Decorate A Cake
Cake decorating has become somewhat of an art form. I have seen cakes of all shapes and sizes including animals, cartoon characters, batman cars, iphones, handbags and everything else in between. If you are just starting out with cake decorating, you may wish to start with something simple like the "gift cake" below.
Materials
Ingredients
1 square chocolate cake
2kg fondant
Food colouring for fondant
Chocolate ganache (see recipe below)
Cake syrup (see recipe below)
Tools
Small square cake board (the same size as your cake)
Large square cake board
Cake brush
Fondant Smoother
Spatula
Large Kitchen Knife
Rolling Pin
Cutting wheel or knife
Toothpicks
Tip: Tools and Fondant can be purchased from
Baking Pleasures - http://www.bakingpleasures.com.au
Roberts Confectionery - http://www.robertsconfectionery.com.au/
Ganache Recipe
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600g dark cooking chocolate, chopped
300ml pure cream
Combine chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir with a metal spoon until smooth. Remove bowl from heat.
Set aside at room temperature to cool, stirring occasionally, until ganache is thick and spreadable.
Note: Depending on the size of your cake, you may need more or less ganache. The ratio of chocolate to cream is 2 parts chocolate : 1 part cream
Cake Syrup Recipe
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1 cup white sugar
1 cup water
In a medium saucepan combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool
Method
Step 1
Cut your cake into 3 even layers, using a large knife. Cut off any excess cake, ensuring the top layer is level.
Step 2
Place bottom layer of cake on small cake board
Step 3
Brush cake syrup on bottom layer of cake and then cover with ganache. Place middle layer on top, brush with cake syrup and cover with ganache. Place third layer on top and brush with cake syrup.
Step 4
Ganache your cake all around and on top
Step 5
Smooth ganache and ensure there are no holes or bumps
Step 6
You can colour your fondant with any colour. Simply add a few drops of fondant colouring and then knead until colour is evenly spread throughout.
Step 7
Cover large square cake board with coloured fondant by rolling out fondant to desired size, 1/4 inch thick. Position over board using a rolling pin, draping fondant over edge. Trim excess fondant from edges under bottom of board. Smooth top and sides with Smoother.
Step 8
Position white fondant on cake, smoothing the top with Smoother. Pull the corner flaps gently out and away from the cake; smooth the corners with hand to eliminate the creases. Smooth sides with Smoother.
Step 9
Trim off excess fondant at bottom with a spatula or sharp knife.
Step 10
To give a finished look, smooth top, all sides and bottom edge of cake again with the Smoother.
Step 11
Place cake on top of large cakeboard which has been covered in fondant
Step 12
To create a bow, roll out coloured fondant and cut into cm wide strips. Make a loop out of fondant strips and squeeze bottom part around toothpicks. Allow to harden.
Step 13
Cut further strips of coloured fondant, long enough to cover cake from one side to the other. For a ruffled ribbon look, lift up parts of fondant and support with tissue, until fondant sets. Remove tissue.
Step 14
Stick toothpics with bow into the middle of the cake. Cover with a square of fondant to hide top of toothpics.
And tadaaaa! You have a beautifully decorated cake.
If you’ve never decorated a cake, I would highly recommend you attend a class, where you will learn all the latest cake decorating techniques. The best thing about attending a class is that at the end you walk away with your own professionally decorated cake.
Whimiscal Cakehouse runs classes in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide and are also introducing a series of online courses. For more information visit Whimsical Cakehouse website. http://www.whimsical.com.au
Categories
#cake_decorating
#cakes
#birthday_cakes
#birthday_party
#parties
#creative
%howtoi
229608 - 2023-07-17 11:38:13