The Great Cake Drape

 

Guess what guys?! Today I decided to give you another tutorial-style post! Yay for learning!

Unfortunately... along the way I had a few issues with what you would think would be a relatively simple cake. Boo!

But hey, I'm still learning as I go, so I decided to go ahead with this post anyway and you can take it as a what to and what NOT to do guide. Now that's some silver-lined lemonade!  

So, as you can probably assume from the image above, today I'm going to show you step by step how to make this fancy-pants cake featuring draped fondant, roses and pearls. Snazzy right?! 

Ok, so right off the bat let me give you a helpful hint: make sure your tiers are sized proportionately.

I think the cake looked better in real life than it appears in the photos, but looking at that first photo you can see that the top tier is slightly too small in contrast to the bottom tier so the entire thing just looks a little misshapen. If you don't have a stack of cake tins measuring every other dimension (as I clearly don't) then just use what you have and I'm sure it will still turn out fine. Like I said, in reality the cake looked fine and it's really only been since looking at the photos that it had been nagging at me. So my point is: try to proportion your tiers where possible but where you can't don't stress it too hard. 

My second major issue... that rose on the right making a break for freedom. 

If I had my way again I would have moved the drapery join and the adjourning rose inwards. As it is every time I look at these pictures I can imagine that rose sprouting legs and jumping for freedom off the edge of the cake! Call me paranoid, compulsive or simply observant... but that little detail really bugs me! So, to avoid that gnawing agitation that I am currently experiencing, make sure you know EXACTLY where you want each detail to be! Plan plan plan is all I can say!

Now that my neurotic frustrations are out the way, lets make some cake! 

What You Will Need

• Fondant/Gum paste Flowers (I used 5 but feel free to go nuts! - I will be posting a how to on these at some point too!)
• 2 x baked cakes (I used a 20cm and a 12cm...regrettably! See above griping)
• 2 x Cake boards
• Roughly 2lb of white fondant (will vary depending on the size of your cakes)
• Buttercream (or ganache... explained further below)
• Ribbon of a colour of your choice
• Fondant smoother
• Icing sugar / cornflour 
• Rolling pin 
• Wooden dowel 
• Water
• A butt load of patience! 

Step 1: Optimus (Cake) Prime

The first thing you will need to do is to prime your cakes ready for decorating. Simply split your cakes horizontally and fill them with you preferred flavour of buttercream icing (or ganache or really whatever filling floats your boat). Sandwich them back together, pop them onto individual cake boards and then give each of them a good crumb coating.

Never crumb coated before? Never fear!
It simply means covering the outside of the cake in a very thin coat of icing which will hold down any stray crumbs so that when you give it a final coat you wont have any flecks of cake ruining the look of your pretty icing. Set the cake aside in a cool spot until the icing is firm to touch (refrigerating for about 10min can speed this up if your short of time).

Give the cake a second, thicker coat of icing. Your don't want it too thick or else it might go soft under the fondant and you will end up with lumps and bumps. I aim for between 1-2cm usually. 

 

Now you want to try and get this layer as smooth and even as possible. Here in Western Australia the weather has been crazy hot for the last few months and I found my icing was just not wanting to set and so when I eventually had to put my fondant over the top the soft icing didn't hold its shape as well as I would have liked, resulting in a generally 'softer' looking cake without the sharper edges I was after. If you are in a similarly hot or humid area I would recommend considering using a ganache icing instead of the buttercream. Ganache stands up in the hot weather much better than buttercream, believe it or not, and will increase your chances of getting that crisper, more professional looking final result.

Buttercream or ganache, whichever you use, set the cake aside until the icing has set firm and is not 'tacky' to touch, give your cake board a wipe to get ride of any excess icing and then roll out your fondant. Using a dusting of icing sugar or cornflour will help stop the fondant from sticking to the counter top and rolling pin but be careful not to overuse it as it can dry out your fondant and result in cracks later on! Just use only as much as you need to roll out the fondant without it sticking. 

Additionally, when rolling out your fondant make sure you don't go picking it up, flipping it over etc. Give it a roll, carefully rotate it 45 degrees, roll again and repeat until it is even and at your desired thickness.

