Fondant Banana Tutorials

Banana & Tomatoes are the topic of discussion in Zion's school for this quarter. There was a home project for parents & kids to do along. We had to familiarise the kids about these fruits & do a project with the use of these fruits or any thing creative.  It was the last day & we had to submit the project to the school. Since I had guest at home, I had totally forgotten about this. Upon checking the date suddenly realised that this was pending.  Since I love working with fondant, thought why not make these fruits out of fondant. I had some left over fondant from previous cakes in the fridge, so thought will utilise it for this project. My friend was around while I was making these & she was totally shocked to see me do it fast. She is the one your video graphed this:) Thx Annu for supporting me in this video.

Zion was very excited seeing me do this for him. He actually wanted to eat them:) He was saying mamma..Banana banana.. give give...:)  He some how manged to damage the tomatoes & thankfully it reached the school in good shape. I have taken a video tutorial on how to make Banana's. Hope you will enjoy this video tutorials.

 

Tayo Cake

 

Zion's Birthday is on 15th June, since 15th fell on Saturday we kept the school party & friends party on the 14th. Zion has a lot of friends in the Condo & I thought of inviting his friends in the evening for a small Birthday celebration. I decided to make Tayo cake & add in some figurines from the Barnyard cake. Since this party also was on the same day as school party, I was left with limited time. Making Tayo cake was really easy. I baked & frosted the cake the previous night. The cake was sitting in the fridge & it was easier for me to come back from school & just do the fondant decoration. Thankfully the animal figurines were not attacked badly in Zion’s school. Adding farm animals was an instant idea & just went with the flow. If you have a closer look at the cake you will realise that it’s very shabbily doneJ The school party was at 3pm & by the time I got back home it was 4. I was left with only 1.5 hours to do the fondant decoration. I was again very happy with the way the cake looked. My hubby was feeling so proud & kept saying that you are really very creative. He couldn’t believe that in such a short time I would make it look so good. Now it sounds like self-praise right? Hehehehe…

Well the evening party also went on well. Zion along with his friends danced on Gangnam style song. Zion was very excited to see “Tayo the little Bus”cake. He in fact was very unhappy when we cut the cake. He kept screaming oh no… Tayo, tayo…… poor fella kept re-joining Tayo’s head back to the cake. LOL:) After the cake was done I called this cake " Tayo the little Bus goes on a picnic to Barnyard with Farm animals":) For the Barnyard cake I had some idea on how I wanted it to turn out but for this one it was all instant imagination. I can say more like a cut copy paste style with all that repetition of farm animals:)

 

How I made the cake:

1. I baked a Vanilla pound cake in 9 inch square pan. For Pound cake recipe click here.  The cake turned out 2 inch in height, it’s a very short cake & that’s what I wanted. I cut the cake into 3 piece vertically & just layered one on top of the other. So I dint so any shaping:) This was very easy.
2. On each layer I filled some Vanilla butter cream icing. & crumb coated the entire cake with Butter cream.
3. The fondant I have used here is again Home made fondant. I used edible black marker on Tayo for the black colour windows.
4. The Pond water is made from Wilton edible gel.
5. I piped the green grass from the left over whipped cream that I had.
6. If you want to know more about cake decoration & more details on the cake, Join my group budding cake decorators on face book. Click here to join.

 

Barnyard Cake

I can’t believe that my tiny little boy is already 2! I still remember how little my baby was. He was just as big as 1 ltr pepsi bottle. Most of you already know that my lill boy was born 5 weeks earlier than the due date. Today my super active toddler is all grown up & running all around. He has already mastered all skills that are needed for him to outshine. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family & the last 2 years as a full time mommy has been super fun. 

My first fondant decorated cake was Zion's 1^st Bday cake. The theme was Jungle safari & I was really happy with the outcome. (Click here) However there was a lot of scope for improvement & over this last 1 year I have learnt a lot on my own in cake decoration.  Baked & decorated so many cakes for my friend’s parties. I never knew that this field would make me so popular.

Coming back to today's post, I had decided that for Zion’s 2^nd Bday I have to make a very special cake. The ideas kept changing in my mind. My son’s fav Cartoons are Team Umi zoomi & Tayo the little Bus. I initially thought that I will make Team Umizoomi cake, but later changed my mind & decided to go ahead with Barn yard cake. Why Barn yard? Coz farm animals are the topic of discussion in Zion’s school for this semester. I thought it would be great idea to make this cake for his school celebration as all the kids would love to see these animal figurines.

