How to make a Spongebob cake !

Thanks to http://cakefixation.blogspot.it/2009/08/how-to-make-sitting-spongebob-cake.html

For the time that went into making this wonderful Spongebob cake ...

Here's how I did it -

I started by baking two 10 inch square cakes. I cut them in half and torted the layers.

I stacked the cakes and filled them with fudge and mint chip buttercream.

I cut my dowels to the proper height and inserted them into the cake.

On another cardboard, I repeated my stacking and fillings with my other 10" cake.

With a sharp knife, I cut down my cardboards to the same size as the cakes. I then stacked the cakes on top of each other. 

I then carved the cakes to look like Spongebob by tapering the bottom section. Next, I covered him in buttercream and put him in the refrigerator to chill (about 30 mins).

Next, I used my melon baller to create Spongebob's bumpy edges.  And who's going to know if you pop those extra little bites into your mouth.  :)

I then pushed a sharpened wooden dowel through the middle of both cakes until it was no longer sticking out of the top.  *If you are traveling with this cake be sure to push this center dowel all the way into a cake drum. (I use another dowel to help push it all the way through the drum.)

Next, was my favorite part - the decorating! I started by trimming the excess cardboard with an exacto knife and covered Spongebob in panels of fondant. After draping the fondant on the cake, I cut it to the perfect size with my exacto knife. Repeating on all sides.

I used my ribbon cutter to make his pants and shirt out of fondant.

Using the end of my rolling pin, I pushed dents into Spongebob's body.

I used round cutters for eyes and a clay gun make the edges. His mouth, feet and legs were all cut and formed by hand out of fondant. I rolled a log shaped piece of yellow fondant and inserted a skewer for his nose. I also used skewers to hold his arms in place. The crabby patty and other decorations on the board were hand modelled out of fondant. 

How to make a Peppa Pig Cake Topper

Here's a great Peppa Pig Tutorial from 

http://casacostello.com/2012/04/24/how-to-make-a-peppa-pig-cake-topper-tutorial/

I’ve made thousands of Peppa Pig cakes over the years (maybe a teeny exaggeration but not much!) so now it’s your turn. Here’s how to have a go at making your own Peppa Pig Cake Topper using our good old friend, the Walnut Whip (walnut gets removed and eaten!)

Equipment Needed: 1 x Walnut Whip, Red fondant icing, Pale Pink Fondant Icing, 2 small balls of white icing, Just under a malteser size ball of black icing, small rolling pin (or end of a paintbrush), sugar glue, small knife, paintbrush.

Step 1: Take Walnut Whip out of packet, Remove Walnut and eat – Take ball of red icing (for approx size needed see pic next to a walnut whip).

Step 2: Roll out red icing and cut a straight edge down one side. Paint around and on top of the walnut whip with the sugar glue.

Step 3: Wrap the red paste around the walnut whip and cut the bottom edge with knife to make neat.

Step 4: Pinch the top edges of the red icing together and cut with scissors or a knife. Flatten to make as neat and flat as possible. This will be covered by the head though so don’t worry too much what it looks like. If it is not going to be eaten you could insert a skewer or cocktail stick to make sure that the head stays on.

Step 5: Roll out the pale pink fondant icing. Use the side edge of your hand to make a tear drop shape with the top end being the fatter end. Press in the thin end to make a slightly flat nose shape. Keep messing about with it until you are happy with the shape. I sometimes like to have my nose facing upwards slightly as if Peppa is looking up.

Step 6: Use the pointed end of the rolling pin to make eye sockets – go quite deep with these (you will be filling them with white later)

Step 7: Roll two white balls of icing into pointed tear drops and insert into the eye sockets. Only paint the sockets with glue once you are sure they are the right size. Roll 2 very small balls of pink icing (slightly darker then Peppa’s skintone is best) and stick onto the cheeks with sugar glue.

 Step 8: Stick the end of the small rolling pin into Peppa’s nose twice to make the nostrils (Do pigs have nostrils?) If you have a smile tool go under the snout and insert to make a smile – if not, cut a straw into a smile shape and push under the nose (slightly to the side is best) – Your Peppa will now be smiling.

Step 9: Stick your 2 tiny balls of black icing on top of the white eyes – at an angle is best. Looking straight on always looks a bit strange.

Step 10: Roll 2 small sausages of pale pink and flatten down halfway with the end of the paintbrush – stick to the top of the head.

Step 11: Roll 2 thin sausages of pink and attach to the cake (My Peppa is sitting on a dark blue puddle) Paint with sugar glue and stick your model on the top.

Step 12: Your model sitting in place – Nearly done! 2 balls of black with the bottom cut off makes the feet – always best done in situ as I always knock them.

Step 13: Roll 2 sausage shapes again and attach to the body. Make 4 more teeny weeny sausages and attach Peppa’s fingers. See there’s the smile!

How to make marshmallow fondant

Thanks to http://cakejournal.com/tutorials/how-to-make-marshmallow-fondant/ for this brill tutorial

Here is a little “How to” on how to make marshmallow fondant also known under the name MMF or chocolate MMF. You can use it to cover cakes. If you want to make flowers and figurines you will just have to knead in some Gum Tragacanth or Tylo powder so they dry up hard.

This is what I use:

Makes about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds

White marshmallows (16 oz)
Water (2 tbsp)
Icing sugar sifted (1 to 2 pounds)
Crisco
Heatproof bowl
Spoon
Sift
Food colors or cocoa powder
Flavouring optional

Note: you can of course use your kitchen mixer when mixing in the icing sugar. Just remember to grease the bowl and paddle attachment well with Crisco.

