Fond of Fondant

      If you're like me, you dream in Cake Boss episodes, your greatest fear is giving an artificially flavored cupcake to the judges of Cupcake Wars, and you frequently mourn the loss of Ace of Cakes. Okay, so you're probably not like me, but do still "ooo" and "ahh" at amazingly smooth and beautiful cakes. The otherwise impossible feat of making cakes perfectly smooth is made possible through a little magic called rolled fondant. I've visited the store a million times and saw buckets of rolled fondant , contemplated the difficulty level, and run as fast as possible in the other direction. Then, I discovered it could be made with a few simple ingredients. Hmm. Light bulb moment. No one would have to know.

Recipe:
13.5 oz mini marshmallows
2 tbsp water
almond extract
4-8 cups powdered sugar (up to 2lbs)

(Mini Marshmallows come in bags of 10 oz. What's up with that? This being my first time making this fondant, I just bought two bags and used 1 full bag and 1/3 of the second bag. My guess is that you could use just one bag and a little less water.)

1. Put the marshmallows in a large microwavable bowl, pour the water over top, and place in the microwave for 1 min 20 sec.

2. Mix in the almond extract. Be careful how much you use. I suggest one cap full (I used two and it was too much).

3. Use shortening to coat your mixer's bowl. You can either take the time to do this or take the time to soak it later. I chose the second option, and it wasn't too bad.

4. Pour your marshmallow mixture into the mixer, which needs to be fixed with a dough hook. One by one, add the first four cups of powdered sugar, allowing each cup to incorporate into the marshmallow mixture.

5. Add the remaining powdered sugar until the mixture begins to form a ball that separates from the hook. When you touch it, it should not stick to your hands at all.

6. Rub that shortening on your hands and the surface you're using to knead the fondant. Knead the mixture until it is an even consistency.

kneading the fondant                         plastic wrap for storage  

  

knead in color with glove                     after about 5 minutes 

(3 drops red for baseball size)  

Roll out to 1/4 in thickness                heart cookie cutter set ($2)

 

  alphabet cutters- Michael's ($17)

let the cutouts harden on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper

 Rolled out to cover mini heart cake. 

Maybe 1/8 in thickness

I still have over half of this recipe left. Don't let fondant intimidate you one second longer! This was easy and relatively quick. I can now say, I am rather fond of fondant.
xoxo,
Alexis

Ganache Forgives; I Don't.

This is my boyfriend. My boyfriend likes to workout. My boyfriend like to listens to intense rap music when he works out. While I do not share his enthusiasm for the rap game, I recently had a spat with what seemed to be a delicious cake, which would be just as easy to make. It wasn't easy. Equally NOT easy has been finding a name for my blog. But, when in doubt, make cake. I sat there so angry, trying to fix a that crumbled cake, thinking the entire time that I would never forgive the blogger who was successful with this recipe. Luckily, the recipe for the frosting was actually a ganache--thick, flowing ganache. Ahah! Like Tina did Ike in the limo, it finally hit me! Ganache forgives...I don't (see Rick Ross GFID).

So now that I have a proper name for my blog, I guess I'll share the cake that brought about this roller coaster of unfortunate and fortunate events. I give you the three layer, strawberry filled, chocolate cake of horror:

Okay, so it's more like a horror film of the black and white variety in which there is a great lead up to a horrific creature, and then the revelation of this creature is totally underwhelming. Sorry, I was determined to succeed.

The recipe is from recipe girl:

CAKE:
3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghirardelli chocolate chips)
1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
3 cups granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
FROSTING:
1 pound fine-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghirardelli chocolate chips)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
FILLING:
One (10-ounce) bag frozen raspberries, thawed
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch

Rule number one, when someone says put parchment paper on the bottom of a pan, do it. 
Anyway...
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease three 8-inch cake pans. Line bottoms with rounds of parchment paper, then spray paper too. Set aside.
In a medium bowl combine the chocolate and hot coffee. Stir together and let sit until chocolate is melted. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl beat eggs for 3-5 minutes. Add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and coffee until well combined. In a separate bowl combine sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, mixing just until combined.
Divide batter amongst the three pans and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Meanwhile, bring the cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over medium heat. Remove pan from heat and stir in chocolate until melted. Add butter and stir until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and place in refrigerator until it reaches spreading consistency (mine took about 45 minutes).

To make filling, puree strawberries in a blender or food processor. Transfer to a small saucepan and combine with sugar and cornstarch. Stir constantly over medium low heat. Mixture will thicken as it boils. Let cool completely before use. (I strained my strawberries into the saucepan.)

To assemble the cake, run a small knife around the cake edges and remove from pans. Get out that ganach (resisting the urge to devour it) and put a layer of it on the cake. Spread half of the strawberry filling over the top of that. (I also sliced strawberries and arranged them here.) Top with second layer do the same as the first layer. Place final layer on top then cover and frost with ganache.

Sounds easy enough, right? haha. Here is the first layer of ganache. Rocky Mountain Top? To fix this cake, I simple did a "crumb coat" of ganache, put in the freezer for thirty minutes, took it out, and put a final layer of ganache on it.

 I ran a mile and a half for three bites of this cake. It was worth every bit of the heartache. Did I mention I also made fondant for the first time today? That would explain the decorations, just to set up the next post.
xoxo,
alexis