract:
In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for preparing a decorative cake coating, the method comprising the steps of: providing a contour of a figure, the contour being made of a first edible solid substance, such as chocolate; filling the spaces between the lines of the contour with a second edible substance, such as colored candies; pouring dough made of a third edible substance (e.g., hot chocolate) onto the figure; and turning the coating upside down, thereby enabling placing the coating on the cake with the decorative figure on top.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a U.S. National Phase Application under 35 U.S.C. 371 of PCT International Application No. PCT/IL2008/000566 which has an international filing date of Apr. 29, 2008, and which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/916,304, filed May 7, 2007, all of which disclosures are hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the field of cake preparation. More particularly, the invention relates to a method for preparing a decorative cake coating which provides figures of a relatively-high quality. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Decorating a cake to reflect personal touch and taste is a well known objective. For example, birthday cakes may be adorned with fruits, shaved chocolate, candles, and so forth. The text “Happy Birthday” may be added by a pre-manufactured plastic decoration, pouring chocolate, candies, and so on. 
     Nevertheless, there is no satisfactory technology for decorating a cake with figures such as of animals, text, etc. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a technology for decorating a cake with figures, and a method thereof. 
     Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The following embodiments and aspects thereof are described and illustrated in conjunction with systems, tools and methods, which are meant to be merely illustrative, not limiting in scope. In various embodiments, one or more of the above-described problems have been reduced or eliminated, while other embodiments are directed to other advantages or improvements. 
     In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for preparing a decorative cake coating, the method comprising the steps of;
         providing a contour of a figure, the contour being made of an edible solid substance, such as chocolate;   filling the spaces between the lines of the contour with a second edible substance, such as colored candies;   pouring dough of a third edible substance onto the figure; and   turning the coating upside down, thereby enabling placing the coating on the cake with the decorative figure on top.       

     Preferably, the figure comprises a frame. 
     Preferably, the height of the contour is more than 2 mm, thereby allowing the contour to be sufficiently massive for its role in the process of preparing the coating. 
     The third substance may be a substance which changes its aggregation state to solid at a certain temperature, such as room temperature, a refrigerator temperature, etc. For example, hot chocolate is a fluid which changes its aggregation state in room temperature. In this case the coating may be turned upside down when the third substance changes its aggregation state to solid. 
     The method may further comprise the step of placing grease layer between the contour and a pan thereof, such as a grease-proof paper, and margarine. 
     In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a mould for preparing a decorative cake coating, the mould comprising:
         a substrate of a non-toxic substance, such as foamed plastic;   a contour of a figure, the contour being a slotted line in the substrate; and   a solid substance filled into the slotted line.       

