Birthday Cake Surprise: Chocolate Fondant

Today is a landmark day for me! In addition to starting this blog, just a few days ago I received my much anticipated Christmas present from my parents – a professional kitchenaid mixer – my new baking companion. Up until this point, my love of baking has been nurtured by many a hand-kneading of dough, hand mixing up batter, and then in the more recent years the addition of the handheld mixer (a gift from my grandmother, during college). I actually love using the hand mixer – there are some things that just come together so nicely, or using the hand mixer is just so practical for other things, such as making deviled eggs, or whipping up royal icing… and maybe my hand mixer has gotten so much use that I am even familiar and fond of the smell of the little motor working so hard to help me make something tasty and memorable! But, there is another reason why today is a landmark day: after baking and decorating fondant covered cakes for special occasions for over a year for friends, I have secured my first paying customer! ☺ A co-worker of mine has asked me to bake a cake for his daughter’s 14th birthday. I was told her favorite color is turquoise, and the cake should be chocolate, and the rest was left to me. Since I enjoy baking layered cakes, I decided to go with the 10 inch rounds and the 8 inch rounds, stacked, with the bottom layer decorated in teal fondant, and the top in chocolate fondant (I had recently re-discovered my love for chocolate fondant, see the recipe below!). Since I am still learning the artistry that is cake making, I often try to finish the cake with ribbon details to hide blemishes or seams – something I’d totally recommend to anyone who wants to try fondant! (I've included a picture from a past cake with the chocolate fondant, and ribbon, for an example.) For a first time fondant user, I’d start with regular fondant, but chocolate is also very simple. Again, this recipe is adapted from Peggy Weaver’s website
http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm.

Chocolate fondant:
16 ounces white mini marshmallows
2-5 tablespoons warm water (I usually start with two)
2 pound bag powdered sugar, minus 2 or 3 cups (to be added in stages)
1-2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
Crisco, open and ready for dipping!

As Peggy suggests, once you’ve got your marshamallows in the microwave, coat your hands (even around nails and in between fingers) with plain Crisco (make sure it is not butter flavored or just butter, as this will change the color of your fondant to a strange pale yellow, and if you wish to dye it with food coloring (gels or paste are best), it will also augment the color. Also coat your working surface with Crisco. Once the marshmallows are melted (see Peggy’s website for details) begin to stir in the powdered sugar. I’d start with a few cups of powdered sugar, and then add 1 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder. When the mixing becomes difficult, turn out your marshmallowy-sugary blob onto your worksurface and start kneading. Peggy makes it sound easier than it is, but just keep going! Once you’ve kneaded in the 1 cup of cocoa powder, evaluate it: does it look dark enough to suit my needs? Does it taste enough like chocolate to suit my needs? It the answer is no to either of these questions, then add another ¼ cup or ½ cup of cocoa. Any time the dough feels sticky, add more powdered sugar (or cocoa!) and continue with the kneading process. Keep going until it is a smooth, elastic ball. I also find this recipe easier to make and handle during the kneading process if it is halved, and depending on your baking needs, you might wish to do this too. Also, if the fondant becomes too hard to work with, or you made regular white fondant and then wish to dye it, then pop it in the microwave for a very short (30 sec or less) period of time to soften it up. Fondant does also keep well for extended periods of time, so I find it easy to make the fondant a day or two in advance so I have it ready to go when I need it, like this time! Sometimes fondant can also change color as it dries, so it is nice to have a few days to evaluate if the final color (leave a tiny amount the size of a dime or so out at room temperature overnight) does change after some time has passed.