Fondant is a popular way to decorate cakes for many occasions. It’s almost like working with play dough, only it’s sweet! Robin Hassett, of The Dessert Tray, demonstrates how to decorate a cake with spooky tombstones, bats, and pumpkins – just in time for Halloween. In this video, you will learn how to prepare a cake for decorating with fondant, how to create fondant colors, and many more tips on how to work with fondant. Hassett has been baking and working with fondant for years, and you can learn more about how she became a baker by watching this related video: Cake Decorating: Fun with Fondant.
Robin Hassett’s Yellow Cake Recipe
Makes about 4-9″ cakes.
Ingredients:
- 8 eggs
- 12 yolks
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 Tbsp vanilla
- 6 cups cake flour
- 5 1/3 cups (2lb 5oz) sugar
- 2 Tbsp baking powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 pound of butter
- 1 1/3 cup of oil
Instructions:
- Sift cake flour, baking powder and salt: set aside.
- Measure eggs and yolks together.
- Measure buttermilk and vanilla together.
- In a stand mixer with the whip attachment, cream butter until it is light and fluffy.
- Add sugar and continue to cream for another few minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time, to butter mixture and mix until it comes together.
- Scrape bowl. Add oil in a slow stream with mixer running. Scrape.
- Add 1/3 of dry ingredients. Scrape.
- Add 1/2 liquid. Continue alternating until all ingredients have been added (finish with dry).
- Evenly distribute the cake batter into 4 – 9″ round cake pans that have been greased with pan spray. For ease of releasing the cakes from the pans; I recommend lining the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper in addition to the pan spray.
- Bake at 325-350 degrees for 30-45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.