I dint want to bake a lot of cake & waste. Hence I decided to make the Barn house with rice cereals & for the bottom I made a 9 inch round vanilla cake.  The cake was more than enough for 25 people. Every child including teachers loved the cake. It was such a joy watching all the kids enjoying eating it. The teachers were all praises & couldn’t believe that it was home made. Both my hubby & I had gone to the school for the cake cutting. Z was acting like a leader in class & I could see that he was trying to show off that it’s his cakeJ. He was after the tractor & had already eaten one tractor at home & now was game for another one too:)

 

I Baked a Vanilla Butter cake very similar to my Pound cake, with some extra butter in it. The cake had a 3 layer filling of Chocolate Butter cream icing. I definitely don't have any step by step tutorials for this. Please feel  free to ask me if you have any questions.

 

For Pound cake recipe click here.  I baked 2 batches of cake to make it this tall.

Chocolate Butter cream recipe:

300 gms Butter (I used Amul Butter)

7 - 8 Cups sifted Icing sugar

1/4 cup heavy Whipping cream

1 Tspn Vanilla Essence

1/4 cup +2 Tbsp Coco powder

Pinch of salt

Method:

1. Make sure butter is at room temperature & not very soft.
2. In the bowl cream butter until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes with an electric beater on medium speed.
3. Add 7 cups icing sugar one cup at a time. Once the icing sugar is well mixed add whipping cream, coco powder and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy. (for 3 to 4 mins) If you feel the frosting consistency is not right, then add in some more icing sugar.
4. With a spatula fill each layer with 1/2 inch frosting & crumb coat the entire cake with this icing.
5. Let the cake rest in the freezer for 10 mins until the crumb coat sets.
6. Now remove cake out & do the final frosting around 1/2 inch thick on the outside.

 

Note:

1. Most of the figurines were made out of home made Marshmallow fondant. For recipe click here
2. The figurines were made 4 days in advance & I put them in a air tight container.
3. Rest of the fondant that I used for decoration was home made Fondant. I just followed Veena's recipe for this. Check her site here for the recipe. This fondant turned out so good & tasty. I could eat the fondant just like that. This is the best fondant I have ever tasted. Thanks Veena again for sharing your recipe.
4. The Barn house is made of Rice cereal. I just used 5 cups of rice cereals & 2 cups of marshmallow to make this. Pop the marshmallow in the microwave for 1 minute until its melted. Now mix in the rice cereal & make it a soft dough. Now you can shape it to any shape you want
5. To make the farm animals, I watched some tutorials on youtube. Pig Tutorial

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barn Animal Cup cakes

My lill Zion's Bday is coming up & I have been so busy since morning yesterday preparing for his cake. As part of invitation , I also made cupcakes to give it to his friends today. His Bday theme is "Team Umizoomi Barn Party" Team Umi Zoomi is his fav cartoon show & in his school they are teaching them about farm animals this semester. So thought it will be a great idea to also combine farm animals. I feel this is a great way to familiarise him with all farm animals.

Last evening Zion went along with the maid & invited all his friends in the condo. His friends were very excited to see the farm animal cup cakes. Zion loves fondant & he was very excited to see the animal fondant toppers. I gave him a little bird & he directly puts it in his mouth & started munching. LOL I couldn't stop laughing looking at the way he was hogging it. He kept coming back to me asking for more & he ended up having a cow fondant topper too:) Well these are home made Marshmallow fondant & its completely safe for kids to eat. I am not sure why most people think that fondant is not good for kids. Its nothing but sugar paste. Well if you are talking about colour then "yes" we all know that colour is not good. But think again there are so many stuff in the market that has colour in them & we blindly eat them. So everything in moderation will not harm. what say? This is how I made it.

The cups cakes were my Vanilla cup cakes with Strawberry Butter cream Icing. For the recipe Click here

Fondant Recipe

• 1 Packet Marshmallows (250 gms)
• 2 Tbsp water
• 500 gms Icing sugar

Directions:

1. Place the marshmallows in a microwave safe bowl add in 2 Tbspn of water & heat it for 2 minutes. Stop after 1 minute saute with a spoon & again heat it for another minute.
2. Now add in icing sugar & colour if required & knead to make it a soft dough.
3. Cover this & set aside for about 2 hours. Now it is ready to use.
4. Make sure you place the fondant topper on top of the Butter cream.
5. I used a basic round tip to pipe the sheep hair & also round swirl on top of the cup cake.

