Exploding Present Cake

In contrast, the next cake to follow was decided upon the morning of Lina’s 60th birthday dinner.  Perusing through designs from the Planet Cake books, I opted for the ‘exploding present’ cake - one tier and what I expected to be simple to make.  I chose a white chocolate mud cake and although the shape was perfect, the cake itself was slightly burnt at the edges - must try it again though because the rest of it tasted nice!  I also stupidly did not let the cake completely cool due to my impatience disorder (!) which caused some complications later!  Rookie mistake!  The idea is that you cut out two identical circles and place them in the middle of the cake, ensuring that no glue is applied in between the two circles.  Then a layer of white fondant needs to be placed over the whole cake including the circles.  Incisions are then made through the fondant where the circles are to resemble a pie shape.  These incisions need to be peeled back for an explosion effect.  However, as mentioned, my cake was too warm and the two circles of fondant stuck together.  Sometimes, a mistake like that can ruin the cake but instead of losing heart, you need to find another way to fix it or alter the design!  Things don’t always go according to plan!   To rectify this, triangles were cut out, curled and placed around the circle to imitate the effect.  Silver cachous were scattered in the circle and ribbons were created from fondant to add to the ‘present’ picture.  To finish the cake, coloured stars on wire were inserted in the middle of the cake rising out of the explosion.

Despite the flaws, the cake still worked somehow!  My new approach to cake decorating is not to rush and stress but to bake and decorate in a relaxing manner!  Just the way it should be!  Bon Appetit! 

Beauty & the Beast Castle Cake

Although there has been a drought in my baking for the most part of this year due to an overload of work and study, last weekend saw its re-emergence.  Two major birthdays set the wheels back in motion beginning with my sister’s 30^th birthday followed by my partner’s mother’s 60^th.

Natalie’s birthday cake had been in planning mode for over as was the pre-empted stress in executing it!  Collaborating with our other sister, the delightful Rosie, we had decided on a Disney castle, more specifically with a Beauty and the Beast theme - her favourite Disney film.  This cake had to be grand for mon cheri mademoiselle!

We covered the base with rolled blue fondant to represent the moat before placing a layer of white fondant over a 12-inch circular piece of Styrofoam.  Rosie baked a cake with white and dark blue swirls to match the colours of the castle’s exterior.  We then applied another layer of white fondant to the cake and situated it on top of the Styrofoam before facing the dilemma of the towers and turrets!  Disclaimer: thank you to Safeway for discounting Pringles packets, and to my dad for stocking up!  The Pringles packets were wrapped with white fondant which we were quickly beginning to run out of!  We ended up with four towers as opposed to our planned six but were secretly grateful because by that stage we were both delirious from exhaustion!  The turrets were structured using cardboard shaped into cones.  We applied a roll of gold fondant (using gold dust combined with alcohol - this can be bought pre-done) before layering small dark blue circles onto the turrets and topping it off with a cardboard flag perched on a ball of gold fondant.  White, dark blue and gold were our colour selections to mirror the outfits of Belle and the Beast in the pivotal ballroom scene.  The Beauty and the Beast figurines were then carefully placed around the cake although Rosie later noticed that the horse and Gaston were drowning in the moat!  Whoops!

All in all, the castle was a huge success and we were pretty pleased with our efforts.   Before we knew it, the cake was served and demolished!  Our masterpiece was definitely put to good yummy use!

 The next blog post will feature the second cake created!