Buttercream on a fruit cake?

[Biscuitsandtea]

Hi,

I am planning to make cake for DS's birthday. The video on you tube uses a chocolate sponge and buttercream icing, but my mum won't eat anything chocolate so I need to replace it with something. I thought maybe plain sponge might be a bit plain (as it is only one layer so not cream or jam in the middle), so I was planning to use a light fruit cake instead (not a Christmassy sort of cake, a bit lighter).

My questions are - does buttercream go on a fruit cake and does anyone have any tips in terms of applying it - or anything I should do to it beforehand etc?

Thanks for your help?

I'll eat anything, but I'm not sure I'd have try fruit cake and buttercream.

I'd make the chocolate one, and if your mum doesn't like it, tough - it's not her birthday!

I would say it wouldn't go, sorry...

Could you not cut the cake then add the jam in the middle? Or just do plain sponge!

Oh pooo :(

I thought it might be a bit boring with just plain sponge :(

Argh! Panicking now - that was my plan - eek!

TFruit cake with buttercream icing? That's just wrong.

Could you do coffee or lemon if you really can't do chocolate?

Fruit cake and cream don't go. You can do a plain sponge, with all that buttercream it doesn't matter that the cake is plain. You can flavour the buttercream if you want to

Does your son actually like fruit cake? Most children I know don't. There is nothing wrong with a plain sponge especially if you make the icing and decoration interesting. I always use a basic sponge recipe for DD and vary the flavour - chocolate, lemon (use grated lemon rind) or orange (grated orange rind). Buttercream works very well with sponge. The best way to ice a sponge cake with buttercream is to do a thin layer and let it set and then do another layer. This way you avoid getting cake crumbs mixed in the icing. If you decorate with small sweets it will go down very well with the children.

And remember, the cake is for your son not your mother!

Also, as the cake needs to be cut to make the shape, fruit cake is more likely to crumble. Sponge cake is much easier to slice and carve into shaped-cakes with fewer crumbs. Good luck.

Ah bobbins.

Am aiming for doing it with roll out icing instead.

And DS does like fruit cake - I think he likes any cake actually!

I know its not for my mum but she would just take it all personally that i'd made a cake that she couldn't eat blah blah blah - I can't be doing with it

Right I'm having plan a and plan b - one being fruit cake and roll out, the other being plain sponge and butter cream.

Baking would be a lot cheaper if I could get things right first time

And if I go for roll out icing, do I need marzipan first?

If you are eating the fruit cake soon after baking, you should get away without marzipan. I think it is mainly used to stop the colour of a dark fruit cake leaking into white icing.

Ah thank you

I've woken up with a spongey solution too though - since it requires 2 sponges I might make one choccie and one plain so it has a choc body and plain head and tail.

That way my mum and ds might be happy.....

If it's not too late, can I add that you rteally need a madeira sponge, not a Victoria sponge. Add vanilla to the sponge and you can't beat that with buttercream and raspberry jam!!

Marzipan and fondant won't stick to bare cake - you need some apricot jam spread over it (very thinly) first for the fruit cake. The sponge cake can also have jam, o ryou can use a thin layer of the buttercream.

I made a dinosaur cake last week!

Ooh thank you. So is that the difference in a Madeira cake - add vanilla?

May I ask why it makes a difference? Or just taste-wise?

Wasn't going to put jam/cream in the middle as thought it would make it too hard to shape?

Gosh I'm glad I get a year before his next birthday - this is way harder than I thought!

Vanilla just gives the cake a nicer flavour. I think proper Maderira recipes don't add vanilla but I do :)

Madeira is denser and much easier to work with for this sort of thing. You'd find it very hard to make a novelty cake with a Victoria sponge as it would struggle to take the weight of the icinng and you couldn't shape it as easily. Also Madeira keeps longer so you could make the cake a few days in advance.

Ah thank you - right I'm going Madeira and buttercream - wish me luck ladies!!

My tried and tested bday cake solution is a victoria sponge with lemon zest in it. Stuck together with butter cream and lemon curd. Icing with roll out icing stuck on with more lemon curd. Tasty!

That sounds like my kind of cake weevilswobble. My birthday is in 6 weeks (hint hint )

hi Bunbaker!
We meet again in the cake department!
Last cake using this formula was a car. To replicate the (banger) T reg clio i bought for DDs 18th!
The one before that a bell tent with bunting and playmobile people to replicate the campout sleepover for DD2's 10th! Eeeeeee Wot fun!
What shape would you like?

Bunbaker. Addictedtofrazzles didnt report how the dinosaur cake went.