Cake! magazine by Australian Cake Decorating Network August 2018 Cake! Magazine | Page 36
Step 1 - 4:
Allow the cakes to come to room temperature - this will make them easier to cut and avoid any blow outs
or air bubbles down the track. Cut your cakes and keep the top dome or excess from the 6” round. Start
by filling and crumb coating with one 5” round on the base, then add the 6” round on the top, followed
by the second 5” round.
Using a food processor, blitz up the excess cake into a crumb, and add in some ganache to bind the
crumb together. Roll into even-sized cylindrical strips and add onto the top and base of the 6” cake to
alleviate the sharp edge.
Push into any crevasses that are creating a harsh line, and add another around the centre line to create
a rounded edge.
Smooth out the cake crumb until it is the desired barrel shape, then ganache the cake.
Step 5: Step 6 & 7: Step 8:
Once all the main parts
are filled with ganache,
use a flexi smoother
to get the ganache as
smooth as possible. Trim the excess ganache off the top. Roll out
some spare fondant into a sausage, using a cake
board to get the thickness even. If the fondant is
not rolling but is squashing, very lightly spritz the
fondant with a tiny bit of water to make it slightly
tacky.
Place the sausage on the top and lightly pinch it
into place. This ensures that the barrel does not
have a flat top. Cut out a fondant circle
slightly larger than the
top of the barrel.
Step 9 & 10:
Teddy Bear
Figurine
Step 11 & 12:
Use a ruler to score the lines to achieve a wood
plank effect. Place the circle on the top of the
barrel and press down with a 4” tin.
Trim off the excess fondant from the fondant circle.
Roll out white fondant to desired thickness and cut
into strips. Starting from base, adhere the strip to the
cake and then let the excess rest on the top.
Once the cake is covered, trim the excess off the top.
By Pearl Toh of Pearl’s Creations
Step 13 & 14: Step 15 & 16:
In a container, mix the ivory and brown food colour
gel with some vodka to a watercolour consistency.
Add more brown for a darker wood or more ivory
for a pine wood look. Paint the crevasses first to
ensure they are coloured and not white. Then paint
the remaining strips with a light coat to start - you
can always go darker. Let the paint dry slightly,
then go over it with a damp brush. This will slightly
pull the base colour and give a natural wood grain
effect. If the brush has too much liquid it will take
off the base coat. Roll some excess fondant into
three sausages, one long slightly thicker and two
short. Spray the styrofoam ball with water and wrap
the thicker sausage around the base of the base
to keep it steady. Add the two smaller sausages on
the top with a slight gap. Add a touch of brown to white modelling chocolate
to achieve desired colour and roll into a circle.
Spritz the styrofoam with water and place the
modelling chocolate over the Styrofoam, smoothing
it onto the hat structure. Trim the excess to get the
desired shape then curl the brim of the hat up to
the side of the structure. Place the hat aside to set
to desired shape.
In a clean pot add in the Isomalt granules and
a few tablespoons of water (just enough to coat
the granules). Have a bowl of cold water large
enough to fit the pot next to the isomalt. Heat the
isomalt slowly to 165 degrees Celsius, keeping
a close eye on it as the temperature changes
rapidly. Carefully swirl the isomalt occasionally
to ensure even heat distribution. Do not stir the
Isomalt as crystallisation can still occur. Once the
temperature is at 165 degrees Celsius, take out
the thermometer and carefully place the base of
the pot into the cold water to stop the temperature
rising further (roughly five seconds).