I could take step by pictures only for Pig & for the rest I couldnt as my maid was busy with some other work. I will defenitely try & do a video recipe soon on how to make these toppers.

 

 

Vanilla Cupcakes

Cup cakes are a biggest part of my life now. These easy little simple beautiful sweet is a treat any time. I make cup cakes more often when I have guests at home or just like that for tea time. You can never go wrong with the cup cakes compared to baking a cake. These can be done so fast & you can dress them up how ever you want. I made these small beauties a month ago when my Hubby's church priest had come home. Along with cup cakes, I also had made some samosas & Pakoras. The priest was so impressed looking at the cup cakes & was so happy to know that it was home made. A pretty looking cup cakes are always a centre of attraction. This is how I made these:

Makes 12 Medium size cup cakes
Baking time: 30 mins
Making time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Plain flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar (Powdered)
• 1.5 Tspn Baking powder
• 3 Tbspn Milk
• 1/4 Tspn salt
• 125 gms Butter
• 1 Tbspn Vanilla Essence
• 2 Eggs

Strawberry Flavour Butter cream:

• 150 gms Butter
• 3 Cups sifted Icing sugar
• 4 Tbsp Whipping cream
• 1 Tspn Strawberry Essence
• Pinch of salt
• Drop of pink gel colour or any colour

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In another mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until incorporated and scraping down sides of bowl, beat in vanilla essence
4. Add flour mixture and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl to assure the batter is thoroughly mixed.
5. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling papers about 2/3 full.
6. Bake on the centre rack of the oven until tops spring back to touch, about 20 - 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. For the Butter cream frosting: Make sure butter is at room temperature & not very soft.
8. In the bowl cream butter until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes with an electric beater on medium speed.
9. Add 3 cups icing sugar one cup at a time. Once the icing sugar is well mixed add whipping cream and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy. If if you feel the frosting consistency is not right, then add in some more icing sugar. 
10. Now add in any colour of your choice & mix well with a spoon or with an electric beater for a minute.
11. Filling the piping bag with the frosting & make any pattern that you like. I used the big star tip for this simple design.

 

 

Note:

• This Butter cream is a very light fluffy & tastier than the traditional butter cream. The whipping cream in the frosting makes it even more creamy, light, fluffy & Delicious. You must try this to believe my words:)
• I added Strawberry flavour as I love it. You can replace this with any other flavour of your choice.
 

 

Dora Cake

 

If you have kids at home then you know how crazy are kids about this cartoon Character. My less than 2 year old also knows her so well. These days after princess, Dora is the most in demand cake for Birthdays.

I made this cake a month ago for my Hubby's Colleagues daughters bday party at school. The cake was Vanilla Butter cake with Strawberry Swiss meringue Butter cream. The whole cake weighed around 4.5 kgs & was 9 inch long . The cake had four layers of filling & served around 40 people.

I was very happy with the outcome of Dora figurine. A big thank you to you tube videos. It took me 3 trails before I could make the nearest perfect looking figurine. All the figurine is made of gum paste. The fondant is home made Marshmallow fondant which taste better than the regular one.  Since I have a small oven I had to bake 4 times in 6 by 6 inch square pan. I am so much in love with Swiss Meringue butter cream that I don't want to make the regular butter cream. If you would like to know more on how I made this cake, you can email me & I am happy to help.

If you are planning to make this big a cake then you need to bake 4 batches of Vanilla Butter Pound cake in 6inch square Pan

Click here for Pound cake recipe.

Please note since the pan is wide the cake will not be very tall, so you need to bake another 4 batches of cake & fill each cake layer with butter cream (Only 3 cakes enough for this). Each cake will be 2- 2.5 inches tall. I used the 4th cake to fill on one side to make the cake 9 inch long. (Patch work)

Strawberry Swiss Meringue Butter cream Recipe

 Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp Strawberry Puree(For recipe click here)
• 4 egg whites in room temperature
• 1.1/2 cup sugar
• 500 gms Butter (Chopped into cubes) Room temperature
• 1/4 tspn salt

Method:

1. Place whites and sugar in a heatproof mixer bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Remove from heat, and whisk in an electric beater on medium speed for 5 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high, and whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 6 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, and add butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking well after each addition.
3. Now add strawberry puree, and beat until smooth, 3 to 5 minutes. Use immediately, or cover, and refrigerate.
 

