Despite what you might think, gravity-defying cake kits are very reasonably priced and you should find one in the shops for under £10. They’re also reusable so you’ll be able to make more masterpieces over the years as the mood takes you. This cake is an alternative to a rich fruit cake at Xmas and will be real hit with children (and the big kid in you!), and as an added bonus, it’s dairy and gluten-free too!
Gravity-Defying Snowman Cake
By Ali Walsh (www.thebristolbakehouse.com)
GF DF
Ingredients:
Cake:
- 675g caster sugar
- 285 vegetable oil
- 1 tbspn vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- 8 large free-range eggs, beaten
- 375ml soya milk
- 600g self-raising gluten-free flour
To Decorate:
- 1 jar of jam or dairy-free frosting
- 1kg ready-to-roll fondant icing in light blue
- Small amount of white, orange, brown & black fondant
- Cornflour
Tools
- 3 x 9” sandwich tins
- 1 gravity-defying cake kit
- Cake smoother
- Snowflake cutters
- Cocktail sticks
- Apple corer
- Rolling pin
- Small paintbrush
- Cornflour duster (or small sieve)
- Water sprayer (optional)
- Piping nozzle (optional)
Method
To bake the cakes:
- Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius (170 fan).
- Line the baking tins.
- Put all the ingredients except the flour into a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
- Sieve the flour and add a spoonful at a time to the mixture, beating as you go.
- Make sure the cake mix is properly beaten and there are no lumps of flour.
- Pour into the cake tins evenly.
- Bake for 25-30 mins until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool on a wire rack.
To assemble and decorate the cakes:
- Assemble the base of the gravity-defying kit as per the manufacturer’s instructions and screw in the rod in the centre.
- On a separate board, stack the cakes on top of one another and measure the centre of the cakes.
- Plunge an apple corer through the centre and remove the cake inside.
- Place one cake over the rod of the cake kit.
- Spread jam or frosting over the top and add the second layer. Repeat.
- Lightly spread a thin layer of frosting (or jam if you have no frosting, but make sure there are no lumps in it) over the outside of the cake.
- On a rolling mat (or work surface), dust a small amount of cornflour.
- Knead and roll out a large ball of light blue fondant so that it is at least 16” in diameter in all directions.
- Pick up the fondant with the rolling pin underneath and roll it over the cake.
- Smooth the fondant into place and cut away any excess. Mist the cake with water (this can be done with a damp piece of kitchen towel if you don’t have a water spray).
- Roll out a small piece of white fondant.
- Cut out several snowflakes using your cutters and attach them to the cake.
- Add a ribbon to the base (securing it in place with more water if it won’t stick – just make sure you use a small amount so it doesn’t leak through!).
- Add the top rod of the gravity-defying cake kit.
- Cover in white fondant.
- Wet the fondant with a small paintbrush and add snowflakes to stick to it.
To make the snowman:
- Roll 3 balls of white fondant and stick them to one another with a cocktail stick, making sure it doesn’t peek out of the top.
- Using the back of your paintbrush, make indents in the top ball for eyes and a nose, and three indents further down. Brush each with water.
- Put a cocktail stick through the middle of the snowman for arms.
- Cover the stick with a small amount of brown fondant to make them look like twigs and add a snowflake onto the ends.
- Roll 5 tiny amounts of black fondant to look like lumps of coal. Secure them in place for the eyes and buttons on the snowman.
- Roll a tiny amount of orange fondant into a cone shape to look like a carrot and secure in place as a nose.
- Cut a smile into your snowman using either the end of a piping nozzle or a knife.
- Push the snowman onto the end of the cake kit rod.
- Add more snowflakes to hide the rod.
- Admire your efforts and expect your family and friends to be wowed!
