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How to decorate a mini fruit cake

Published 10 January 2013 by Francine Appleby

How to decorate a mini fruit cake using just fondant icing, your star cutter and some posh edible pearls to create a pretty and neat finish for a cute cake!

 

 

Minicakes are great for any occasion, to say thank you, for a birthday, celebration or just because! This week I used the star cutter to make this Star laden minicake which is great for any girl with pink fondant icing and stars all over with a few edible pearls for decoration. You could choose the colours of your choice and of course, use blue for a boy.

Some people don't enjoy the taste of marzipan and there is a way that you can compensate for there not being a layer of marzipan and that is to cover the fruit cake initially with a layer of fondant to act as a base for the fondant stars and in the process of adding the additional fondant stars you have built up 2 layers, neatly covering any of the cake's lumps and bumps with the first covering of a fondant layer and also as decoration with the added stars.

The main reason for the additional layer of marzipan on a fruit cake is to even out the surface texture with the lumps and bumps that are formed in the baking process from the fruits that give fruit cake it's textured appearance. Many plain sponges and cakes can be covered using just fondant due to their smooth nature in appearance and don't require the additional layer of marzipan before covering with fondant.

You can use any fruit cake recipe of your choice for the base cake. I used a favourite fruit cake recipe and baked them in small loaf tins that you can find online and in some stores. The size of the cake as shown here is 3 inches by 2 inches to give you an idea of scale.

 

To decorate x1 minicake as shown:

You will need:

Rolling pin

Palette knife

Star cutter

Approx 150g white or pink ready made fondant

Additional red food colouring

Approx 24 edible posh pearl decorations

A little bakers apricot glaze (Warmed)

Small pastry brush or small heatproof paintbrush

Work surface

Icing sugar for dusting

Chopping board to work on

First start by applying a thin layer of bakers apricot glaze all over the surface of the cake using the pastry brush. Knead the fondant to soften it and make it more supple. Halve the fondant and set 1 half aside. Lightly dust the work surface, 1 half of the fondant and rolling pin with a light covering of icing sugar. Roll out the fondant out in a shape large enough to cover your minicake to approx 3mm in thickness, lifting from the table and turning the fondant with each roll to ensure it's not sticking. Once you have the size big enough to cover your cake, position the cake onto your chopping board or cake board and bring the cake close to where the rolled out fondant is. Using your rolling pin to allow the fondant to drape over it to lift up the fondant, lift the fondant over the cake, position and let it fall across the cake. With the fondant in position, smooth out the fondant across the top of the cake and then smoothing down at the sides, pinching in any creases and smoothing out with your fingers. You can use a cake smoother to get some really neat results and a lovely even surface. Trim any excess fondant from around the base neatly using the edge of the palette knife to give an exacting finish. Check for any fruit cake particles and make sure the trimmed excess pieces are clean and cake free, before rolling the trimmings back up with the other half of the pink fondant set aside from earlier. Divide the pink fondant into 3 portions. 1 of the portions you won't need to add additional red food colouring to. Add a small amount of red food colouring to one of the portions of pink fondant and knead in to blend in the colour fully. Add a little more red food colouring than that of which you had added to the last to get a shade slightly darker shade of pink than previously. Again, knead in to blend the colour fully. With your 3 portions of different shades of pink fondant. Roll each of them out to approx 2-3mm in thickness. Dusting the work surface, each of the fondant portions and rolling pin for each. Using the star cutter, cut 16 stars in total from the 3 different shades of pink rolled out fondant. Once you have cut all your stars, you are ready to position them and secure them in place using a little water gently brushed on the back of each star before securing and sticking in to place on the cake. 3 stars were used along the sides of the length of the cake and 2 stars were used for the sides across the depth of the cake. Join the stars at each corner with their tips from each point joining the one adjacent to it by pinching together lightly. Position 3 stars on either side of the top of the cake and centrally, stacking them in layers with 3 stars in each stack, securing them with a little water for each layer. With all the stars positioned and in place. Place 8 edible posh pearls along the length on either side at the top of the cake and 4 on either side for the depth of the cake to finish with a simple beaded trim around the top edges of the cake. You can secure them in place with a little water or royal icing. Present with a candle for a birthday or celebration or just simply as a minicake! Look out for next week's post with more on techniques.