Birthday Cake

My son asked for a solar system cake this year and I realized I’d have to learn how to make a fondant if I was going to have a modicum of success at making planets.  He’d seen a picture online and had his heart set, and I was determined not to let him down. 

It’s just a regular box cake, chocolate, per his request.  To make the background dark to represent space, I added some blue gel color to chocolate frosting. 

For the planets, I made fondant from a recipe I found online and that worked out really well.  Whew!  I used gel color for their coloring as well.  It really was fun to work with, if a bit on the messy side.  The gel color washed off very easily though, so that was good.

For stars, my son picked out some little pearl cake decorations. 

I think I was a little enthusiastic on making my planets!  LOL  They’re a little on the big side, too big to fit nicely across a 13×9 cake, so my scale is off.  But my son was happy, and I did manage to leave at least enough room to put his name and age, if not the whole Happy Birthday part. 

Rolled Buttercream Fondant Recipe

This is where I got the recipe: Rolled Buttercream Fondant Recipe – Allrecipes.com

I have to say, it was MUCH easier to make fondant than I thought it would be.  I was pretty intimidated at first, but my son wanted a solar system cake so I had to figure out a way to make it. 

Turns out, even without a stand mixer, mixing it was fairly easy.  It did require a bit of muscle, but honestly, not as much as making bread by hand.

It was a bit on the greasy side though, due to the shortening, so you’ll need lots of soap and water to wash your hands with afterward. 

I did find that the finished product was a bit on the soft side.  I used it for making planets, not for actually frosting the cake, but it would work well in that application.  It would also work well for cut out flat shapes, but it would probably be a bit too soft for more elaborate shapes that need to stand on their own.  But for the home baker, it’s an easy and fun way to decorate. 

I’d also recommend reading through the the reviews of it on the website too – they had some great tips!

By the way, I didn’t have clear vanilla, I just used regular, and it still came out pretty white. It was basically eggshell white, if not a pure white, and I also used gel colors and they worked great.

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup shortening
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
• 2 pounds confectioners’ sugar

 

Directions

1. In a large bowl, stir together the shortening and corn syrup. Mix in the salt and vanilla flavoring, then gradually mix in the confectioners’ sugar until it is a stiff dough. If you are using a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachment. Otherwise, knead by hand. If the dough is sticky, knead in more confectioners’ sugar until it is smooth. Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
2. To use, roll out on a clean surface that has been dusted with confectioners’ sugar until it is 1/8 inch thick or thinner if you can. Drape over frosted and chilled cakes and smooth the sides down, or cut into strips to make bows and other decorations.