Icing a cake?!
Icing a cake?
Im making a birthday cake for a family member which i got the idea from a web site. Ive left trying to make a ice bucket, is it best to some how make it and leave it to set to go hard or to ice it round the sponge. Promblem is that Ive made a bottle of champagne (out of sponge) to go on top of the cake.My worries are that if I place the icing round the cake before it has set, the weight of the bottle might make the layerd sponge slip to rip the icing....any ideas ?
Answers:
Probably the easiest way is to use fondant icing.
It's not as nice as royal icing, but far easier to work for something like your cake. You roll it out and lay it on the cake - no spreading and waiting for it to dry.
Let the icing set hard.. otherwise it could smudge or crack...
I suggest using a fondant frosting. Here's my good tasting recipe for it.
Marshmallow Fondant Recipe
16 ozs mini marshmallows
2-5 Tb water
2 lbs powdered sugar
? C Crisco shortening
NOTE: Please be careful, this first stage can get hot.
Melt marshmallows and 2 tablespoons of water in a microwave or double boiler: Put the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds, open microwave and stir, back in microwave for 30 seconds more, open microwave and stir again, and continue doing this until melted. It usually takes about 2? minutes total. Place ? of the powdered sugar on the top of the melted marshmallow mix.
Now grease your hands GENEROUSLY - palms, backs and in between fingers, then heavily grease the counter you will be using and dump the bowl of marshmallow/sugar mixture in the middle. Start kneading like you would bread dough. You will immediately see why you have greased your hands. Add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead some more. Re-grease your hands and counter when the fondant is sticking. If the mix is tearing easily, it is to dry, so add water. It usually takes me about 8 minutes to get a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing when you apply it to the cake. Its best if you can let it sit, double wrapped, overnight (but you can use it right away if there are no tiny bits of dry powdered sugar). If you do see them, you will need to knead and maybe add a few more drops of water.
You could pop the cake in the freezer for a little bit. The outside will cool rapidly and be easier to frost, and it will accelerate the cool down for the inside of the cake.
Also, it you have a dowel you can cut a couple of pieces and insert them into the cake as weight supports for the champagne bottle.
make a thin icing out of powdered sugar and milk, 4 cups powdered sugar and 1/2 cup milk mix well, you want it to be runny. pour it over the cake make sure to cover the whole thing let this set until dry. { this will seal the crumbs and make it easier to get a smooth surface, then go back and frost the cake with your icing. Let this dry completely, then use some fresh icing to glue your bottle on top
GOOD LUCK
you could use a dowel and put it through the cake and the sponge bottle like you would if you was using pillars for a tiered cake there not dear only bout 20p for any cake shop or you could use sugar paste icing (fondant) that way the bottle wouldn't be as heavy