It’s no secret that I love patisserie. I’ve made some pretty tasty patisserie bakes in the past, but unfortunately, my religieuse for last year’s Bake Off Bake Along wasn’t my favourite. It just wasn’t quite as successful as I would have wanted, so I really saw this year as my chance to redeem myself. However, there was one problem: we were at Sam’s dad’s house when I needed to bake so I was sans all baking equipment. It was definitely a challenge.
Does anyone else mourn the lack of chocolate week this year? What’s happened to it? I hope that hasn’t been sacrificed to fit in Tudor week!
I enjoyed making fondant fancies for about 10 minutes, and then just like Andrew said on the program, it got really old, really quickly.
Fondant Fancies
Ingredients:
For the cake:
1/2 cup milk (120 mL)
2 egg whites
1 whole egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup flour (140 g)
3/4 cup sugar (150 g)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter (57 g)
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
For the chocolate buttercream:
1 1/2 cups confectionar’s sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons of milk
pinch of salt
For the poured fondant:
1/2 cup of white chocolate
2 cups of confectioners’ sugar
1/8 cup of honey ( or light corn syrup)
1/8 cup of hot water
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
food colouring of your choice.
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C) and grease your cake tin. In a medium bowl, combine and stir the egg whites, egg, 2 tablespoons of the milk and vanilla. Set aside. Combine the dry ingredients, including the sugar, together.
Add the butter, and blend, then add remaining milk, and mix until thoroughly combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl and begin to add the egg/milk mixture in 3 separate batches; beat on medium for 20 seconds after each addition. Lastly swirl in the cocoa powder with a knife before pouring your cake into the tin. Try to level out the top of your cake and bake until golden brown (approximately 20 minutes)
While the cakes are cooling make your frosting. Beat together all the ingredients, slowly adding in the confectioners sugar. Scrape down the sides frequently. It will be very smooth when it’s done.
Once your cake is cool, frost it with your buttercream crumb layer and then pop your cakes into the fridge for about 15 minutes whilst you make your fondant.
Melt your chocolate. In another bowl, sift the confectioners’ then add the honey and hot water, stirring until smooth. Then add in the chocolate, vanilla and food colouring. If the mixture is a bit thick, add in teaspoons of hot water until you reach your desired consistency.
Let the fondant set and then decorate your fancies.
Ala has the pleasure of announcing our Tudor Week Star Baker, so head on over to her blog to see if it was you.
Can you believe that we only have one episode of Bake Off left? (*Sob*!)
Link up you patisserie bakes below!
