Sunday, May 27, 2012

FONDANT BIRTHDAY CAKE


RECIPE FOR THE PERFECT VANILLA BUTTER CAKE FOR FONDANT COVERED CAKES & CAKE CARVINGS:

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups All purpose Flour
3 Eggs
1/2 cup Butter(113 grams)-1 100gram box of Amul Butter would do
3/4 cup Milk
3/4 cup Sugar
1 tbsp baking powder

METHOD

1.Grease and flour a 9" cake pan. Preheat your oven to 180 degree C/350 degree F.

2.Cream butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs,milk and vanilla essence until well combined

3.Sift together flour and baking powder. Add it to the wet ingredients,beating on low speed just until combined or just fold it in.

4.Bake for 40 min or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

The resultant cake will have a thick outer crust and therefore does not produce too many crumbs while carving or dividing the cake into different layers.Despite the thick outer crust the cake's inside is quite moist and has just the right density for decorated cakes. I baked two batches of this for the above fondant covered birthday cake.

Birthday cakes are incomplete without a good filling. I've given the recipe of Cream Patisserie which tastes just like vanilla custards and went amazingly well with the vanilla butter cakes.

SOURCE: Chef in Disguise - I got all the recipes for this star fondant birthday cake including the filling and the fondant recipe from this blog and Sawsan has been extremely supportive! I owe her big time for this birthday cake which is my first attempt at fondant.



CREAM PATISSERIE( Source: Joy of Baking )

INGREDIENTS

3 Egg Yolks
1 1/4 cup Milk
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
2 tbsp All purpose Flour
2 tbsp Corn Flour(Corn Starch)
1 tsp vanilla essence

METHOD

1.In a medium-sized heat proof bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks together with a spatula. immediately sift in the flour and corn flour  and mix until you get a smooth paste.

2.Meanwhile, bring milk to boil in a saucepan and remove from heat just as it starts foaming up.

3.Immediately whisk in the milk to the egg mixture ,pouring in a slow and steady stream. Mix constantly and quickly to prevent curdling.(Incase it does curdle,pour it through a strainer)

4.Pour the egg mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. When it boils, whisk mixture constantly for another 30 – 60 seconds until it becomes thick.

5. Remove from heat and immediately stir in the vanilla essence.

 6. Pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Refrigerate after it cools to room temperature if your using it on your cake the next day.

Fondant cakes require a crumb coat for the fondant to hold on to, you could choose between ganache or buttercream icing for this purpose. I chose a chocolate buttercream icing ,recipe follows:

CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM ICING

INGREDIENTS

3 cups Powdered Sugar/Icing Sugar
1 Cup butter (2 100grams box of Amul Butter would do)
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
1/2 cup Cocoa
2 tbsp Milk/Cream

METHOD

1.Cream butter with vanilla essence.

2.Sift in the cocoa and powdered sugar/icing sugar.Beat well and add milk/cream. Beat until combined and the buttercream has reached a thick,yet spreadable consistency.

Go ahead and smear it over your filled cake. Place it the fridge for 15 min and run a hot knife over the icing to get it smooth and even. Please remember that uneven icing or ganache will show through the fondant.


MARSHMALLOW FONDANT RECIPE

300 grams Marshmallow
5-7 cups of powdered sugar(You may need more,so make a few extra cups before hand)
1 tbsp Water
1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence
Dalda(Vegetable Shortening/Crisco) enough to grease your hands,bowl,spatula and workplace

METHOD

1.Melt the marshmallows and 1 tbsp water in a well greased microwave safe bowl in the microwave ,stopping every 30 seconds to give it a good stir. Mini marshmallows usually melt in 2min, but time may vary.

2. Once the marshmallows have melted,add in the vanilla essence and stir in 4 cups of powdered sugar.

3.Grease your workplace and your hands well with veg shortening and transfer the marshmallow mixture onto your workplace. Knead well and add in more powdered sugar if you find  the dough too sticky or soft.
In case the dough is hard ,just add drops of water until you get it smooth enough. 

4.You'll know that your fondant has reached the desired consistency when it feels almost like a play dough,may be a bit more stickier than play dough. The sugar must have incorporated well into the fondant and just flatten out a small piece with your fingers to see if it holds its shape and its easy to press it smooth.

5.Shape into a mound and apply a thin coating of dalda/veg shortening. Double wrap in cling wrap and store in an air tight container.


Allow to rest overnight,but it could be used in a few hours as well. I couldn't wait to see how mine turned out,so i took a piece after 3-4 hours and smeared a tiny drop of red food colour to form pink fondant lollipops on toothpicks. Use a cookie cutter to cut out decorations according to your whim and fancy.


COVERING THE CAKE WITH FONDANT:

1.As I've mentioned earlier, don't leave out your crumb coat. A simple buttercream icing / ganache will do.

2.Add food colour to fondant drop by drop,knead well and keep on adding food colour until you reach the desired colour. Remember to grease your palms with veg shortening/Dalda.

3.Measure the cake and roll out the fondant on a workplace smeared well with a mix cornstarch/corn flour and powdered sugar. It's safest to roll out the cake covering layer of fondant on a greased surface to avoid sticking and tearing while you try to lift it onto the cake. 

4.Place your cake on the work surface right next to your rolled out fondant and gently lift the fondant off the workplace and transfer it onto the cake.Press the surface of the fondant very gently so that it glues firmly onto the buttercream.

5.Cut off the extra fondant using a pizza cutter or crafts knife and smooth out the sides.

6.For adding decorations,use cookie cutters or if you're really confident go ahead and cut out your own designs using a crafts knife on a rolled out fondant. Don't forget to grease your cookie cutters before pressing down on the fondant.

7.You could cut out names as well using a crafts knife.



NOTES:

1.Always remember to divide the work to avoid last minute disasters before a party.

2.You can prepare the fondant a week ahead and just wrap & store in a cling wrap+air tight container at room temperature.
3.The cake can be prepared 2 days before hand and stored at room temperature. However the filling has to be stored in the fridge and should be used within 3 days.

4.Buttercream icing/ganache can also be prepared on the previous day of the party. Remember to store in a bowl covered well with cling wrap and pop it in the fridge. Cool to room temperature before smearing over your cake.




11 comments:

  1. You did a brilliant job! I love the colors you chose and the decoration but I especially love the name cut out of fondant
    Thank you so much for the shout out and I am really glad I could help

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The cut out name's my nephews favourite too..he just had to have a bite from his name even before the party began!:D
      btw de shout outs de only way i could express how grateful i am for your constant support n help:)

      Delete
  2. Perfect and nice cake...
    happy to follow u...
    Shabbu's Tasty Kitchen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thk u for following us ,hope you'd enjoy our recipes:)

      Delete
  3. Wow looks super cool and sooooo cute :)
    http://youtoocancookindianfood.blogspot.in/

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cake looks superb.. It is difficult to work with fondant and I can't believe that this is your first attempt in fondant..:))
    Loved it..
    Reva

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Reva, I did have a hard time with spreading the fondant over the cake(probably because it was my first tym)..but it was fun and I've been planning the cake for nearly a month,researching online...but compliments like yours make it all worth the effort!:)

      Delete

Scribble Away!!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...