Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Another Birthday Cake

I've discovered that if you are going to do a fondant, marshmellow is the way to go. If you have a mixer with a dough hook, even better!

CHERRY CHOCOLATE CAKE
1 Box devils food cake
1 can cherry pie filling
1 small tub sour cream
2 eggs

Mix cake mix, eggs and sour cream together as best you can (it will be dry). Fold in cherries. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

BUTTER CREAM FROSTING
go here for the best one Spread on cake and let cool in the fridge until its slightly stiff.

MM FONDANT
16 oz. White mini marshmallows (use a good quality brand)
2-4 Tbs. Water
2 lbs. Powdered sugar
1/2 cup Good Brand Shortening (this is very unlike me, but the brand with trans fat (not crisco or smart balance) works better

Melt marshmallows and 2 tablespoons of water in a microwave: put the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds, open microwave and stir again, and continue doing this until melted. It usually takes about 2 1/2 minutes total.
Now grease your hands (or mixer) GENEROUSLY - palms, backs and in between fingers, then heavily grease the counter you will be using and dump the bowl of marshmallow/sugar mixture in the middle.
Adding about a cup of sugar at a time, start kneading like you would bread dough. You will immediately see why you have greased your hands. Keep kneading, this stuff is sticky at this stage! Add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead some more. Regrease your hands and counter when the fondant is sticking. If the mix is tearing easily, it is too dry, so add water (about 1/2 tablespoon at a time then knead it in). It usually takes about 8 minutes (if doing by hand) to get a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing when you apply it to the cake.

Add food coloring to the fondant and knead in. technically you should use the special icing coloring gel that comes in jars. You can get it at most craft stores or online. I just used regular cheap liquid stuff (I didn't need any vibrant colors) and added more sugar. If you are doing it all one color you may add the coloring in the very beginning when you are melting your marshmellows.
Roll out onto greased surface to the size you need and add on top of already iced cake that has been sprayed with a water bottle. Otherwise your fondant will not stick.

This recipe makes a lot! I had about 1/4-1/3 of the fondant leftover.

If this is confusing there are a lot of videos you can watch on YouTube. That's where I went to cake decorating school one night last week.

TIP:
To make the flowers on top, I rolled out the fondant and used a cookie cutter. I then let them dry out on the counter overnight in an egg shell carton so that they wouldn't be flat.

3 comments:

Cindy said...

Wow!!! THat cake is awesome!

BreAnna said...

Hey Brooke, we must me on the same wave length. I tried fondant for the first time last week for Elena's birthday and marshmellow is the only way to go! I used koolaid for the color/flavor and my kids couldn't stop sampling. I love your blog!

BreAnna said...

oops, I mean Karen!