Step 1:
Put the marshmallows in a heatproof bowl and add the water. Put the bowl in the microwave oven and heat it for approx. 2 mins. until the marshmallows puff up like on the photo.

Step 2:

Stir the marshmallows until they get smooth. This is the time where you can add your chosen food color/cocoa powder or give it flavour.


Note: Color the mixture a bit stronger than desired. You can always make the color lighter afterwards by mixing it with white marshmallow fondant.

Step 3 :

Now add the icing sugar and stir the mixture with a well greased spoon. Keep adding icing sugar until it looks like a dough. Turn out the “dough” on a greased work board and with your hands greased with Crisco start kneading the marshmallow fondant. Keep adding a little icing sugar at a time until it is not sticky anymore.

Be careful not to use all the icing sugar as to much icing sugar can makes it too dry. It is ready when it feels pliable and ready to roll. If you are not using the marshmallow fondant straight away then rub a bit of Crisco on it and wrap it in cling-film and seal it in a airthight bag.

Note: Some uses the marshmallow fondant right away but I prefer to let it rest for a day before use.
If your marshmallow fondant feels very hard you can always warm it up in the microwave for a few sec. at a time. Then it should be more pliable to work with. If it feels dry then knead in some Crisco or if it is too soft add more icing sugar. I hope you can use it.

Rainbow Ruffle Cupcake

I saw this simple but really really effective cupcake ruffle, 

I will be trying this out with the kids this weekend

Thanks to http://leelaaloo.blogspot.ie/2012/01/rainbow-ruffle-cupcake.html

For my upcoming Rainbow party, I've been trying to create (as simple as possible) cute and colourful cupcakes. I had my eyes on butter cream but then decide to use my favorite medium, fondant!They are less messy to clean up and easy to work with.

Here's how

Things you have to keep in mind
-You have to work F A S T ! because fondant tends to dry out fast.
-Using your hand, squash the logs together, we don't want them to fall apart
before flattening them with the rolling pin.
-Carefully flatten them with a rolling pin, keep trying to get a circular shape
without breaking the logs apart
-Make ruffles by folding the circle shape, dry them in you muffin pan 

Christmas is coming !!!

Thanks to ...

http://www.bakerella.com/ for this great little idea

Candy Cane Christmas Tree Cupcakes

I went to a Christmas party last weekend that ended up being the inspiration for these decorated cupcakes. The home of the party was filled with sugar and pink and the absolute sweetest decorations. Wait until you see. I’ll show you soon. Maybe tomorrow. I still need to edit all the photos I took because it really deserves it’s own post.

But back to cupcakes. I was playing around with decorating, so I just used a cake mix for these cupcakes. But if you decide to try them, use a recipe that is more dense, more pound-cake than fluffy because the weight of the trees can cause them to tumble if you’re not careful.

Anyway… Christmas Tree Cupcakes. You’ve seen them before, I’m sure.

They use sugar cones for the base of the tree. But all the ones I’ve seen use the entire cone and then rest it on the top of the cupcake 

But no, I wanted them to be smaller … (go figure)… and stand above the cupcake with candy cane stems.

Just like this. Pretty cute.

But, just a little plain I think.

So, I tinted some fondant and made little presents to go under the tree. And these snowflake sprinkles made perfect little bows.

See…

I think I could have stopped here and they would be just fine.

Instead, I added some pink, blue and white confetti sprinkles for decorations.

What do you think? Too much? or Too cute?

To decorate, you’ll need:

Cupcakes

Sugar Cones

White Simply Melts

White Sugar crystals

Frosting

Pink Sugar crystals

Candy Canes

Fondant

Icing colors

Snowflake Sprinkles

Confetti Sprinkles

• ·         Cut off ends of the sugar cones, so the tree section is around 3 inches long. Use a serrated knife to carefully saw through without shattering the cone.
• ·          Dip cone sections in melted white candy coating. If you use a tall plastic cup, it will be easier to coat the entire cone.
• ·         Remove and let excess coating fall off.
• ·         Sprinkle white sugar crystals or sanding sugar over entire surface of the cone. Sprinkle over a large bowl and you can reuse the sprinkles.
• ·         Set on wax paper to dry completely. When dry, you can redip the bottoms to make sure the cone is completely coated.
• ·          Use 6 inch long candy canes and break the handles off so you are left with a straight piece that’s around 5 inches.
• ·         Cover cupcakes with tinted pink frosting.
• ·         Fill a small dish with the pink sugar crystals or sanding sugar and press cupcake tops into the dish until the entire surface is covered with sugar crystals.
• ·         Dip one end of the candy cane in some of the melted candy coating and insert the other end straight into the cupcake.
• ·         Place a Christmas Tree on top of the candy cane and let the candy coating dry and work like a glue.
• ·         If you want decorations, it would be a good idea to add them before you attach the tree. Just dot a small amount of coating on the surface and attach a colored sprinkle.
• ·         For presents, tint white fondant and shape the fondant into small squares by hand. Then use some of the white fondant, roll it out and use a knife to cut thin strips for ribbon. Attach the white fondant ribbon to the presents with a small dab of water. Then attach the snowflake sprinkles the same way.

·                                 Remember, use dense cupcakes instead of light and fluffy ones so the trees will not want to tip.

·                                 Or skip the candy canes, use the entire sugar cone and make big trees.