Homeschooled Hostess: Surprise Cake!

March 16, 2010 | by Shannon Ayers

About a month ago an old friend emailed me saying he was coming into town and that he was throwing a big surprise party for our mutual good friend. Knowing my “homeschooled hostess” status he asked me if I wanted to be involved in the planning, and I of course said yes. After volunteering to make the cake I asked him to give me   details of what he thought our friend would want at his party…perhaps a cake themed to go along with his fave movie/ band/ book…. His answer? “Let’s make a cake of his face.”

I had to think about this one … for a while… I can make a cake, I can make a themed cake … I can’t make a cake of someone’s face.

Or so I thought….

So, my friend got into town and we got busy working on our cake face. Since we were experimenting with making homemade fondant we decided to use a simple cake mix.

Once our cake was baked and had cooled to room temperature we were able to frost it entirely in basic vanilla butter cream frosting. Luckily, my friend Nick is an artist. Nick slimmed our 9in round, double layer cake, into an oval face shape and took the extra cake pieces that had been cut and fashioned them into a nose.

The fondant (which was made from marshmallows) was surprisingly easy to work with. We added some gel color (2 drops of yellow, 1 drop of red) and began kneading it into a peachy skin color and then rolled it out. Then we layed the thin layer of fondant over our sculpted cake and Nick began molding the peach colored fondant, adding indintions for a smile, lips and eyes. Our cake began to definitely come to life as we added brown hair and eyebrows.

As the time went by I couldn’t believe we actually created our friends face using yellow cake, butter cream frosting and fondant! It’s unbelievable!

My challenge to you: come up with something you could never imagine being a cake (or think of a cake you would only see on some fancy Food Network show) like a car, a building, an animal … Then by using a basic cake mix and the recipe we found below for homemade marshmallow fondant, simply create. Go with your gut and have fun. You really can’t mess up a cake! No matter what it looks like it will still taste yummy so have fun sculpting and working your fondant into something amazing!

** Tip: After your cakes have cooled you should cut the top rounded layer off before stacking them. By cutting this layer, the cake will sit more even on your surface and will be more structurally sound.

** Note: The glasses used in this cake were real glasses. ($2 dollar reading glasses from Target) We cut them down so they were fit evenly on the cake.

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces miniature marshmallows (4 cups not packed, or half of a 16-ounce bag)
• 1 pound powdered sugar (4 cups), plus extra for dusting
• 2 tbsp water
• Food coloring or flavored extracts, optional

Preparation:

1. Dust your counter or a large cutting board with powdered sugar. Place the marshmallows and the water in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute, until the marshmallows are puffy and expanded.

2. Stir the marshmallows with a rubber spatula until they are melted and smooth. If some unmelted marshmallow pieces remain, return to the microwave for 30-45 seconds, until the marshmallow mixture is entirely smooth and free of lumps. If you want colored or flavored fondant, you can add several drops of food coloring or extracts at this point and stir until incorporated. If you want to create multiple colors or flavors from one batch of fondant, do not add the colors or flavors now. Instead, refer to step 6 below for instructions.

3. Add the powdered sugar and begin to stir with the spatula. Stir until the sugar begins to incorporate and it becomes impossible to stir anymore.

4. Scrape the marshmallow-sugar mixture out onto the prepared work surface. It will be sticky and lumpy, with lots of sugar that has not been incorporated yet–this is normal. Dust your hands with powdered sugar, and begin to knead the fondant mixture like bread dough, working the sugar into the marshmallow with your hands.

5. Continue to knead the fondant until it smoothes out and loses its stickiness. Add more sugar if necessary, but stop adding sugar once it is smooth–too much sugar will make it stiff and difficult to work with. Once the fondant is a smooth ball, it is ready to be used. You can now roll it out, shape it, or wrap it in cling wrap to use later. Well-wrapped fondant can be stored in a cool room or in the refrigerator, and needs to be kneaded until supple before later use.

6. If you want to add coloring or flavoring to your fondant, flatten it into a round disc. You might want to wear gloves to avoid getting food coloring on your hands during this step. Add your desired amount of coloring or flavoring to the center of the disc, and fold the disc over on itself so that the color or flavor is enclosed in the center of the fondant ball.

7. Begin to knead the ball of fondant just like you did before. As you work it, you will begin to see streaks of color coming through from the center. Continue to knead until the streaks are gone and the fondant is a uniform color. Your fondant is now ready to be used or stored as outlined above.

*** RECIPE COPIED FROM http://candy.about.com/od/fondantcandyrecipes/r/mm_fondant.htm CHECK OUT THERE SITE FOR A TUTORIAL ON MAKING THIS YUMMY FROSTING.

Happy Hostessing!

love,

shannon