So my BFF’s birthday was coming up and I had no idea what to get for her. Then, one night, at 3am, whilst not being able to sleep, it came to me! Cake!!! But not just any cake, oh no, a cake that would be her, would speak volumes about her, and would be instantly recognisable as hers!
Of course, when I awoke, I had forgotten half of the elements, but over the next 2 days I came up with 2 designs. One that was simple and very achievable, and the other which was ridiculously ambitious, terrifying but would be EPIC if it turned out well. I sent my BFF a simple, non-revealing question, which would it be? She, of course, said I should do the ambitious and document everything. At the time, I don’t think she knew what the hell I was talking about.
Initial Simple Plan
Initial Over-elaborate Plan
So, by Tuesday, I had the final design, had found a good cake recipe, a good buttercream recipe and a good fondant recipe. The design was, let’s say, complicated. Very. But I knew if I could pull it off, it would be amazing. By now, my BFF had been teased about secrets, plans and suspense, and I think she had her suspicions about what exactly I was up to!
Final Design Plans Part 1
Final Design Plans Part 2
So, the final plan was to make a large base cake covered in pink fondant (since my BFF is a bit of a princess :P), with a computer shaped cake on top (she’s also a total computer nerd!) and a cup of tea cake (well, she is Irish!!!).
I decided on a Chocolate Mud Cake, having googled about 50 different sites on cake carving, and knowing my BFF loves chocolate almost as much as I do! The recipe was gotten from here.
I chose a Chocolate Fudge Frosting as the buttercream to layer the cakes and also as a foundation to stick the fondant to the cake. I got the recipe from my favourite unused book, Best Ever Cake Decorating by Angela Nilsen and Sarah Maxwell.
Incidentally, I bought this book as an xmas present funded by my nana, at an xmas fair with said BFF.
The rolled fondant recipe came from The Food Network website, here, and seems to be a recipe that doesn’t change across many sites, unlike most things in the baking world!
After deciding on all these recipes, and having the design, I then went through all of my baking ingredients, made a huge list of what I needed, over estimating so that I could fix any unforeseen mistakes!
On Wednesday, I took my long list and made the trip to my local Tesco [other supermarkets available]. I needed some new cake tins, none of the ones I own were either the right shape or size! Plus, any excuse for new equipment for the kitchen. Also, invested in a pallet knife and a sifter, knowing I’d need both to get me through this epic task. I got some strange looks at the checkout, but managed to pick up everything I needed for cooking!
My over-estimation of ingredients!
So, I started this blogging on 1am Thursday morning. At this stage, I have no practical elements completed! I’m so afraid of so many things going wrong! I’m hoping to at least get all the ingredients weighed out before bed, and documented of course ;). And with a little luck and motivation, I can get the fondant made up too.
On Thursday, I was supposed to be in college in the morning, and meet a friend for dinner at 6, but I knew I would have had no time to get this done at all. So all plans were cancelled! I baked up the cakes on Thursday and left them in the fridge overnight. I also made up 3 batches of the fondant, one pink, one white and one chocolate. It was the biggest workout I’ve ever done!
Read more about the cake and how it turned out…
Part 2 : http://statisticalbaking.blogspot.com/2010/09/rolling-rolling-rolling-fondant-part-2.html
Part 3 : http://statisticalbaking.blogspot.com/2010/09/bake-thon-part-3-of-5.html
Part 4 : http://statisticalbaking.blogspot.com/2010/09/fudge-tastic-part-4-of-5.html
Part 5 : http://statisticalbaking.blogspot.com/2010/09/cake-to-remember-part-5-of-5.html
Regular Blog : http://statisticalblogging.blogspot.com/2010/09/my-bff-is-quarter-of-century.html
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