My Christmas bake for this year was inspired by Pinterest. I am totally addicted to cake-browsing on that amazing website, and this one was a real challenge for me. This was definitely the cake I've baked which required the most skills.
 What I was aiming for... |  The result! |
Pretty damn chuffed with that, I have to say! I baked it for my showstopper cake baking sister, who's missing Christmas with the family this year. She was impressed, so I think that qualifies: I'm officially a showstopping baker!
The secrets to my Rudolph bake
The cake itself is a simple vanilla sponge - one big cake, although it probably should have been deeper.
To get the curly fur effect in the chocolate frosting I piped into dots (blobs with a push-and-pull-to-a-peak). It took about an hour to do and I needed another batch of frosting!
The red nose is simply a roll of icing, dyed red, and the eyes are made the same way. They're held in place with cocktail sticks.
Finally, the best bit: the antlers. I drew a template of antlers on paper and put a sheet of grease proof paper over the top. This made it easy to remove the antlers from the paper when they had set. Melting candy melts (cooking chocolate might work?), I filled in the template with thick layer, sinking a lolly stick into the 'trunk' of the antlers. Be sure to leave about half the stick poking out the bottom so you have a good hold on the cake when you stick them in. Chilled in the fridge, they don't take long to solidify, but make sure the area around them is clear. A dropped carrot can cause havoc to poor Rudolph's antler shape.
What can I try next? Feeling confident now!
Lou x
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Born to be a Tourist
The secrets to my Rudolph bake
The cake itself is a simple vanilla sponge - one big cake, although it probably should have been deeper.
To get the curly fur effect in the chocolate frosting I piped into dots (blobs with a push-and-pull-to-a-peak). It took about an hour to do and I needed another batch of frosting!
The red nose is simply a roll of icing, dyed red, and the eyes are made the same way. They're held in place with cocktail sticks.
Finally, the best bit: the antlers. I drew a template of antlers on paper and put a sheet of grease proof paper over the top. This made it easy to remove the antlers from the paper when they had set. Melting candy melts (cooking chocolate might work?), I filled in the template with thick layer, sinking a lolly stick into the 'trunk' of the antlers. Be sure to leave about half the stick poking out the bottom so you have a good hold on the cake when you stick them in. Chilled in the fridge, they don't take long to solidify, but make sure the area around them is clear. A dropped carrot can cause havoc to poor Rudolph's antler shape.
What can I try next? Feeling confident now!
Lou x
Find me on Facebook
...and on Twitter
Born to be a Tourist
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