baking help - individual sponges

*niptuckfan*

hi all - we are having a henny soon for a close friend:beer:, we will be travellin on the train for a while so have decided all the girls will bring some nibbles for the journey - theme is pink - i am wanting to bake individual sponges in cases (can do that) and ice them - am looking for any ideas was thinking just pink icing with her nameand name of hubby to be or today i saw in a bakers that they were iced with a shiny looking icing and topped with a little butterfly

can i make this shining looking icing myself ?- have seen different edible toppers on ebay that could look nice

any ideas or pointers would be greatfully received, i want these to be really nice so will defo have to do some dummy runs

Gingernutmeg

I'm assuming what you saw was like a little petit four (french fancy) type cake? If it was, the shiny looking icing was probably a fondant, which is a real pain to make - you have to boil sugar to a certain temp, then mix it on a slab, then melt it again when it goes crumbly ... It's really not something you want to do at home lol, as it'll make one heck of a mess in the kitchen You could get a similar effect using a thick glace icing (icing sugar and a little water, you want it to be quite thick and gloopy, and then you *carefully* pour it over the cake and let it coat it itself). It will be sweet though.

What about making something like mini cupcakes? They can be iced with buttercream, and if you pipe it on and put a pretty topper on it they can look sooo pretty. You can get all kinds of things, like edible glitter or cute themed sprinkles, in all kinds of colours. Or you can get some really cool shaped biscuit cutters - shoes, dresses, engagement rings, all sorts of things, and they can look so good when they're decorated, even if you just go for something simple like glace icing and edible glitter.

*niptuckfan*

thanks gingernutmeg this is just the kind of advice im needing, i want them to look good but am a bit of a novice at baking! do cupcakes with the butter icing keep okay? i plan to make them first thing sat morning to be eaten in the afternoon

Gingernutmeg

If you're making them in the morning to eat that afternoon, they'd be absolutely fine. You could even make the cakes the day before, keep them in a tin and then ice them on the day. The only thing I would be careful of is stuff like sprinkles, glitter or toppers - sometimes these can run or go squishy if you do them too far in advance so I'd definitely decorate them on the day, and not before. Go for something simple so you're not too stressed!

Personally I'd go for the cupcakes as they're more forgiving - you're covering the top with icing so if they're a bit uneven or burnt, you're going to hide it Also, piping a swirl of icing on the top is something you can make look really professional with very little practice, and if you put some glitter/sprinkles/a topper on the top they look really impressive.

kb36

Check out this site for ideas for cupcake/fairy cake icing and decorations - there are plenty that look simple and fantastic!!
http://www.crumbsanddoilies.co.uk/home.html#SlideFrame_1
I think this site has been mentioned before on the forum somewhere but it's one of my favourites! Good luck!

*niptuckfan*

thanks kb63 those look great!