Note:

 

Refrigerate for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth before using

 

 

Assembling the cake:

1. With a spatula fill in 1 inch thickness butter cream on each layer.
2. Now crumb coat the entire cake with butter cream & refrigerate for about 10 mins .
3. Remove from refrigerator & frost the cake evenly on all sides. Refrigerate again for another 10 - 15 mins to set.
4. Now remove cake & cover it with fondant & decorate.

Notes:

I watched some  tutorials on youtube to learn to make Dora figurine & boots. Click here  to watch the video.

 

Fondant Cake

 

It was our 4th Wedding Anniversary on 4th May. I wanted to make a really special cake. Since I wanted to keep the decoration very simple I decided to go with Ganache. This cake is really rich & a tall cake. Well my USP is tall cakes. I love tall cakes coz you can get to taste a big chunk with various flavours. More over the tall cake looks very beautiful compared to the regular ones. Since I dint want too much of chocolate flavour I decided to add in Strawberry mousse filling in one of the layer (click for recipe Strawberry Puree).

All my Mousse cakes are egg less & I follow my never fail simple recipe. Although this is a 6 inch cake it can serve around 20 people. I must tell you that this cake is Incredible... its so tasty that you just cant eat just one piece. I swear I must have gained 2 inches in the last 2 days. I must have eaten at least half portion of entire cake. It is definitely a sinful indulgence. Well if this Sin is so delicious I don't mind to commit this sin again:) Well I had no intention to have any cake topper but since my hubby was in a conference call on 3rd night I decided to utilise this time to do some decor:) The figurine outcome is not so good & I really dint have the patience to do it well. It was already 12 in the night & I was just doing time pass with the fondant.

Making assembling & decoration this cake is a long process.  Beginners in Cake decoration might find it a lill difficult. I have tried my best to explain it in simple words. I hope you will try this & enjoy. BTW my 2 year old Toddler just loved this cake & I have posted a video of his:)

Step 1: Chocolate cake Recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Cocoa powder
• 1 Tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tspn Baking soda
• 2  eggs
• 70 gms Butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4  cup hot water
• 1 Tspn Lemon Juice
• 1/4 Tsp salt

 Method:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 6-inch round baking pan.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder in large bowl.
3. Cream the Butter sugar with a electric beater.
4. Add eggs one at a time and vanilla. Add in the dry ingredients & Mix the hot water. Beat this for another 2 minutes until the batter is smooth
5. Pour batter into prepared pan & bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Now cut the cake into 3 layers & frost with chocolate mousse.

Note: This cake will turn out really tall about 6 inches.

 

 

Step 2: Chocolate Mousse Recipe

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 Cup melted chocolate (Good quality semi sweet chocolate)
• 1/2 cup Icing sugar
• 1 Tbsp Gelatin or 1/2 Tbsp of agar agar (Mix this well in 1/2 cup of hot water)

Method:

• Beat the whipping cream to soft peaks, fold in the melted chocolate & agar agar into it. Refrigerate it for about 1 hour until its all set.

 

Step3: Strawberry Mousse recipe

• 1/4 cup of Strawberry Puree
• 1 cup Heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup Icing sugar
1 Tbsp Gelatin or 1/2 Tbsp of agar agar (Mix this well in 1/2 cup of hot water)

Method:

• Beat the whipping cream to soft peaks, fold in the Strawberry Puree & agar agar into it. Refrigerate it for about 1 hour until its all set.

 

Step 4: Chocolate Ganache:

• 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tbsp butter

 

Method:

1. Bring heavy whipping cream to a rolling boil & turn off the stove.
2. Add in the chocolate chips & butter to the cream mixture. Let it rest for 5 -10 mins.
3. Once the chocolate chips are melted well stir it well with a spoon or a whisk.
4. Allow it to cool in room temperature for about 8 hours or Just refrigerate for 2 hours.
5. Now the consistency of Ganache will be right for frosting

 

Step 5:Assembling the cake:

1. Cut each cake into 3 layers
2. Fill each layer with 1 inch Mousee filling.  I used Chocolate mousse for one layer & Starwberry for another.
3. In case you have extra mousee you can crumb coat the cake with it. Keep this in the freezer for abour 1/2 hour to set.
4. Now remove & frost the cake with Ganache. Smoothen the Ganache well & again freeze it for 1/2 hour.
5. Now you can decorate the cake with fondant or you can have it just like that
 

