6 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 box plain white cake mix (Duncan Hines preferred)
2/3 cup water
4 ounces butter, room temperature
3 extra-large whole eggs
1 large egg white
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 325
degrees F. Place rack in center of
the oven. Generously grease the cake pan
with solid vegetable shortening then dust with
flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set pan
aside.
The
first thing I do is to start melting the chocolate
for the cake.
An easy technique is to place the
white chocolate in a 2-cup Pyrex glass-measuring
cup. Place the chocolate in the cup and the cup in a
pot of boiling water.
Turn the stove off so that
the water will stay hot but not boiling. Stir the
chocolate often until totally melted. Be careful
not to splash the water into the chocolate.
Set
aside until it is called for in the recipe.
While
the white chocolate is melting, get the rest of the
items together for making your cake.
Place
the cake mix, water, butter, whole eggs, and egg
whites in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the
slightly cooled white chocolate. Blend with a
mixer on low for 2 minute. Stop the machine
and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber
spatula. Mix for 2 minutes. Scrape down again if
needed. The batter should look well blended.
Divide
the batter evenly between the prepared pans,
smoothing it out with a rubber spatula. Place the
pans on a cookie sheet side by side in the oven.
Bake
the cakes until they are golden brown and spring
back slightly when lightly pressed with your finger,
about 38 minutes.
Remove the pans from the
oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 10
minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edge of
each layer and invert each onto a rack, then invert
again on another rack so that the cakes are right
side up. Allow to cool completely, 30 minutes
or more before decorating.
While the
cake is cooling prepare the
cake boards by
trimming off 3 inches on the long side so the
results are 13” x 16”. Cover the boards with the
aluminum foil and set aside.
Cover with a
thick coating of Buttercream Icing, about 1/ 2
inch. You will see why the thickness is
necessary for this cake in a little bit.
Roll out the
fondant in a rectangle shape that is about
16-inches wide by 20-inches long. Apply the
fondant to the fresh applied Buttercream
Icing. Very gently roll the fondant over your
rolling pin to apply. Do not fold it and only
try picking it up, flat, if you have help. You
cannot pick it up by yourself without taking a
very big chance of badly stretching the fondant
out of shape.
Place the
“skirt” area and the arm area of the fondant
very loosely over the cake. You are going to try
to make gentle ripples in the skirt so the extra
“fabric” of the fondant will give you the
material that you need.
Mold the
fondant around the arms. The Marshmallow
Fondant (MMF) will stretch quite a bit for you
but still use a gentle tough. After you have
gently rubbed the bodice and done the arm work,
you can trim the bottom edge so that you have a
neat bottom edge where the cake meets the cake
board. Don’t worry though if you are not totally
pleased with the results. You can put a row of
stars on the bottom edge as the last step of the
cake decorating.
With a
straight edge or gently with a knife, you need
to gently mark where you want to bodice to
start. I like to go up about 3/4 inch from where
the arms meet the skirt. Press gently down into
the fondant just enough to make a line that is
visible. Also decide it you want to make a
“collar” on your cake. I usually do because the
extra details really make the cake look more
finished and professional. My personal opinion
is that I like a medium size collar, but you
choose. The option is totally yours.
Now,
I like to have at least three (3) ripples and
the edges raised up to create a total of five
(5) ripples for a nice look.
With your fingers,
about in the middle, press the fondant down into
the Buttercream Icing in a line from the bodice
to the bottom of the skirt. Gently push down
into the Buttercream Icing and from side to
side. This will cause the fondant to bulge on
each side of your finger. Usually you do not use
this technique, but today this is exactly what
you want. All of the extra thick Buttercream
Icing you applied earlier will also allow you to
create the ripples by moving and filling in
under the ripple to give you a soft effect.
Repeat as many times and you need to get a
pretty look. Remember to allow the ripples to
flow over the bottom edge.
The nest step
is your choice. Sometimes I do it one way and
sometimes the other just simply because I feel
like it.
You can
either make the crosshatch marks on the bodice
or pipe the stars across the bodice, around the
sleeves and around the collar. On this cake, I
did the stars first. Mark the crosshatch the
same way you did with marking the bodice
earlier. Place a piped star on each
intersection of the crosshatch.
Finish up the
cake by piping random or spaced stars, your
choice, on the skirt of the cake. Make sure you
also continue them on the sides. If you wish,
you can also add a tiny loop bow at the mid
bodice and where the collars meet. Use a
colored icing for the bows if you know if the
baby is a girl or a boy.
