Last week we used Maggie Austin’s Fondant Frills tutorial, via Craftsy.com, to add ruffles to our spooky Witches’ Cauldron cake. Though this technique is certainly not out of place on extravagant wedding cakes the grey and black ruffles we used suited our Halloween cake perfectly! This week we’ve used a rich chocolate brown, glimmering gold and burnt orange to create a glamorous autumnal cake using the same method. We thought the frills on the Witches’ Cauldron cake resembled rugged rocks assenting a cliff face and we believe these frills resemble delicate, crunchy leaves; perfect for the season!
To find out how to create the gorgeous, delicate ruffles we used to decorate our Golden Acorn cake visit Craftsy.com for 25% off of your first cake decorating course. In Maggie Austen’s Fondant Frill class you’ll discover how to make your own flower paste / gumpaste, achieve a pretty ombre look, and create sumptuous cabbage roses. Why not catch the crafting and cake decorating bug in time for the festive season? You’ll be pretty darn popular when Thanksgiving, Christmas or Hanukkah arrives and you’ve created stunning ruffled mini cakes for everyone you love! We had so much fun frilling out fondant strips for our Golden Acorn cake and the dramatic yet subtle texture is perfect for lots of different projects. We’re already thinking of snowdrift themed tiers of ice blue and white ruffles teamed with shimmering hand painted snowflakes and quilting.
To decorate our cake we created lots of sugarpaste / fondant acorns to topple atop of our warm hued ruffle cake including one large golden acorn perched at the top; perfect for a playful yet glamorous cake. Of course, if you’re thinking of trying out this cake at home and lack the time we had why not fill the top of your cake with chocolate truffles, crumbled cookies, juicy berries or cracked walnuts.
Underneath the rich myriad of ruffles is a delicious chocolate, pumpkin and vanilla Neapolitan style layer cake filled with vanilla buttercream making this cake even more irresistible. With cold and blustery months ensuing this cake is the perfect centrepiece to cosy family get-togethers and dinners. Give our recipe below a try for a decadent treat!
Chocolate cake layer (makes one 1 1/2″ thick 8″ in diameter layer)
165g self-raising flour
165g caster sugar
165g butter
3 to 4 medium eggs
70g cocoa powder
Vanilla cake layer (makes one 1 1/2″ thick 8″ diameter layer)
165g self raising flour
165g caster sugar
165g butter
3 medium eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pumpkin cake layer (makes one 1 1/2″ thick 8″ diameter layer)
165g self-rasing flour
165g caster sugar
165g butter
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon of clove
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
80g pumpkin puree
Pre-heat your over to Gas Mark 3 / 160C / 325F and prep your 8″ circle cake pans with cake release. With each layer mix the appropriate ingredients by creaming your butter and sugar first. When pale and creamy add your eggs and any flavourings (such as cocoa powder, spices, pumpkin puree and extracts). When combined add the flour. Mix well and then pour your silky batter into your cake pan. Bake from around 25 minutes to 40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when tested.
Leaving all of your cake layers to cool on a wire rack start preparing your vanilla buttercream.
Vanilla buttercream
300g butter (stay clear of low fat spreads due to the larger water content)
350g-400g icing / confectioner’s sugar
2 bourbon vanilla pods
1 tablespoon of room temperature water
To begin your buttercream dice up your butter into small cubes before adding them into the bowl of a stand up mixer and creaming until smooth and silky. Once creamed gradually add in the icing sugar by adding a little and leaving to combine in the mixer for approximately 10 seconds. Repeat this until you have a consistency you like. Add in the seeds from the inside of a bourbon vanilla pod. To do this slice the pod in half, to scrape out the seeds inside and pop them into the buttercream. Mix for another 10 seconds.
Now you can stack up your cakes! Our layers consisted of the chocolate first, then a layer of vanilla buttercream, the layer of spiced pumpkin, some more vanilla buttercream and finally the vanilla cake layer. When decorating our striped ruffles corresponded with the cake layers hidden inside! Once your layers are stacked prepare your cake with a smooth crumb coat, chill for an hour, ice with roll out icing / fondant and make your way to Craftsy.com for Maggie Austen’s Fondant Frills class to re-create the delicate ruffles!
Craftsy.com provides online education for creative enthusiasts so they can turn their ideas into reality.Crafty’s online cake decorating courses allow you to learn at your own pace whenever you choose! Click here to receive 25% off your first cake decorating course with Craftsy.
This is a sponsored conversation written by Juniper Cakery on behalf of Craftsy. The opinions and text are all ours.
