fondant – cakes

This is a wonderful cake suitable for all sorts of occasions – birthdays, Valentine’s, Mother’s Day, anniversary’s etc. I made this cake for the first time for my friend Lesley’s birthday and it was such a success that I have made it many times since and each time I give it a different look. This cake was for an 65th Birthday surprise.

Below are the instructions you need to make this cake including my 10 minute video clip ‘How to make fondant frangipanis’ using an individual frangipani petal cutter and a step by step guide to making frangipanis using a one piece rose cutter. Decide which method you prefer and have a go.

Instructions are for a 6″ dark chocolate mud cake filled with dark chocolate ganache and covered in sugar-paste

Ingredients

Dark Chocolate Mud Cake

100g butter

100g dark choc

10g coffee

70ml water

55g SR flour

55g plain flour

20g cocoa powder

0.25 tsp bicarb

210g caster sugar

2 eggs

3 tsp oil

45ml buttermilk

Ganache

520g dark chocolate

260ml pure cream

Flower-paste

700 grams of rolled fondant (I used Bakels Pettinice, but any will do)

2 teaspoons of Cellogen (if you use CMC, Tylose Powder or Gum Trag then only use 1 to 1.5 teaspoons)

1/3 teaspoon raw egg white

2 teaspoons Cream of Tartar

a small amount of Crisco or shortening

Edible Glue
1 teasp Tylose Powder

Other

500g (17oz) pink sugar paste (rolled fondant)

30g (1oz) bag of chocolate buttons or Freckles

227g (1/2lb) box milk chocolate15cm (6″) thin card board for the lid.

Individual frangipani petal cutter or a one piece 5 petal rose cutter

Petal Dust in yellow

1. To make the Dark Chocolate Mud Cake

Preheat the oven to 160C. Grease the tin and line the base and sides with a collar that extends 2 cm above the top of the tin.
Put the butter, chocolate, coffee and water in a saucepan and stir over low heat until melted, then remove from the heat.
Sift the flours, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar and make a well in the centre. Add the combined egg, oil and buttermilk and the chocolate mixture, stirring with a large spoon until completely combined.
Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 2 hours (for 11’5″cake) or until a skewer poked into the centre of the cake comes out clean, though it may be a little sticky. Leave the cake in the tin until cold.

2. To make and apply the ganache click here.

3. To decorate the cake

Measure the height of the cake.Roll out 200g of the pink sugar-paste so that you can cut a strip about 46cm (18in) long and 1cm (0.5in) wider than the depth of your cake.Brush the sides of the cake with a little water.Roll the sugar-paste up like a bandage, making sure it is not too tight and then unwind it around the side of the cake.Paint a light line of water around the inside edge of the chocolate box and neatly press the chocolate buttons into the ganache. My buttons were big so I cut each one in half first.Arrange chocolates on top of the box. Stick one of the chocolates on top of the others as this will help secure the lid at an angle later on.Moisten the top and sides of your thin cake board with a little water, roll out and cover with 100g (30z) of pink sugar-paste. Trim and neaten edges.Use 200g (7oz) pink sugar-paste to cover your base cake board (moisten with a little water first), if you are using one. Cut out a long strip of sugar-paste and roll up as if a bandage and unroll to cover around the board

4. To make the Flower-paste
Flower-paste (also called modelling paste)

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Serves: Makes around 500 grams of paste

Instructions:

Use a little Crisco on your work surface and knead up your fondant so its nice and soft.

Sprinkle the Cellogen, or alternative, over the work surface and knead it into the fondant.

This flower paste is white as it is for a different cake. Sorry!

Make a well in the mix and pour in the egg white, knead until mixed through, it may feel a little sticky, add more Crisco to the surface if you need to.

Sprinkle the Cream of Tartar on the work surface and knead into the mix until all incorporated.

Wrap the paste in cling wrap tightly, a few times and place in an air tight container, leave for at least 12 hours before use.

You don’t need to refrigerate it, and it will last for months.

I cut mine up into four pieces, and generally freeze it. It defrosts with the heat of your hands in minutes.5. To make the Frangipanis

Soften the flower paste

Roll out till thin

Press down hard with your cutter

Lift up and check

Use the balling tool or something similar to push out the flower-paste shape

Stick the petals together one at a time using edible glue

Carefully paint glue along the last petal edge

Join together and make sure all the petals are evenly spaced.

Turn upside down and check that there are no gaps

Curve the petals a little

Squeeze the stem together firming everything up nicely.

Place in an egg carton overnight to harden.

Click here for alternative method for making gum-paste frangipanis using an individual frangipani petal cutter.

6. Finishing touches

Glue the flowers around the base of the cake using edible glue.To make the glue mix the Tylose powder with approximately 4 tblsp water. Any lumps will disappear if you put the mixture in the fridge overnight.I arranged the flowers in pairs as it made a more interesting arrangement.Arrange a few of the flowers together for the top of the lid. As the flowers were hard, I pushed them into a piece of the left over flower-paste which was still soft as I had wrapped it in cling film overnight.Stick the lid to the chocolates using a blob of ganache.