You want the fondant to be no thinner than 3mm (otherwise it will become prone to tearing!) and not much thicker than 5 or 6mm. Use your rolling pin to help lift the fondant and drape it over the top of the cake and the use the palms of your hands to carefully press it onto the cake. I always start at the top and work my way down the sides, gently stretching the adjusting the fondant to get rid of any creases which inevitably happen with round cakes! Use a sharp knife (or a pizza cutter...) to trim the excess fondant from the bottom of the cake      

Next up, I grab my fondants smoother (pictured below) and go all over my cake with it to get rid of any imperfections. It also gives the cake a shinier, smoother look and for less than $10 I would say that's worth the money!

Do the same thing for your other cake layer so that you have two, fondant covered tiers just waiting to play the cake equivalent of stacks on!

Yes. We have another mistake on my part.

When I was trimming the excess fondant from my smaller cake I may have cut a little too close to the base so that you can see a little of the icing/cake glaring out. But guess what? We are covering the base of our cakes in ribbons and pearls so no one will ever know! Most convenient I would say.

Grab your wooden dowel and trim it if necessary (you want it to be just shorter than the height of the two cakes when stacked. Find the centre of your bottom tier and insert the dowel, pushing it all the way down to the cake board below. Dab a little extra buttercream on the bottom of your top tier (to act as glue) and press it down onto the dowel so it is is sitting smack-bang in the centre of the bottom tier.  

 Time to pretty up the base of the tiers with some ribbon! Now you can use ribbon made of fondant if you want but I opted to go for the real thing since I had it lying around and just really liked the colour of it.

There are a number of ways you can go about attaching the ribbon to the cakes. Some people pipe a ring of icing around the cake and press the ribbon into it, but I find the fat from the icing has a habit of leaking through the ribbon and staining it. Not the greatest look!

I decided to try out a new technique I had read about for the first time and overall I was fairly impressed by it. You simply take your ribbon, dunk it in clean water, thoroughly wring and use your fingers to squeeze out any excess water so the ribbon is just damp but not overly wet to touch. Then you simply wrap it around the cake and press the ends together to seal them. The dampness will help the ribbon stick to the sugar in the fondant and when it dries it will hold on tight.

Time to make some pearls! Grab some extra white fondant or gumpaste and use it to roll out enough small balls to go around the base of each tier. I tried to get all of mine as close to 1cm high as I could. For a little extra pizazz you can give your pearls a light  dusting with lustre dust or you can simply use them as they are. Attach them to the cake using small dabs of water, getting them as close to the side of the cake as you can without squashing them.  

  

Looks like its all coming together now! Thumbs up for progress.

So you now have your basic cake structure and its time to dress it up and make her  pretty!

To make your fondant drapery grab 3 or 4 dowels (depending on how thick you want the drape to be) and line them up on a bench top, evenly spaced with around a cm between each one. Thinly roll out some fondant large enough to cover the dowels, you want it thin enough to have the look of fine material (slightly thinner than what you did for the cake covering).

Place the fondant over the dowels and carefully press the fondant down so the grooves are well defined. Trim off any excess fondant and then leave the fondant for a few minutes to firm up a little. You don't want to leave it so long that it starts turning hard otherwise you may get cracks and lines when you try to bend it around the cake. A couple of minutes should do the trick. Repeat with a second drape for the second tier.

Using a few dabs of water as glue, pinch the two ends of the drapes and stick them to the cake. I started at the top and worked my way down. When joining the two drapes in the middle of the cake I tucked the bottom drape around the end of the first one to make it look more like one flowing piece.  

 Grab your edible roses and use a little more water or edible glue to attach them at each point that the drapes intersect the cake. You may need to support the roses as the water dries but they should hold their positions when fully dried.


 

 

 

   


And there you have it!

Simply yet fancy-pants cake to serve at birthdays, anniversaries or to simply carry around and give you an air of superiority!

Hit up the comments below with your thoughts and let me know if you give it a go!

  

 

 

Every now and then you just get the craving for something rich, decadent and possibly swimming in alcohol or chocolate.

Then there are those other times when you simply want something light and sweet which won't leave you feeling like an elephant has taken refuge in your stomach cavity!

This cake is perfect for such instances and hence I decided to artfully name it the "Almond Cloud Cake". Incredibly cryptic name right?!

Almond: 

Well, you may notice the bunch of nuts stuck around the outside....

