A few months ago, my Mum’s colleagues Andy and Clare asked me to make their wedding cake.  Having sung at weddings for more years than I care to admit, I’m acutely aware of the honour of being asked to contribute to such an event, and of the significance of every detail to the couple in question.  So after discussing their thoughts, I considered it carefully and decided that – with a trial or two – I could do it.  Andy and Clare are designers, so they care a great deal about the aesthetic and fine detail of every element of their day.  Fortunately, my perfectionist streak and control freakery are irrepressible.

First stop, pink sponge recipe (improved once again)…

Quantities for a 13cm tall 5-layer 20cm sponge:
415g unsalted butter (room temperature)
415g caster sugar
2tsp vanilla extract
415g self-raising flour
3tsp baking powder
2tbsp low fat yoghurt
355g egg white (available in cartons from Two Chicks)
Gel food colourings

For the 14cm tall 5-layer 26cm sponge, I doubled these quantities, baked six sponges and discarded the palest.  You might wonder why I didn’t just split the doubled quantities between five sponges rather than making six and discarding one.  The reasons are twofold: (a) I didn’t want the cake to be so tall that fondant covering became impossible, and (b) I knew I had to mix the doubled recipe in two batches because I could only fit two sponges in the oven at once, and when cake mixture sits for too long before baking, it can go over and yield sub-standard results.  I could get away with leaving one sponge-worth to sit for 20 minutes but not for much longer.  Make sense?  It also gave me the opportunity to Quality Check the sponge and – honestly – this was one of the lightest, fluffiest sponges I have ever baked.

I’m a firm believer that the quality of ingredients has a direct impact on the quality of the result, so I raided Waitrose of its finest goods.

Only the best will do

In brief, method:
Preheat to 180 (150 fan).  Weigh empty mixing bowl.  Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until almost white and very fluffy.  Add half the flour and baking powder and beat a little.  Add half the yoghurt and beat until combined.  Add the rest of the flour and beat a little.  Add the rest of the yoghurt and beat until combined.  Weigh full mixing bowl, then divide mixture into however many bowls you decide you want.  Whisk the egg white to soft peaks and set aside for a moment.  Thoroughly mix your gel colouring into each bowl as desired.  Split the egg white between the bowls and fold in thoroughly.  Bake 20cm sponges for around 11-13 minutes; 26cm sponges for 17-20 minutes.

26cm sponges ready to be stacked

I reduced the sugar in my buttercream because fondant is incredibly sweet and I didn’t want to be responsible for children at the wedding bouncing off the walls until midnight.

For 20cm cake (enough to stack and thinly coat before fondant; not enough for a buttercream finished cake):
250g unsalted butter
375g icing sugar
1-2tbsp whole milk

For 26cm cake (likewise):
500g unsalted butter
750g icing sugar
2-4tbsp whole milk

Beat into submission – 5 minutes or more.  The longer you beat, the fluffier it’ll be.

I did a thin layer (shown below), refrigerated it for ten minutes, then did a slightly thicker layer over the top.

Stacked

Now, my mother quite rightly pointed out that Andy and Clare planned to keep the top tier until after their honeymoon, so nobody would ever see a slice from each tier together and therefore colour matching wasn’t a burning issue.  However, aforementioned control freakery dictates that when the newlyweds return and defrost their top tier, they should experience a carbon copy of what they had on Le Jour Grand.  It’s only right, right?  So, I reserved a little splodge of each sponge mixture from the bottom tier so that I could match the top tier to it.  Go ahead.  Judge me.  (N.B. The palest sponge was rejected at the stacking stage.)

Colour matching

Next came fun with fondant.  My NEMESIS.  The fondant for The Big’Un had to be rolled to at least 54cm in diameter (which is only 6cm short of the depth of a standard kitchen worktop, I am told).  Big.  So I used about 2.25kg of Renshaw’s fondant for this one, and about 1.25kg for the 20cm tier.  Wrangling so much fondant at such a massive diameter was really challenging for me, and I can’t say I was entirely happy with the finish but I did the absolute best I could, and the flaws were concealed by the top tier and forgiving lighting.  Thankfully, the top tier was absolutely perfect (even if I do say so myself).

top tier, covered with fondant

When it came to decorating the bottom tier, Andy and Clare found a gorgeous peony skeleton motif that would tie in beautifully with their fresh peonies.  I drew the motif on grid paper, reduced it by 75% on a photocopier then traced the full sized one onto a long strip of baking paper, flanked by a smaller version either side.  I then pinned this strip to the cake, used a blunt instrument to create a slight indent on the cake so that I could pipe the dots in the right place without the indents being visible.

