Patriots Cake

In honor of that really big football game that happens every year (Superbowl?), I've decided to make a cake!  It's my first bake of 2012 and one of my first bakes for the blog in a really long time... so, it's nice to be back!  To start off, I'm baking two nine inch rounds (you can use whatever size depending on how big you want the cake), with a cake mix from Make it Sweet (formerly: All in One Bake Shop).  They've make a cake mix that is super easy to work with and is dense enough to make shapes.

Then, I grabbed a picture online of the Patriot's logo, stretched it out on a document, and printed.  I'm going to use it as a stencil for the cake because it's a pretty simple design.  The cake I'm making in tiny (because I just can't afford to pack on the pounds people!  I've got a wedding this year!).  BUT if you're dying for a super mega large cake, you can print the image from your home printer in sections using programs like PosteRazor - and make a mega stencil... much like I did for X's grooms cake.  

After leveling the cakes, slapping some icing in between, the cutting the cake into the shape of a Patriot's man logo thingie, icing the entire cake, I put in the freezer to set (maybe 1 hour?  This is NOT a science, just check back every once in a while to see if it's frozen).  This is going to make it easier to have a smooth finish on the fondant (you'll see this later).

Right before you take your cake out of the freezer, roll out enough fondant about 1/4" thick, so you can cover the entire cake.  Take the cake out of the freezer.  Smooth over the "sharp" edges with your hand, and slap another layer of buttercream, and then put the fondant on top of that (trim and smooth it out).

I'm literally going to paint on the Patriot's logo with food coloring and some fondant fairy dust.   I have to mix either lemon juice or vodka with the fondant fairy dust, but not for the food coloring.  I just just the food coloring like paint.  Remember that stencil you made earlier?  Now's the time to use it.  I personally like to work on the outermost part of the stencil and work my way into the image.... just pick the one that makes you feel most comfortable.

Voila! 

Quince Prep

Here's an update!


This is what 1 hour of fondant making looks like:

It feels like a really kick-butt workout, though.  Don't try making fondant if you're already really tired.  Also, turns out that if you challenge your electric mixer to knead this super tough fondant dough for long periods of time - the bowl WILL get stuck in the holder:

But no worries, even though I wasn't able to jiggle it out, some WD-40 and my boyfriends biceps were able to shimmy the bowl from the stronghold of the kitchen aid.

I also needed to work on the cake topper for this quince cake!  It wouldn't be proper if there wasn't a big ol' "15" on top.  So, I knew that I wanted it to be brown, and initially I was going to make it out of sparkles and silly glue.  BUT.  Then I really had this desire to make it out of chocolate.  I have no idea how to work with chocolate, but it can't be that hard.... right?!  Just melt it and mold it.

I went to the cake shop to try and find a mold for the number "15".   They had really tiny ones (about 2-3" tall) and they were kind of ugly.  So, I ended up just buying some lollipop sticks.  I decided that I was going to free-hand this "15" even if it killed me.

First:
Set up a double broiler.  You don't want to burn the chocolate and this is a good way to prevent that from happening.

  

Second: 

Melt some milk chocolate!  I used Hershey's milk chocolate chips.

 

Third:

Put milk chocolate in a bag you can do some piping in.  I totally ran out of frosting bags, so I decided to use a plastic sandwich bag.  The chocolate was still pretty hot at first, so I let it cool down - made it easier to work with as well.

  

Fourth:

Cut the corner of the bag off (about 1/4 inch) and start drawing a "15" on top of two lollipop stick (one stick for each number).  Then stick it in the freezer to harden!!!

Fifth:

Flip numbers over when hardened and put chocolate on that side to cover up the stick and make it look preeeettay.  Then stick in the freezer!

Voila!  Two numbers ready to be stuck on top of the cake!

Fondant *shrieks*

I wanted to try something different to decorate the last chocolate cake I made. So, I decided to bite the bullet and try and make some fondant. But first I had to prepare the cake for this adventure.

So first, I had to cut the cake. I had baked it in a large rectangular pan, so I cut it right down the middle. I then made a vanilla buttercream frosting. Instead of using the same recipe I had before, I decided to try out a frosting that incorporated Crisco (something I've also never wanted to use before in baking).



The frosting recipe calls for (courtesy of www.frostingrecipes.net):
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups confectioner's sugar
2 tbs. milk
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1. I creamed vegetable shortening and butter together in my mixer
2. Added vanilla
3. While mixing, slowly added confectioner's sugar (about 1/2 a cup at a time)
4. While mixing, added milk (instead of using 2 tablespoons milk, I used 1 tablespoon milk and 1 tablespoon whipping heavy cream)
5. I put it in the fridge per recipe recommendations



I iced the cake after cutting it to size and then put it in my freezer so that the buttercream would harden. It would make the cake a better mold for the fondant to fit over.

But which fondant recipe to follow?
THIS ONE.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFdOByutk88&feature=related

This lady from The Twisted Sifter has an awesome make to make fondant, and it involves my kitenaid mixer. The fondant doesn't taste too horrible either! She explains that commercial fondant is usually not that tasty, but the stuff she makes is made with marshmallows... yum yum!

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons water
1 bag small marshmallows (16oz)
1/2 cup crisco
2 pounds sifted powder sugar (I could only manage to sift about 1 cup of powdered sugar before my arm wanted to fall off, so I decided to not sift the rest... and I think it turned out really great!)

1. Put 1/2 cup crisco in mixer
2. Add 2 lbs powdered sugar
3. Put water in marshmallows and then put in microwave
4. Mix marshmallows (they should be melted) and put into kitchenaid
5. Mix everything together in kitchenaid using the dough hook
6. Almost everything should be mixed.
7. Put on kitchen counter dusted with lots of powdered sugar and start kneading like dough using powder sugar as needed to make it not sticky.
8. When the consistency is not too sticky cover it in saran wrap and set aside. If not using it for a while go ahead and put it in the refrigerator. When you need to use it again slowly warm it up in the microwave and it will soften.



I flattened the fondant on my counter with my rolling pin and lots of corn starch (I sprinkled the corn starch multiple times on the counter so that the fondant wouldn't stick.) I cut out little designs with an exacto blade and stuck them onto the cake by painting the backs of the designs with a mixture of water and corn starch. This was the was on the funnest parts.



This is the final creation! The cake tastes good, the frosting tastes good, and the fondant tastes like fondant. 3 yums.