Cake help please!!

[MrsBun]

Right I need some help desperately. I have never decorated a cake before and not sure where to start but want to make one for my daughters 2nd birthday at the end of this month. These are my ideas:

I have a 10 inch round tin and a 6 inch (roughly) heart shaped one. I have this idea in mind first time I have ever done a link and praying it works....please work?! but obviously mine would have a heart shape instead of a second round one on top.

From research people seem to suggest that ganache is nicer than butter cream or whatever it's called. So I was thinking of making the cakes with a chocolate madeira recipe (don't have one yet) in layers (3 for each cake perhaps (will this be a good height)) with possibly jam in between and the ganache over the outside. I have found a recipe for fondant icing made with veg shortening, icing sugar, melted marshmallows and a bit of water (made in a kichenaid (check).

Things I am not so clear on are - is it far easier if the discs are frozen? Does maderia cake tend to dome when baking? Do I just turn it out upside down or cook it at a lower temp or both? Is a heart shape going to be hard to cover with fondant? I want to cut out hearts and stars with cutters (I have these) but how do I stick them on?

Problems - I live in the tropics and have read that a fondant iced cake doesnt work well in a fridge. I could leave the aircon on 24/7 I guess. There is no cake supply shop here but I can get foil covered board (about 2mm thick. Shall I just cover that in fondant too? I have seen writing icing pens. Are they effective - easily neat?? Do I really need support dowels? Can the top cake sit on a board on top of the base cake?

So I think my plan is: A pale pink covered cake board, A white round cake with pink stars on, and the same pale pink heart covered either in white polka dots or white hearts. If I can find a white icing pen then I will write her name and age on the base. I can't get paste colouring. If I am only needing pale pink will I be ok with liquid food colouring?

Please help me. Am I talking rubbish? Am I totally bonkers?

Xavielli - somehow i missed your post yesterday - thannkyou great advice. Will try with a sponge then. Just have to see if i can get hold of some decent choc for the ganache now.

can you get Betty Crocker?

Its a cake mix and it never ever fails. It is always soft, moist, delicious, and it comes out of the pan quite well (provided you grease and flour the sides very well).

I would just use the tastiest frosting you can, and decorate with sweeties.

My pet peeve is cakes that look good, but are dry flavourless, and feel like you are doing penance when you are eating them.

yes, really don't want it to taste rubbish. not sure about betty crocker?? will have a look about tomorrow.

Mrs Bun,
Madeira tastes perfectly OK, better than Victoria to my mind, particularly if you add lemon or orange zest. More importantly than that though is that it will keep. Unless you are planning on baking, decorating and eating it within two days, a Victoria will start to go stale. In a rush now, but give me a call, number on website and I can give you the details. I will post the recipe later, also for a chocolate varient.

Whoops, this web-link. I made a typo in the other one!

As promised.

9 inch round recipe:
4 Eggs, 4ozs Plain Flour, 8ozs SR Flour, 8ozs Butter, 8ozs Caster Sugar, 4 tsp Lemon Juice, zest from 2 lemons. Cream butter & sugar, add eggs one at a time (with a little flour to stop the mixture from splitting) fold in rest of flour. Gas3 / 160deg.C for 45 minutes.

For a cholcolate version, substitute 2 dessert spoons of cocoa powder for 3 dsp plain flour.

Always worked well for us.

I always use a madeira cake recipe out of my cake books. Light as a feather.

Silverwood - your cake dividing cake tin is on my wish list... [grin[

2 tier first time cake decoration is ambitious, but i admire your enthusiasm!

i would use a buttercream in and over ake to adhere fondant icing too. get some heart shape cutters if you can, it will be alot easier for sticking on to the cake. i use water, vodka or edible glue to stick icing to icing depending on what i am doing.

get a good rolling pin for the icing and i always use 'trex' which is a vegetable fat on the base of my board when rolling icing out.

good luck!!!

ooops

OP, I hope I'm not too late to give you some help but I worked for 4 years as a pastry chef in a 5* hotel and I have been cake decorating as a business for nearly 15 years.

I'm not sure how hot your bit of the tropics is but ganache is quite difficult to work with in the heat and I would be more inclined to use a firmer icing as I think you will have problems with the chocolate melting

A 2mm board will be quite challenging to cover in fondant, especially in high humidity. I wouldn't bother myself. Also that fondant recipe wtih marshmallows looks well dodgy to me and I don't think it will give you the finish you're looking for. Roll out fondant icing is made quite differently.

For your madeira cake you don't need to freeze it as madeira is dense so is easy to cover. DO NOT COOK AT A LOWER TEMPERATURE. It just won't cook - if it domes just cut off the excess.

You will need a board to go under the top tier to support it and also dowelling to keep it looking neat. Do not put a fondant iced cake in the ridge - sugar is hydrophilic and you will just end up wtih the icing melting off. Keep it in as dry a place as possible and don't put it in an airtight container as it will sweat

Finally liquid colouring isn't great. I would use food pens instead as they are concerntrated - liquid colour will just bleed, especially if it's humid where you are.

To be honest I think you're trying to bite off more than you can chew

WOW - thankyou lovely MNers. OK I have decided that I will start with just one layer. Regarding the marshmallow fondant I have now watched many a tutorial on you tube and it seems that in the states it is what most people are using if they make their own. Thank you fibalou on the tip for ganache and the heat. I will use buttercream instead. My lovely sister has sent me some of the bits I need. I now have cutters, dowel (if brave enough to do second layer may change it to a round one), some letter tap its, paste colouring from wilton and veg shortening.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsrgS9eB1bE This has been one of my insrpiration videos. What type of cake do you think that is?will def post photos of finnished product. Might need some more guidance from you lot before that though.

Am chuffed with your responses so thank you very much.

Thank you silverwood for the recipe - am thinking that a plain madeira with lemon or orange zest and a flavoured buttercream might be easier to cover and less likely to see the cake though. PLus am thinking that it will be more appealing cutting into it as will keep with the pale colours of the fondant.

Am going to try a making a half batch of the marshmallow fondant this weekend and see how it tastes/rolls out etc.

IN the youtube link below the cake doesn't look that firm but the finished look is very smooth? Am wondering how firm this cake needs to be?

Well I made the fondant icing today and it seems pretty good. Have been told to let it rest for a day so will test roll it tomorrow. Yay for step one turning out ok (only took ten minutes)! Happy to share recipe for anyone interested. Will make test cake tomorrow in my rice cooker (I know, sounds even more bonkers)!

Hoping someone can answer the type of cake that is in this video redirectingat.com/?id=470X756&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DIsrgS9eB1bE

Hi, i'm new to this forum but find it fab, all very entertaining, i used to decorate cakes 20yrs ago but gave it up to work full time, i did my very first cake in 17yrs yesterday, a 2 tier cake with stars, fondant animals, and all coloured dots for my 3 yr old grandson, he was delighted with it and so were all his friends mums, hopefully i'll get more orders.

Nannycook, this is an old thread. I am not sure if you know if you're new, but there's a baking forum here and withon that is a sugarcraft chat thread.

Welcome to the forum!

Oh, and pics are a must!