Step 6: Homemade Marshmallow fondant Recipe

· 250 gms Kraft Marshmallow

· 4- 6 cups icing sugar

· 2 tbsp water

· Green edible gel color
 

Method:

1.    In a microwave heat marshmallow with 2 tbsp of water for about 1 minute or 2, until its all melted.

2.  Remove the Marshmallow & add in icing sugar to it & make smooth dough. Add in any colour of your choice.

3.  Once the fondant is ready cover it with a zip lock bag & let it rest for at least 10 minutes. Now it is ready to use.

Strawberry Mousse filled Cake

Today is my Maid "Mary's" Birthday. Its going to be a year tomorrow since she has been with us. She has been a great help to our family. She is just 24 but already a mother of twins who are 5 years now:) In Filipinos being a mother at very young age is quite common. It was a very tough decision for me to chose a maid here in Singapore, because have heard a lot of stories about their character. Last year I interviewed many maids & some how found Mary to be the right one for our home. In fact I had made a right choice of choosing her I guess:).  She is a good girl & comes froma good family background, My important condition was that she needs to take very good care of Zion & that is being done without doubt. Zion loves her & they share a good chemistry. I dont treat her like maid but have treated her like a family member. She gets to eat all that we eat. I make sure that she is comfortable & support her whenver she needs any financial help. Afterall she is just like us.

I know of many people within family & friends who treat their maids as slaves. I have even seen people not giving them food to eat ,abusing etc.. I feel so sad to see & hear of such news. I strongly feel that what you do is what you get back. If you take good care of them they will take good care of u. Ah... I think too much gyan on Maids:) Now coming back to the Birthday celebration. I baked chocolate cake & filled it with fresh Strawberry mousse. I did a very simple decoration with whipped cream. We just cut the cake & had it now after Breakfast. For some reason the Strawberry was tasting like Guava:( I couldnt feel much of Strawberry taste in the cake. Nevertheless the cake tasted good! This is how I made it.

I have devided this into 4 Steps

1. Chocolate cake recipe- Step1
2. Mousse filling recipe- Step 2
3. Decoration recipe- Step 3
4. Assembling the cake- Step 4

Step1
For chocolate cake
Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar (Powdered)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Cocoa powder
• 1 Tspn baking powder
• 1/2 tspn baking soda
• 3 eggs
• 75 gms butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4  cup hot water
• 1/4 Tsp salt

Method:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch square baking pan.
2. Cream together butter, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla essence for 2 to 3 mins.
3. Now sift all the dry ingredients & add it to the wet ingredients.
4.  Add the hot water to this mixture & beat it on medium speed for a minute
5. Beat the egg white to soft peaks & fold in the egg whites into the cake batter with a spatula. Arounf 6 to 8 folds should be enough. Do not over mix.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan & bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Now cut the cake into 3 layers & frost with Starwberry mousse.
7. (I made a small cake so I cut the cake into small square & made 4 layers of cake & 3 layers of mousse filling)

Step2:

Strawberry Mousse filling & decoration

 

Ingredients for Mousse

• 1.5 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup fresh chopped Strawberries
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tspn of salt
• 1/4 cup Icing sugar Sifted
• 1 Tbsp Gelatine (Mix this well in 1/4 cup of hot water)

 

Method:

1. Beat the whipping cream to stiff peaks along with icing sugar.
2. In a blender add in the strawberries & sugar. Make a Puree out of this & set aside.
3. Now mix the gelatine into the starberry puree & mix this to the whipped cream. Use a spoon or spatula to mix this well.
4. Now refrigerate this for about 2 to 4 hours for it to set. Once its set you can fill the cake with this.

 

Step-3

Ingredients for decoration.

• 1 Cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup Icing sugar
• Method:

1. Beat the whipping cream to stiff peaks along with icing sugar.
2. Once they are done fill a piping bag with this & use any piping tip to decoration. I used the big star tip for this simple decoration.

Step- 4

Assembling the cake:

• Cut each cake into 3 layers 
• Fill 1 inch mousse on top of each layer evenly with a help of spatula.
• Once all the layers are done, Use the whipped cream to decorate the outer layer of cake.

Here is my Maid "Mary" with zion

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#27