25th Anniversary Cake in Silver and White

Adding additional levels to a cake, no matter what the celebration, always makes the cake extra special. And adding a texture to the fondant gives it an elegant style.

This 25th Wedding Anniversary cake was made with two tiers and included the traditional 25th anniversary colour of silver in the cake through the use of ribbon.  By tiering the cake, it gives the feel that a wedding is being celebrated (even if it was 25 years ago).

I rolled out the fondant extra thick, so it could stand on its own with an extra edge on the cake tiers. Then I used a chocolate imprint sheet* and placed it on top of my rolled fondant (see below for instructions) with a fondant smoother to ensure I had a good imprint. Then I placed the fondant on the cake with the pattern on the outside.

In the past I have added patterns by hand. It was my first time using an imprint sheet, and I found this to be a fast and simple way of adding elegance to my cake.

What's inside?  One of my signature cakes - the 'Chunky Monkey' made of layers of banana bread cake, peanut butter buttercream and chunks of organic and Fair trade Milk Chocolate (Camino 41% couverture chocolate for professionals). 

The banana cake was heavy, which made it stay in place while this cake was transported by car 2.5 hours. The chocolate chunks also kept the layers from squishing out all the buttercream while traveling!


Here is a visual guide on how I did it:

Sprinkle icing sugar on your counter and roll the fondant out in a large, flat circle (ish).

 

Prepare your imprint sheet by sprinkling icing sugar on it with a sifter to prevent sticking.

 

Place the imprint sheet on top of the fondant and use a fondant smoother to press the sheet into the fondant.

Remove the imprint sheet.  Voila!  You have fondant with a pattern on it!

Cover your cake with the imprinted fondant.

For this cake, I did long strips 1/4 inch longer than the height of my tiers.  I also made a circle of patterned fondant for the top of each tier.  I glued the fondant together by brushing on water to make the fondant stick together, then I enhanced the hold by putting white royal icing into the cracks.

I also topped my cake with simple fondant and gumpaste roses.

Roll out long strips of fondant or gummpaste (gumpaste is preferable as it will harden and keep its shape)

Then simply roll tightly in the centre and continue rolling for a rose.  Fold every now and then to add some texturing.

Brush any additional icing sugar off the cake with a dry brush.  Add your ribbon though with a wet brush!  Tip: brush the outside of the ribbon with water to completely smooth out the colour.  Satin ribbon tends to look blotchy when it has gotten wet, so you need the entire ribbon to be wet.  Don't worry!  It will dry shortly, but with a consistent colour.

A patterned cake that was easy to make!

 *You can buy chocolate imprint sheets, and cake texturing mats on Golda's Kitchen website: http://www.goldaskitchen.com/merchant.ihtml?pid=11618&step=4.