I built you a cake...

Eryn asked me last week to make a cake for her godson's 1st communion.  She asked for a cake with fondant...something I've never worked with.

I said, "yes."

Cake details:
Shape: Square
Flavor: Chocolate
Layers: 2
Color: Blue
Filling: Up to me
Decoration: TBD when Eryn and I decorate together

So, here's what I ended up doing.   I only have one square baking pan so I had to make the layers in two batches.

I made a chocolate genoise cake.  To make a genoise, you heat a mixture of eggs and sugar over a double boiler until it hits about 103-113F, take it off the heat and then whip it into oblivion until it has tripled in volume and leaves a thick ribbon when you pull the whisk out.  That, of course, what the most tiring part of the entire process...even though I didn't whip it by hand.  It just gets soooooo boring when you are standing at the mixer for 12-15min waiting for the right consistency.  The cake actually cooked pretty quickly.  I stuck it in a 425F oven for 10min and then called it a day.  No salt.  No baking powder or baking soda.  Just sugar, eggs, vanilla, butter, flour, and cocoa powder.

Let me back up a little:
Step 1: Make fondant (I made it a few days in advance and let it set in the fridge until I needed it).  I could have bought some somewhere, but it was so much cheaper to make and I really wanted to see what the fuss is all about.  Fondant is kind of a pain to make because you have to knead it quite a bit, but other than that it's no big deal.  Just a bunch of marshmallows, powdered sugar, water, and crisco mixed together.

Step 2: Make cake layers.  Chocolate genoise made in two batches and then frozen until it was time to build the cake.

Step 3: Make vanilla buttercream frosting.  Fluff up some room temp butter, add an egg (if you please), add some vanilla and fluff some more.  Mix in powdered sugar and fluff some more.

Step 4:  Place first layer of cake on cake board.  Frost top.  Place second layer on top of frosted layer.  Frost entire cake.  Does not have to be super thick.  The buttercream on the outside is basically to help the fondant stick.

Step 5: Roll out fondant to about 1/8 in thick.  I think mine may have been a bit too thick but it was the first time I've worked with fondant and it was a learning experience.  I know what worked this time and what I should do differently next time.

Step 6: Enrobe cake in fondant by rolling fondant onto rolling pin then slowly draping it over the frosted cake.  I had tons of extra fondant leftover and I wanted a clean edge at the bottom so I made a fondant rope and wrapped it around the cake.

Step 7:  DECORATE!  Eryn made chocolate crosses and brought some writing fondant and an edible shimmer dust along with a multitude of other various decorating options.  We ended up making small balls out of the leftover fondant, rolling them in the shimmer dust and then created a rosary.

For a first timer, I think I did a pretty damn good job.  Here's to hoping they like the way it tastes!