Cloud:  

Just like those pillows of the sky, everything about this cake screams light and fluffy, from the delicate sponge to the aerated cream coating!

Cake: 

Umm... yeah that one is just too self-explanatory.

Almond Cloud Cake

 

 

 

For the Sponge:

 

2 tsp plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
Cornflour
4 eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

For the Custard Filling:

4 egg yolks
100g caster sugar
25 plain flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
350ml milk (whole fat)

300ml whipping cream

3 tbsp icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract 

230g flaked almonds 

To Make the Sponge

 

Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C fan-forced) and grease two 20cm round cake tins with spray oil. Line the bottom and sides of each tin with baking paper. 

In a one cup measuring cup place the flour, bicarb soda and cream of tartar. Fill the remainder of the cup with cornflour (so you have a total of 1 cup of dry ingredients!)

In an electric mixer whisk the eggs and sugar for 10min. It will become incredibly aerated,creamy looking and at least doubled in volume. Add the vanilla and beat for a further minute.

Fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, being careful not to knock the air from the mixture, until smooth.

Divide the mixture between the two prepared cake tins and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until sponge springs back when touched.

 Place baking paper on wire cake racks to cover and turn the sponges onto the wire racks but don't  lift off the cake tin!  (this will allow the resulting trapped steam to keep the cake moist!). Leave the  sponges to cool completely. 

To Make the Filling

 

Whisk the yolks and sugar until light in colour and thick then add the flour, whisking to incorporate.

Bring the milk to the boil in a saucepan (or microwave) and then slowly pour into the egg/sugar mix, whisking continually to make sure the eggs don't scramble. 

Pour the mixture into a saucepan and cook over med-low heat, whisking constantly to prevent the mixture sticking to the bottom until the mixture starts to boil. Continue cooking and whisking for a further two minutes until the mixture is thick and remove from the heat.

Stir in the vanilla and pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl and cover with clingfilm (so it is actually in contact with the custard) to prevent a skin forming. Refrigerate until completely cool. 

 

To Assemble

Spread the almonds evenly over a baking tray and toast under an oven grill until lightly browned. Set aside to cool completely.

Whisk the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla until firm peaks start to form and then set aside.

Place one of the cakes on your serving plate and, if necessary, trim the top with a serrated knife to ensure it is flat and level. Spread the the top with the chilled custard filling and place your remaining cake on top and press down gently to sandwich the cakes and filling together. 

Use a spatula to spread the whipped cream all around the cake, both top and sides, and use your hands to press the cooled almonds around the sides of the cake. 

You can leave the cake as it is or decorate the top with your choice of chocolate, fresh fruits or wherever your imagination takes you!  

 

 

The Mighty Croquembouche!

The stuff of both legends and dentists' nightmares, the croquembouche has risen to popularity over the last couple of years and is one of those deserts you can take to a party and know you have a free pass to look smugly satisfied with yourself for the rest of the evening.

A little baby croquembouche! Definitely 'rustic'...

Traditionally served as a celebratory cake in France, this tower of pastry and custard is actually really easy to make and doesn't require any fancy skills or gadgets, all you need is a stack of filled profiteroles and some sugar!

To make a croquembouche  you first need a whole stack of crispy profiteroles. I always use this recipe for my choux pastries but you will need to multiply this recipe to make enough to form a decent tower. For a small croquembouche around 30cm tall (to serve around 10-15 people) I would recommend multiplying it by 1.5 but for larger gatherings I would triple or even quadruple it. It will all depend on how big you pipe your pasties, how many you want to serve etc.

I almost always fill my profiteroles with a creme patisserie so I will stick the recipe for that and a basic caramel at the bottom of this post!


So, once you have your pastries cooked and filled there are two ways you can go about forming your tower:

1. Using a Croquembouch Cone  

This would be the perfect time to bust out that croquembouche cone you got last Christmas but        which has spent its' days lurking in the back of the cupboard (what other time is there??). All you    need to do is dip your filled profiteroles in some warm caramel and use this as a glue to stick them around the cone until it is completely covered, starting from the base and working your way upwards.

You can find these cones at almost any kitchen supply store these days or easily on line though unless you are planning on busting out a pastry tower every other weekend it seems like a bit of a space-consuming investment.

