Cakes For Romantic Occasions (4 page)

The depth of cake tin that I generally use is a 7.5cm (3in) or 10cm (4in) professional tin. If you are using a smaller tin, you may need to reduce the quantities of ingredients used.

tip
If your cake tier is really deep, you may get more portions from it, so these numbers are just a guide – refer to each project for an estimate of how many it will serve.

If you prefer to use cup measurements, please use the following conversions. (Note: 1 tablespoon = 15ml, except for Australian tablespoons which are 20ml):

butter
1 tablespoon = 15g (½oz)
2 tablespoons = 25g (1oz)
1 stick = 100g (3½oz)
1 cup = 225g (8oz)

caster (superfine) sugar
2 tablespoons = 25g (1oz)
1 cup = 200g (7oz)

soft brown sugar
1 cup = 115g (4oz)

liquid
1 cup = 250ml (9fl oz)
½ cup = 125ml (4fl oz)

flour
1 cup = 150g (5oz)

desiccated coconut (dry, unsweetened, shredded)
4 tablespoons = 25g (1oz)
1 cup = 75g (2½oz)

dried fruit
1 cup = 225g (8oz) currants, or 150g (5oz) raisins, or 175g (6oz) sultanas (golden raisins)

glacé (candied) cherries
1 cup = 225g (8oz)

A delicious filling makes a cake taste wonderful. Let the flavour of your cake help you decide what this should be, for example a cream cheese filling goes well with carrot cake and a classic buttercream and raspberry jam filling is perfect for a vanilla sponge. And then there is the icing. Here I describe the different types I use.

Buttercream is used to sandwich together two vanilla sponge cakes
and to fill a chocolate or carrot cake.

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

(For filling a three-tiered cake)

500g (1lb 2oz) salted butter

1kg (2lb 3oz) icing sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Drop of milk (if needed)

Piping Cream

Buttercream can also be used as an icing (see Sunkissed Cupcakes, page 51).

one
Cream the butter until the colour goes a little lighter.

two
Sift the icing sugar and thoroughly mix with the butter.

three
Add the vanilla extract and mix well. If the mixture is a bit too stiff, add a little milk to make a smooth consistency.

four
Use on your cake following the steps for Levelling and Filling on page 21.

There are lots of other fillings you can use as well as buttercream such as fruity jams and curds. For example, if you are making a lemon cake, try spreading a layer of lemon curd for the filling and make some lemon drizzle to go on top. I use Duchy Original Lemon Curd for a beautifully zesty flavour and pour caster sugar mixed with lemon juice over my sponge.

A traditional vanilla sponge is filled with simple buttercream and jam, but you can use chocolate or orange instead. Be creative and think about what flavours work well with each other. For example, a chocolate filling works equally well in an orange cake and an almond cake.

Add the following ingredients to flavour the basic buttercream recipe opposite:

Citrus – the rind and a little juice of 2–3 lemons or oranges.

Chocolate – 175g (6oz) melted plain chocolate.

Coffee – espresso or concentrated instant coffee, 5 tablespoons.

Cream cheese frosting – add equal amounts of cream cheese to buttercream, and lemon zest to taste.

There are three main types of icing I use to create my designs:

Sugarpaste

Also known as fondant icing, this soft pliable icing is used to cover cakes ready for decorating. When mixed with flowerpaste it becomes a good modelling icing.

Flowerpaste

This is used mainly for handmade sugar flowers but is ideal for any delicate sugarcraft work that requires the strength of a hard setting paste. It’s perfect for flowers, bows and frills as it can be rolled out very thinly. It can be purchased from sugarcraft shops either in a small block or as a powder that is mixed with water.

Royal icing

Royal icing (shown left) is a wet mixture of egg whites (or albumen) and icing sugar that sets extremely hard. It’s used for piping details such as flower centres or a snail trail onto cakes and also as a sugar glue for attaching decorations (see also page 26).

There are a few handy cake-making techniques you need to know when getting your cake ready for icing. They will help you make every surface on your cake flat, smooth and level – a flawless blank canvas ready for you to create your design.

An iced cake board makes an excellent foundation for both single and multi-tiered cakes. It also provides another surface that can be incorporated into the design.

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

Thick cake board

Sugarpaste (see right for quantities)

Icing smoother

Rolling pin

Small sharp knife

Small paintbrush

Quantity guide for covering cake boards (round or square)

one
Brush the cake board with a wet paintbrush, moistening the whole board without adding too much water.

two
Roll out the sugarpaste about 3mm (1⁄16in) thick. Hold the board above the rolled-out icing to check that it will cover all of it.

three
Roll the icing around the rolling pin, lift it up and lay it onto the wet cake board (
a
).

four
Use the icing smoother to finish off, going over the board in a circular motion to leave a smooth surface (
b
).

five
Holding the board in one hand, use the sharp knife to trim the excess sugarpaste all round, keeping the knife flush with the edge of the board (
c
).

six
Allow the covered board to dry overnight before decorating it or placing the cake on it.