So here is part deux to my Exploding looking cake creation, which was one of the most enjoyable cakes I have made so far.
After making the two Madeira cakes I needed to let them cool down before I began the filling and icing part. I filled the centre of the cakes with a simple butter cream and raspberry jam. The buttercream was simply made by mixing together 300g of softened unsalted butter with 600g of icing sugar, a splash of water and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. My only tip here would be to sieve the icing sugar, that way you won't get any lumps in your frosting.
I used about 3 tablespoons of the frosting to fill the cake and the rest I used to ice the outside of the cake. This is known as the crumb layer, and gives the cake a smooth finish and also stops any stray crumbs getting onto your finished icing layer.
I let this dry and harden in the fridge for an hour before putting on a final thin layer of frosting. I smoothed it out by dipping a pallet knife into warm water and smoothing the frosting to make a smooth and perfectly square cake. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures at this stage as I got a bit over excited on how perfect I had made it. I was even considering having a career change to a plasterer after seeing the final product.
For the final layer I used ready to roll sugar paste icing, which I bought online in bulk so that it was cheaper, but I have noticed that a few supermarkets are now starting to stock it at a reasonable price if you are making a one of cake.
I added two layers firstly a thin black layer just on the top then the white layer all over. The black layer was so that when the icing was cut later, the black would be exposed as the under layer.
You have to work quite fast as the icing gets warm and can tear easily, but I managed to get it done on the first attempt. Once the icing is on, you need to smooth out the icing with an icing smoothing paddle which can be bought from any good cake shop and are a great investment if you are going to make lots of cakes this way.
Once smoothed out I used a craft knife to cut a criss cross on the top of the cake and carefully peeled back to make it look like the cake had exploded from within. The only thing I wished I had done at this point was not to put butter cream on this part of the cake, as I had to carefully wipe of the cream from the underside of the icing. Not a very easy job, let me tell you.
Finally I had loads of off cuts of icing that I had from other cakes so I chose a couple of colours that went together and rolled them out. I cut long triangular shapes of various sizes and placed them on the cake, thin end towards the centre. I also cut out a few stars and and stuck them on too.This is a great way of covering any slight imperfections that you on the icing.
I added a banner and wrote the message on using an icing pen and topped the cake off with my 21 sparklers and fountain candle. Oh and I filled in the hole with some hundreds and thousands sprinkles that I had.
Overall I was really happy with the cake and also learned a few new tips along the way. I am now contemplating making a shaped cake and my goal is to make a Buzz Lightyear cake for my son's 3rd Birthday later on in the year.
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