Tracing the peony design

Skeleton peony detail piped by hand

You’ll notice that the fondant goes all the way to the bottom of the cake.  Beneath is a thick cake drum the exact diameter of the cake itself.  I used a cake lifter to place it carefully on the base of the cake box as soon as I had finished the fondant so that I didn’t need to move it again before I sat it on its gorgeous wooden plinth at the venue.  The slightest misplaced fingerprint could’ve been a significant problem.

At this point, I sat down for a hard-earned gin cocktail.

Gin, Cucumber, Mint and Lime Spritzer

The following morning, I woke bright and early, mainly to check that the cakes were still there and hadn’t inexplicably imploded overnight.  A short drive later, I was nervously assembling the cake at the venue with the help of some plastic dowels to make sure the top tier didn’t sink into the bottom.  Finished with a ribbon chosen by the bride herself and some stunning peonies that matched her bouquet, the cake sat in its spotlight.

Stacked, dressed and in situ

With the bride’s bouquet, ready to be cut

In all its glory

My favourite review was given the following morning by almost-three-year-old Maisy:

Maisy’s Mum Lucy: “Did you have a nice time yesterday?”
Maisy: “Yes.”
Lucy: “What was your favourite bit?”
Maisy: “The cake.”

Boom.

I loved making the pink rainbow cake back in January but I must admit that it was quite high on admin, what with whisking egg whites and folding them in after the colouring process, and I also found the texture to have a slightly more ‘chewy’ quality than I would have liked, so I set about devising a new recipe. I’m delighted to announce that my cakes-perimenting (forgive me) proved worthwhile and this new recipe boasts a delicious flavour, light sponge texture and is white enough to offer a decent pink.

Pink Rainbow Cake Ingredients:
277g unsalted butter (room temperature)
277g caster sugar
277g self-raising flour
2tsp baking powder
238g egg white (15tbsp)
2tsp vanilla extract
1½tbsp low fat yoghurt
Gel food colourings

Method:
Base-line two (or more, if you have them) 20cm loose-bottomed sandwich tins. Weigh your empty mixing bowl and take note of the figure.  Preheat your oven to 180C.

Briefly beat the butter, then add the sugar and beat for a few minutes until pale and fluffy. Sift the flour and baking powder into a separate bowl. In a third bowl, use a fork to blend the egg whites and vanilla extract together. Add a couple of spoonfuls of the egg mixture to the butter mixture and beat, then add a couple of spoonfuls of the flour and beat; continue alternating until everything is in, then add the yoghurt and mix briefly again.

White cake mixture

Weigh your full mixing bowl and subtract the weight of the empty bowl so that you know how much mixture you have.  Allowing at least a 10g margin for the mixture that will be irretrievable from the bowl, divide your figure into four and weigh the mixture into four small bowls.  Colour each bowl individually, being careful to not to leave any lumps of gel colour unmixed.

Colouring, spreading and baking

Bake in batches, two tins at a time, for approximately 12 minutes per batch. I’d advise baking the darker sponges first to see how much the tops brown; you might decide to cover the paler sponges loosely with foil at the 8 minute mark. If you do this, they might need a couple more minutes in the oven.

When sponges are this shallow, a skewer isn’t necessarily the most sure-fire way to tell if they’re baked. I rely instead on a gentle prod with the pad of my finger – if it leaves a dent and you hear a crackle of bubbles beneath it, the sponge needs a couple more minutes. You can see from the texture whether it’s properly baked or not.

Remove from the oven, carefully run a knife around the edge and remove the sponges from the tins, sliding them onto a wire rack.

Stacked and cooling

Buttercream
I added an extra teaspoon of milk to my buttercream recipe so that it was a little smoother for the purposes of getting a good finish beneath my fondant:

Ingredients:
250g butter, room temperature
675g icing sugar, sifted
2tbsp + 1tsp milk

Method: beat the butter on medium-high for a couple of minutes – it’ll look almost whipped when it’s ready. Add the icing sugar, and (unless you’d like a fine film of icing sugar to cover every surface in your kitchen) either cover the bowl with a tea-towel before putting the mixer on, or combine it slowly with a rubber spatula before blasting it in the mixer. Beat it on medium-high speed for a minute or two, then add the milk one tablespoon at a time. Ambient influences might mean that you need more or less milk than I did so it’s best to add it gradually and see how it feels. The longer you beat the buttercream, the fluffier it will become. I beat mine for up to 10 minutes.

For this cake, I had been asked to fill between each layer with buttercream and jam, so spread a mean layer of buttercream, then used a high quality seedless raspberry jam on top. Against the vibrant pink of the sponges, the jam takes on a brownish hue, but it doesn’t show when the cake is cut so there’s no need to add colouring. If you’re using jam, be aware that it makes your stack of sponges significantly more mobile so keep an eye on the vertical line to avoid getting a Leaning Tower of Cake.

