More Christmas Cakes

These are a few more fondant Christmas cake. They are all fruit cake and for the recipe click here.

The teddy bear and dog measures about 4 cm or 1.5 inch. All are made from gum paste or sugar paste.

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Christmas Cakes

Here's a season to be jolly...la..la..la..la. Christmas is just around the corner. I started taking an interest in cake decorating last year and made some Christmas cakes for my kids' teachers last year. So this year, I'm doing it again. I'm still in the process of baking and making the decorations. These are two of my completed cakes. I still have 7 to complete. That's why these cakes are only 6 inches in diameter.

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Mario Brother's Cake

My son just celebrated his 10th birthday recently. Most boys his age likes video and computer games and he is no different in that regards. He loves playing Pokemon and Mario Brothers' games on his Nintendo DS and WII. So, he was so thrilled when he saw his birthday cake and he was so proud that I made it for him.



It's a chocolate mud cake layered with chocolate ganache. Mario is made out of modelling sugar paste and so are all of the small items.

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Mother's Day Cake

I don't get a lot of chances to fully decorate a cake. Unless it is for a celebration, I prefer to eat my cake plain and simple. So of course, for Mother's Day, I took the opportunity to use my newly acquired cake decoration knowledge. Remember the sugar paste roses that I made, I've used them here. I've made a variation of what I've been taught, ie covering whole cake with fondant. You see, all of us do not like the taste of fondant. Too sweet for my taste! Even my kids who like sweet things find that fondant is too sweet. So what can I cover my cake with and still use sugar paste decoration? Well, I layered and covered the cake with white chocolate ganache. Only layering the top with a very very thin fondant to form a base for the cake topper. When I say very very thin, I mean like one mm thin.



After a long search for a chocolate cake recipe that I like, I've finally found it. It's a personal thing. Some might like it, some might not. For example, chocolate mud cake is too heavy for me. I like sponge cake and chiffon cake but that is too light and fluffy to decorate it with a topper. This is the recipe that I used. It is lighter than a chocolate mud cake. What's the verdict? Well, it was a hit with everyone.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mums around the world.

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Sugar Paste Roses

I am making some roses for the topper for a Mother's Day cake. This was inspired by a cake made by my cake decorator teacher. My cake decorator class is taught by an 80 years old woman. Yeah, you have read correctly. She is an amazing woman. She takes only 2 classes per week. She still makes cakes for customers whilst looking after her 90 years old husband who just recently has an operation. She has a perfect eye sight and a very good memory. I am just a bit more than half her age but my eye sight is deteriorating and memory is not as good as hers. That is why I need to document these steps.

Start of with coloring some sugar paste. The center of the rose is normally darker than the outer petals. So as you work your way to the outer petals, lighten the color of the sugar paste.


Start off with this and pinch the sides of the sugar paste to make a shape of a flag. This process is call flagging. Use a roller to thin the edges.


What just happened? It was pink and now it's white? This photo turned out to be the best. That's why I'm using it. There is no magic.


Then roll the "flags" to get this result. This has to dry for at least a day before proceeding.


For the next layer, use a cutter and cut three petals. Use modelling tool to shape the petals. Turn the tip of each petal slightly and glue it onto the center of the rose. Let this dry for at least 30 minutes before proceeding.


For the next layer use a bigger cutter and cut five petals. A spoons is useful to shape these petals. Glue the petals around the rose and slip the last petal inside the first petal on this layer.



Let the rose dry for at least 1 hour before putting on the calyx. Dust some color powder on the calyx to bring out the color. Steam the the flowers to bring it to live.

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My First Chritmas Cake

I started cake decorating classes 5 week before Christmas last year. I didn't know what I wanted to learn but was inspired by looking at pictures and wished that I could make cakes like those. This cake classes only do sugar paste (aka fondant). I wanted to learn piping and buttercream. That will be next. So this is my first complete decorated cake I've ever made. It's a fruit cake covered with marzipan(almond paste) and fondant (sugar paste). I made the flowers and leaves out of modelling paste which is similar to sugar paste but it dries hard.

First, this is the recipe for the fruit cake. I have made modifications to the original recipes. I've reduced the sugar and also the amount of fruits because I do not like my fruit cake too sweet. And I omitted peel because I don't like them.

230 grams plain flour

60 grams self raising flour

200 grams dark brown sugar

230 grams butter

5 (size 55 gram) eggs

800 grams mixed fruit

60 grams almonds

1 teaspoon cinnomon powder

1 teaspoon all spice

1 teaspoon nutmeg powder

1 teaspoon ginger powder

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

6 tablespoon brandy (or substitute with what you like)

1/4 teaspoon bicarb-soda

1. Mix fruit, essence, spices and brandy and leave overnight.
2. When ready to begin, mix bicarb-soda with 1 tablespoon of boiling water and pour over fruit.
3. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Mix well after each addition.
4. Then add alternatively flour and fruit into the creamed butter.
5. Wrap 3-4 layers of paper aroung the sides of the tray. This prevents the sides from getting burnt.
6. Pour into a greased lined tray at 160C for about 2-3 hours.

Leave it to cool for at least one day before decorating. If your cake is not flat at the top, cut it flat and make that the bottom. For covering the cake, the first layer is almond paste or marzipan and the top layer is sugar paste or fondant. I did not take any pictures of the process but this is the process.

1. Fill the cake with marzipan. If there is fruit on the surface, press it down. If it sinks, fill it.
2. Roll some marzipan to about 3 mm thickness, dust with icing sugar to prevent from sticking.
3. Put the cake on top of marzipan and cut around it( about 3 mm from the edges).
4. Take the cake off and brush the marzipan with egg white or sugar syrup so that it sticks to the cake.
5. Put the cake back and using a cake leveler, push the marzipan around the edges until inline with the cake edge.
6. Roll a strip of marzipan for the side. Cut the length equals to the circumference of the cake. The height can be slightly taller than the cake.
7. Brush marzipan with egg white or syrup and cover around the cake.
8. Turn the cake with the cover top on the work bench and cut the excess off the side (cutting inwards).
9. Then cover the bottom the same way as the top.
10. Leave this for at least 2 days before covering with fondant.
11. Roll the fondant to about 3 mm, dust with some icing sugar. Make sure that it can cover the top and the sides too. It is better to be slightly under(1 cm from the measurement required) than over (bigger than what is required). Because it stretches.
12. Brush cake with egg white or syrup. Put fondant over cake.
13. Level the top and the sides.
14. Once it is all sticking nicely, cut off the excess.
15. Put on a board and the cake is ready to be decorated.

I did not take any pictures while in the process of making it. But next time, I will.

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