The first stage in making princess cakes is actually making cupcakes. I went for vanilla and cherry sponge, in a medium sized case and left to cool on a wire rack. (TIP roll back the sides of the cupcake case while they are cooling so that you get less sticking to the case). So once you've made your cupcakes, you want to decapitate them!! Then put the "head" of the cupcake onto the upturned base, as such:
(excuse the clipart lol)
Now between the layers you add your fillings. Using jam helps the layers stick together and hold its shape, I used a cherry jam to compliment the sponge. You can use pretty much anything in your layers, and in traditional Swedish Princess cakes there are many layers. In individual cakes its easier to have fewer layers. So with my jam layer I added a marzipan layer. I used my circle cutter to give a nice uniform shape and to make sure they would fit the cupcakes as I prepared the marzipan before the cakes.
The next stage is the most fun and the most messy. Your cake is not exactly a perfect dome shape just yet, to get it we use an American style frosting or fresh cream frosting. I love this one (but others are available).
The way I find easiest to cover the cakes is to start at the top with a big dollop of frosting and spread downwards, making sure to get into the gap between the top and bottom of the cake. I then used a chocolate spatula to round it off a little more, but a knife would work just as well. At this stage it should take the general shape of a dome but doesn't have to be perfect.
The next stage is the rolled fondant icing cover. I used rolled icing with gel colours following my tutorial HERE on sugarcraft cake toppers. Traditionally Swedish Princess cakes are green, I however went for a range of pale and pastel colours, greens, blues, white, pinks, purples, yellows and peaches. Roll out a large amount of icing on a flat surface which is covered in powder icing. Roll to about 4mm thick, too thick and you wont be able to shape, too thin and the icing will rip.
Make sure you rolled icing is large enough to more than cover your cake, and line up the centre of the cake with the centre of the rolled icing. Starting at the top of the cake, very lightly smooth down the icing to the shape of the cake. Try not to push too hard because you will just push the frosting out and lose your shape. at the bottom of the cake, flatten the icing onto the surface without getting any folds on the cake... this takes some practise to get right.... then using your fingers smooth over the cake to finish off the domed shape. (TIP use powdered icing on your hands to stop you and the cake sticking together)
Once your happy with your shape, its time to decorate. I used my homemade SUGARCRAFT FLOWERS AND LEAVES to finish these cakes off, so that they would match the PETIT FOURS I also made for the day.
The finished result, displayed with the other cakes.
I also made some for my Baby Cafe group.
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