Buttercream and jam

Basecoating with buttercream before fondant covering
I learned something about this recently. I learned that it is 100% worth the effort of clearing space in your freezer to accommodate a cake mid-icing. I did a very thin crumb coat, then put the whole cake in the freezer for no more than 5 minutes – just enough time for the butter to become more solid and adhere properly to the sponge. Then I hoiked it out and applied the second layer, which was then significantly smoother.

Base coat of buttercream

Covering with Fondant
Next, I measured the cake diameter and walls to determine how big my fondant needed to be. I set the timer for 10 minutes (which is the maximum time the cake could be in the freezer again) and put my smoothly buttercreamed cake back in the freezer whilst I cleared the decks of my miniscule kitchen and prepared everything I needed for the fondant. I had to colour my white fondant pale pink, so I used Trex to grease the inside of the KitchenAid bowl, then threw in 1kg of fondant in hand-torn chunks, together with about a teaspoon of Trex and a tiny bit of Claret gel colouring. I set the dough hook running on the slowest speed and stayed nearby in case it had a tantrum. It coloured the fondant beautifully and I avoided getting any annoying fibres from my clothes embedded into it. Win.

I switched off my halogen hob at the mains (I learned that lesson the hard way), dusted its surface with cornflour (possibly a little too much, because I’m PARANOID about the bloody stuff sticking) and laid my non-stick rolling pin out ready. I very carefully kneaded the fondant and shaped it into a round, then flattened it a bit with the palms of my hands – moving it around the surface all the time – before rolling it to the right size. The timer buzzed, so I got the cake out of the freezer, steadied my shaking hands, rolled the fondant onto the rolling pin and draped it gently but quickly over the cake before dumping the rolling pin and setting to work smoothing the fondant to the cake. It seems the warmth of my hands was enough to soften the buttercream so that the fondant adhered to it. A quick once-over with the smoothing paddles, a trim round the base, a bit of tucking in and I was tickled pink (pun intended).

Tickled pink

Decoration
The decoration for this cake looks beautifully simple but has its challenges. The first thing I did (a couple of days in advance) was roll out some white fondant, cut and emboss some pretty butterflies with a plunge cutter, then sit them in between the humps of a chocolate mould to dry with their wings up.

Butterflies with their wings folded

Royal Piping Icing:
225g icing sugar, sifted
1 egg white
1 tsp lemon juice
½tsp glycerine

Whisk the egg whites until frothy. Add the sugar a spoonful at a time and fold in with a rubber spatula. Add the lemon juice and glycerine and stir. I then give mine a blast with the KitchenAid to get rid of any lumps and make it nice and smooth.

Assembly
Having tried a couple of other methods (one of which being the ill-fated “freehand”) to get piped icing decorations right, I have discovered that my ability to get things central is a reliably out of whack so this time, I CHEATED. That’s right, folks. I’m a cheat. And I recommend you cheat, too.

I printed Tilly’s name off in a font I liked, then I took one of the 8” greaseproof circles I use to baseline my tins, folded it into six equally spaced sections and traced Tilly’s name with a pen smack bang in the middle, and marked each crease clearly at the edge. I laid the greaseproof circle centrally on the cake and used the blunt tail of a pen to create a faint indent on the top of the cake. I was then able to pipe over this accurately. I used a 1.5 nozzle and went over the letters twice to make the name stand up nicely; I prefer this to using a larger nozzle.

Cheating

Feint imprint

Perfectly central piped name

Got to be happy with that

Next came the lines for bunting, for which I used a 2 nozzle (if you fit your piping bag with a coupler you can easily switch between nozzles). I found this really tricky and can’t honestly claim to be happy with my result but I am told that I’m my own worst critic so I didn’t lose too much sleep over it.  I popped six of my butterflies on the joins between each swag of bunting and let them set in place.

Bunting swags

For previous bunting-adorned cakes, I have painstakingly measured my flags by hovering a ruler over the fondant so as not to make dents with it and using a knife to cut each flag. BUT I don’t have to do this anymore because I have an OCD Chef Chopping Board which is, frankly, the best thing ever. Once my flags were done, all I needed was a steady hand and tiny blobs of royal icing to attach the flags to the cake and a white grosgrain ribbon round the base.

Beautiful in its simplicity, I hope you’ll agree.

A Christening cake for a little girl

In all its glory

My lovely friend Jo’s little girl Sophie turns one this month, so Jo asked whether I might have time to bake for her party (which was yesterday). Over a post-rehearsal glass of wine, she mentioned that the theme was safari animals and over the course of the next few seconds we batted back and forth, finishing each other’s sentences to come up with a winning idea: a big number 1 cake decorated as a giraffe! A quick search on Pinterest kyboshed the notion that this was an original idea but this didn’t matter; it merely provided confirmation that it would work.

Having recently used Dan Lepard’s Chocolate Vanilla Marble Cake for Lindsey’s 40th birthday cake, I knew it worked for number tins (besides which, it seemed fitting for the inside of a giraffe) so I plumped for the same recipe rather than an arguably more robust but less interesting vanilla sponge.

Smaller dollops, as mentioned in my blog post about Lindsey’s 40th birthday cake

Swirly swirly

Buttercream crumb coat

The buttercream crumb coat.  It’s not as smooth as I would’ve liked because the cake doesn’t resist the pull of the palette knife very well, so I didn’t want to be overly picky about smoothing and find that I fatally wounded the giraffe.

1.5kg yellow fondant

I coloured a rather hefty 1½kg of fondant in yellow because I didn’t want to leave ANY possibility that I mightn’t have plenty.  It would’ve been awful to feel I had to roll it more thinly than I wanted and find it split as I moved it.  Of course, I have lots left over but that’s fine by me.

A yellow number 1 cake

Now, I’m not going to pretend this was easy; it really wasn’t.  I made sure I rolled the fondant to 5-6mm so that it withstood a bit of jiggery-pokery, but all those corners were tricky because they put pressure on the fondant and threatened to make holes.  I had to work pretty quickly, pressing against the walls in a slight upwards direction to prevent the weight of the fondant from creating a tear.  Getting into the inner corner was a total nightmare and if you look closely you can see substantial imperfections, which led to an artistic decision you’ll see later on…

Setting the scene

I only bought 500g of blue fondant on the grounds that it’s pretty expensive and I was planning to do a tree so I could cover however much board didn’t have blue on it.  I rolled it fairly thinly and made sure that the gap was in one corner, then rolled a randomly shaped bit of green to overlap – it didn’t matter that it was wonky as I knew it’d be covered later.

A tense moment

For reasons that I imagine are obvious, I didn’t ice the giraffe whilst it was on the board, so I used a Wilton cake lifter, a steadying hand and lots of ‘oh-please-don’t-fall-apart’ wishes to move the giraffe into position.

Phew. A brief lie-down now, I think.

Alas, no time for lying down, for now it was time to decorate!  Allow me to introduce you to my model: this is Gerald.

Hello, Gerald.

I rolled out some chocolate-flavoured brown fondant, which I chopped into random geometric shapes and secured in place with a little egg white painted on the back.  I can’t claim it’s in any way realistic but there’s something pleasing about it nonetheless.

Next, I rolled a ball of the brown and sliced it through just to the side of the middle and reshaped the larger bit for the eye.  I then laid it on a bit of yellow, which I trimmed to be just a little bigger than the brown, and cut an eyelid to fit over the top.  I fashioned something a bit like a Shu Uemura false eyelash, leaving a good amount at the bottom so that I could tuck it under the upper eyelid.  Splishy splashy with egg white, plus a tiny bit of yellow and Bob’s yer uncle: a decadently lashed eye with a cheeky glint.

Lashes (with thanks to Shu Uemura for inspiration)

A giraffe’s eye in sugarpaste. What did you do with your Saturday afternoon??

With lashes like that, it struck me that this was no longer a Gerald. This was a Geraldine.

Next came a nostril and a simple thin sausage shape for Geraldine’s mouth, which was positioned in such a way that I could use leaves to cover the flaws in the yellow fondant under her chin.  What a cunning plan, Baldrick.

A cunning plan, (Sir) Baldrick.

A cake of this size takes quite a long time to cool down, so I had used that time to cut out lots of leaves from two different green fondants I happened to have in the cupboard, plus a few orange flowers.  I just positioned them fairly randomly over the green patch, making sure I covered the join and curled a few up the sides of Geraldine’s neck.

For the ears, I cut a leaf-shaped bit of yellow and used the pad of my index finger to press into the palm of my hand and create a cup-like shape.  I popped a little brown in the middle and then placed it in a chocolate mould (an egg cup would do, I expect) so that it dried into the curved shape.  A very simple short, fat yellow cylinder topped with a bit of brown made the horn, which I poked in to the top of Geraldine’s head with a cocktail stick.

Finally, a yellow satin ribbon pinned to the sides of the board and Geraldine was ready to party.

Geraldine, the Number 1 Giraffe Cake. Literally.

What the inside of a giraffe looks like, obv. Farewell, Geraldine.

P.S. In case you’re interested, Geraldine was actually created two weeks in advance, wrapped very carefully in greaseproof paper, then cling film, then foil and placed in the freezer.  About 30 hours before cutting, she was unwrapped and placed in the fridge for 8 hours, then sat on the kitchen counter to defrost entirely.  It seems she didn’t suffer at all for this experience.