How to make Birthday (and other celebration) Cakes!

greenbee

Marzipan doesn't have to be perfect, but should cover the majority of the holes to give a smooth finish.

Roll the sugarpaste out to 4mm thick. If you don't have a silicone board and rolling pin, you'll need plenty of icing sugar or cornflour to stop it sticking, but bear in mind that this dries it out.

Knead well, keeping all the folds on one side. Turn over and bend the paste to check that it isn't cracking - when you reach this stage you can roll it out. Put the creased side down and the smooth side up. Roll out carefully, lifting over the rolling pin to turn so you keep your paste in a circle. Work out what size you need it to be (height x 2 plus diameter plus a bit to allow for irregularities) and try to keep it even.

When it's the right size, pick it up over the rolling pin. Remember that you now have the underneath facing up! Move the cake to the centre of the board, then hold the rolling pin BEHIND the cake, with the edge of the paste just below the bottom of the cake. This way you roll the paste on towards you and can see what you are doing...

Remember to roll the underneath of the paste onto the marzipan. Drop it on loosely so that it isn't hanging down and pulling/stretching. Then use your hands to gently pull the paste into place from underneath. When it's about right, smooth the top down, then smooth the sides with one hand, using the other to pull out the pleats as you go round. It should stretch nicely to fit the cake with no pleats.

If you have a smoother, rub it across the top and make sure any air bubbles are released down the sides. You need to smooth air out of the sides too, lifting up the edge of the paste to let them out.

Then smooth the edges, pressing down to seal the edge of the paste before cutting round it to tidy up the edges. Run a ribbon round the bottom to cover the edge

Good luck!

Paulie'sGirl

Hi,

Its got its fondant on. It looks homemade, but not bad for my first attempt!

I'll make the second cake tomorrow, that's the sponge with ganache and then fondant.

Thanks to all for their help!

PGxx

greenbee

Paulie'sGirl wrote: »

Hi,

Its got its fondant on. It looks homemade, but not bad for my first attempt!

I'll make the second cake tomorrow, that's the sponge with ganache and then fondant.

Thanks to all for their help!

PGxx

Good luck. Shout if you need help (tip... don't put too much ganache on. Slap it on then scrape it off so that you just have a thin layer covering the crumb and acting as glue for the fondant). It's best to leave the cake for 24 hours before working with the sponge - in fact, if you can freeze overnight and defrost, even better. Madeira is probably the best consistency, but even that is easier to work with after freezing. Fresh cake is a nightmare...

If you're planning on stacking, I can provide instructions... but shout before you start covering...

Paulie'sGirl

Oh. Ok

I was planning to make the sponge tomorrow afternoon and cover it on Friday. Would I be better making it today, freezing it and then covering it on Friday after it has defrosted?

I plan to cut the sponge in three, ganache the middles and buttercream the outside so it doesn't show through my ivory fondant.

I have dowels, but I'm now concerned about how to push them through my dried fondant on the fruitcake, will it crack? Can I just rest the lighter sponge directly onto the covered fruitcake (it will be on a thin cake board)?

I assume it will be best to transport them seperately and then finish the decoration when they're stacked at the restaurant?

So many questions!

Thanks again Greenbee

PGxx

Paulie'sGirl

Oh, quick question.

My sponge recipe is for a 30cm cake, but I'm only making a 15cm cake. The cooking time on the original recipe is 2.5 hours, and you're not allowed to open the door til 2 hours. What would be the equivalent for the 15cm cake? 2 hours checking at 1.5?

Many thanks!

PGxx

greenbee

Paulie'sGirl wrote: »

Oh. Ok

I was planning to make the sponge tomorrow afternoon and cover it on Friday. Would I be better making it today, freezing it and then covering it on Friday after it has defrosted?

If you can, I'd go for that as it will be firmer.

Paulie'sGirl wrote: »

I plan to cut the sponge in three, ganache the middles and buttercream the outside so it doesn't show through my ivory fondant.

if you can get a cake leveller, do, then you can cut three even layers and know it will be flat on top! Buttercream the outside - sides first, then top (so you can hang on to the top when you do the sides!) make more than you need, so you can slap it on liberally then scrape it off to achieve a thin crumb coat. It's difficult to coat thinly (and a thick layer can also help fill in any gaps.

Paulie'sGirl wrote: »

I have dowels, but I'm now concerned about how to push them through my dried fondant on the fruitcake, will it crack? Can I just rest the lighter sponge directly onto the covered fruitcake (it will be on a thin cake board)?

If you can, I'd go for a drum the same size as the sponge cake, glue the cake to it with buttercream and cover the spong AND the drum

I assume you're dowelling the fruitcake and so have solid dowels? (If you have hollow dowels, make you sponge 4 inches bigger than the fruitcake and rethink your ideas!) Ok... You need to measure where you need the dowels, so put the cake board centrally on the covered cake and press down firmly. You'll get an indentation where the edge of the top cake will be. work out where you want your four dowels to be to provide a stable base INSIDE this circle (seems obvious... but lots of people seem to forget this bit...!) Push the first dowel into the cake, get a pen/pencil and then get down so that the top of the cake is at eye level. Draw a line on the dowel level with the top of the cake (not with the dip it's made in the icing). Cut all four dowels to the same length and insert them. They should go in fine, with no cracking. The should sit slightly proud of the surface of the cake. Put a cake board on top of the dowels and press down evenly. Hopefully you will get even pressure. Check underneath and you should just be able to see daylight between cake and board. If you have a small spirit level, you can check that it's flat. Check how flat the surface is first... the board should have the same angle as your work surface. You may need to recut the dowels to get them level. This is normal. Then make up some royal icing (works like glue) and put a large splodge in the middle of the bottom cake to stick your top cake (board) to!

Paulie'sGirl wrote: »

I assume it will be best to transport them seperately and then finish the decoration when they're stacked at the restaurant?

It depends how you're going to transport them. Remember, once fondanted, the cakes shouldn't be in plastic or tin, just cardboard, or they'll sweat.

A two-tier cake should fit in a decent sized box and transport OK if the royal icing has set. What decoration are you doing?

As for the size... don't forget to make the cake bigger than you need, and cut what you want out of it. That way, any imperfections can be cut out! You can even cut partial layers out if it doesn't rise enough.

Good luck!

Paulie'sGirl

Paulie'sGirl

Hello ladies! I've made two sponges, as the first was a minor distaster. I was expecting this, and had planned to make two anyway!

Paulie'sGirl

Paulie'sGirl