The alternative? Make your own disposable cone! Simply get yourself some baking paper and fold it into a cone shape. Tape it in place and  place it upside down (so the opening is facing upwards) inside a wide vase or something else which will help support it. Take your caramel-dipped profiteroles use them to fill the inside of the cone. Make sure the last few that you put in sit evenly to form a nice flat base for your tower. No-one likes a wobbly croquembouche! The caramel will set very quickly and then you simply need to flip your cone over so its standing upright and peel of the baking paper. Voila!  

You could also reinforce your DIY cone with some cardboard and stick the profiteroles around the outside a la` the traditional cone process. For a visual demo of this check out this video.  

2. Freehand It!

 If your wanting that more organic or "rustic" look (a.k.a 'messy but in a sort of art deco way')  you can always go freehand. Make your bottom layer by creating a circle of profiteroles glued together with caramel and slowly add additional circular layers on top, making each new layer smaller to that you end up with just a singular profiterole on the very top. The shape won't be quite as neat and perfect as if you had used a cone but it will look glorious all the same! 

 

Sounds pretty easy right? That's because it is!

 
But what if your not the biggest caramel fan?

Are you destined to live a life devoid of croquembouche glory?

Absolutely not! 


Presenting the less golden but equally delicious second-cousin of the croquembouche, the CHOCEMBOUCHE!

The Chocembouche! (patent pending ;) )

Simply replace the caramel you would normally use with melted chocolate and use this to glue your tower together. You can even make little chocolate decorations to pretty up the whole affair rather than using spun sugar! Which brings us to...







\

  

Since you went to all the trouble of baking, filling and stacking your profiteroles (and possibly suffering 3rd degree caramel burns in the process!) you want to add a little extra bling to bring the whole thing together right? 

Of course you do! 

The traditional and possibly most impressive way to do this is to create some spun sugar and swirl it around the outside of your bouche. 

The simplest way to do this is to have a saucepan of warm caramel on hand and use a fork or teaspoon dipped in the caramel to drizzle it over the tower from a bit of a height, flicking your wrist as you go so that you end up with fine sugar strands rather than big blobs of caramel.  

Another way is to lay out a long sheet of baking paper, dip a fork into your caramel and move it back and forward over the paper to form a whole lot of long, thin threads of caramel. Quickly, before the sugar cools and hardens, pick up the caramel (careful not to burn yourself!) and drape it around your tower like a lovely winter scarf.


Of course if your making a chocembouche you can swap a caramel scarf for a delicious drizzling of more chocolate instead!




Aside from a draping of caramel or a drizzle of chocolate, there are a huge number of other ways to decorate your croquembouche!

Why not stick on some sugar almonds, chocolate shapes, fondant butterflies or stars or even some edible flowers grown right in your own backyard (my personal favourite!).  
    

 

 So, there you have it! Making a croquembouche really is incredibly simple and there are a hundred and one different ways you can put your own spin on it to make a truly unique desert! 

Below I have listed the recipes I used for my caramel and also my profiterole filling, but you could really fill them with whatever you like! 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic  Caramel

3 cups caster sugar 
1 cup water 
1/4 cup liquid glucose 


Put all ingredients into a saucepan over med-high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and continue cooking until it turns a darm amber colour. 

Immediately remove from heat and use before it cools (if it cools to much simply reheat on the stove until soft again)
 

 

Creme Patissiere

4 egg yolks
100g caster sugar
25 plain flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
350ml milk (whole fat)



Whisk the yolks and sugar until light in colour and thick then add the flour, whisking to incorporate.

Bring the milk to the boil in a saucepan (or microwave) and then slowly pour into the egg/sugar mix, whisking continually to make sure the eggs don't scramble. 

Pour the mixture into a saucepan and cook over med-low heat, whisking constantly to prevent the mixture sticking to the bottom until the mixture starts to boil. Continue cooking and whisking for a further two minutes until the mixture is thick and remove from the heat.

Stir in the vanilla and pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl and cover with clingfilm (so it is actually in contact with the custard) to prevent a skin forming. Refrigerate until completely cool. 


To fill profiteroles: Put the creme patisserie into a piping bag was 1/2 cm wide tip and use a knife to poke a hole in the base of each profiterole. Pipe the custard into the profiterole.