     The mould may further comprise a contour of a frame. 
     The size of the slotted line is at least of about 2 mm. 
     The mould may further comprise a pan, for protecting the mould from deformation until use. 
     The mould may further comprise a lid, for enabling turning the mould upside down. 
     The mould may further comprise a grease layer, for enabling “easy” separation of sticky parts. 
     In addition to the exemplary aspects and embodiments described above, further aspects and embodiments will become apparent by reference to the figures and by study of the following detailed description. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  schematically illustrates a cake, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  schematically illustrates a chocolate contour, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the contour illustrated in  FIG. 2 . 
       Each of  FIGS. 4   a  to  4   g  schematically illustrates a step in cake preparation, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
       Each of  FIGS. 5   a  to  5   c  schematically illustrates a step in preparing a contour of solid chocolate, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein. Reference numerals may be repeated among the figures in order to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail, for the sake of clarity. 
       FIG. 1  schematically illustrates a cake, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
     The cake, which is marked herein by numeral  2 , comprises the figure of a bear. The figure is composed of closed regions  8  (illustrated in  FIG. 2 ), whose contour  6  is made of solid chocolate. One of the objects of the present invention is preparing chocolate contour  6 , especially in an industrial manner. Numeral  6   a  denotes a chocolate frame, which is actually a part of the chocolate contour  6 . 
     Each region  8  can be decorative with a different substance  10 , different color of the substance, and so on, resulting in differing colors and flavors. The substance may comprise candies of relatively-small size (e.g., 0.3 mm), cream, ice cream, and so on. For example, the substance filling in the bear&#39;s eyes may be blue, that for the bear&#39;s nose may be black, the bear&#39;s shirt may be green, the legs brown, and so on. 
     Also illustrated in  FIG. 1  is a pan  4 . 
       FIG. 2  schematically illustrates a chocolate contour, according to one embodiment of the invention, and  FIG. 3  is an exploded view thereof. 
     The chocolate contour  6  is of a height of a few mm, e.g., 3 mm. 
     Also defined in  FIG. 2  is a cross-section A-A. 
     Each of  FIGS. 4   a  to  4   g  schematically illustrates a step in cake preparation, according to one embodiment of the invention. The illustrations are in the form of a cross-section of the cake, as defined in  FIG. 2 . 
       FIGS. 4   a  to  4   c  schematically illustrate the steps of preparing a decorative coating, denoted herein by numeral  16 .  FIGS. 4   f  to  4   g  schematically illustrate the steps of placing the decorative coating  16  on a baked substrate  18 . 
       FIG. 4   a  schematically illustrates the pan  4 , in which chocolate contour  6  (and also chocolate frame  6   a ) is placed. 
       FIG. 4   b  schematically illustrates the next step of the cake preparation. In this step, regions  8 , confined by chocolate contour  6 , are filled with candies  10 . 
       FIG. 4   c  schematically illustrates the next step of the cake preparation. In this step, hot chocolate dough  12  is poured on the candies filler  10 . The hot chocolate pours into the gaps between candies, at least on the upper side of the candies layer. After the hot chocolate cools, it becomes a solid layer. The solid chocolate layer is marked herein by numeral  12   a . As mentioned, the entire decorative coating is marked herein by numeral  16 . 
       FIG. 4   d  schematically illustrates the next step of the cake preparation. In this step, pan  4  is covered with lid  14 , which makes it possible to turn the pan upside down without disturbing the parts thereof. 
       FIG. 4   e  schematically illustrates the next step of the cake preparation. In this step, pan  4  is turned upside down. In this position, as illustrated in this figure, the bottom of coating  16  is the hardened layer  12   a , while the candies are actually deployed at the top of coating  16 . 
       FIG. 4   f  schematically illustrates the next step of the cake preparation. In this step, pan  4 , which stores the prepared coating  16 , is placed on a baked substrate  18 . 
       FIG. 4   g  schematically illustrates the next step of the cake preparation. In this step, lid  14  is removed from pan  4 , thereby causing coating  16  to fall onto the cake. 
       FIG. 4   h  schematically illustrates the next step of the cake preparation. In this step, pan  4  is removed, thereby bringing the preparation to its end. 
     Each of  FIGS. 5   a  to  5   c  schematically illustrates a step in preparing a contour of solid chocolate, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
     The preparation of the contour is suitable for both industrial and domestic use. 
     According to this embodiment of the invention, the chocolate contour, marked in the figures herein by numeral  6 , is prepared using a mould  20  comprising slots  22 , which correspond to the negative image of the contour. The mould is made of non-toxic material, such as foamed plastic. 
     In  FIG. 5   a , chocolate dough  24  (which may be also hot chocolate) is poured on mould  20 , thereby filling slots  22  with the chocolate dough. 
     In  FIG. 5   b , the excess of chocolate dough  24  is “wiped” using a wiper (squeegee)  26 . Then the mould is cooled, thereby causing chocolate dough  24  to harden in slots  22 . 
     In  FIG. 5   c , mould parts are removed, resulting in a chocolate contour  6  (including the chocolate frame  6   a ), ready for coating preparation, as illustrated and explained in  FIGS. 1 to 4   h.    
     The whole process may be carried out using a pan. However, for the sake of brevity, the pan is not illustrated in  FIGS. 5   a  to  5   c.    
     The examples herein refer to a chocolate contour. However, it should be noted that the contour can be of any edible substance which has a fluid state of aggregation and a solid state of aggregation, wherein the solidification takes place at room temperature, placing in a refrigerator, and the like. 
     Greasing 
     Since the cake coating may stick to the pan, greasing means such as a grease-proof paper, a grease layer, and the like may be used for preventing the sticking. For example, a grease-proof paper may be disposed between pan  4  and the chocolate contour  6 . Alternatively, the pan may be smeared with a greasy substance (such as margarine) before placing the chocolate contour thereon. 
     A grease layer may be used also for allowing separation of the chocolate contour  6  from mould  20  in an easy manner. In this case, before filling slot  22  with hot chocolate, the slot has to be smeared with a grease layer. 
     PARTS LIST 
     In the drawings and/or description herein, the following numerals have been mentioned:
         numeral  2  denotes a cake, according to one embodiment of the invention;   numeral  4  denotes a pan, such as a baking pan;   numeral  6  denotes a contour of hardened chocolate;   numeral  6   a  denotes a chocolate frame;   numeral  8  denotes a closed region confined by chocolate mould  6 ;   numeral  10  denotes a candies filling;   numeral  12  denotes chocolate dough;   numeral  12   a  denotes a filling of solid chocolate;   numeral  14  denotes the lid of pan  4 ;   numeral  16  denotes a cake coating, according to one embodiment of the invention;   numeral  18  denotes a baked substrate;   numeral  20  denotes a mould for preparing a chocolate contour;   numeral  22  denotes a slot corresponding to the contour of the figure;   numeral  22   a  denotes a slot corresponding to the contour of the frame;   numeral  24  denotes chocolate dough; and   numeral  26  denotes a wiper (squeegee).       

     While certain features of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, the invention can be embodied in other forms, ways, modifications, substitutions, changes, equivalents, and so forth. The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of this disclosure. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto.