Fondant Fancies Two Ways!

So it was my turn on the weekly cake rota in my German class on Thursday and I racked my brains for a while to think what I could make that’s acceptable to eat at 10:30 in the morning. I mean…chocolate fudge cake is not really elevenses material is it, nor is a salted caramel cupcake. I thought it had to be something basic basic but also a bit pretty too. Then fondant fancies came to mind because they’re light, not too sweet and actually quite impressive-looking when they’re finished! For some reason I thought one tray would not suffice so I did two, which then lead onto two different flavours of fondant fancies, which then lead to 40 cakes!!! What was a light bake for my class turned into a cake mission, but I’m not complaining- the result was well worth it!

Now you’d think 40 cakes!!! Does this girl live with an army?! Or is she just really hungry!? Well…I took 15 into my class, all of which got eaten, and I left 25 in my flat. I came home and thought there is no way we’re going to be able to eat 25 of these, I’ll have to take some to work…give some to family…freeze some….

But oh no no no no no. It turns out as well as being lovely people, my flat mates also have a talent for cake eating too (It's not been 2 days and we have one left minus its cherry...). So thanks to them I can now bake much more frequently without worrying about the waste. I just hope they don’t

think I’m trying to fatten them up…

Anyway here’s my recipes for Bakewell Fondant Fancies and Plain Jane Vanilla ones:

BAKEWELL FONDANT FANCIES

For the Cake:

200g / 8 oz caster sugar

200g /8 oz margarine

150g / 6 oz self-raising flour

50g / 2 oz ground almonds

1tsp almond extract

For the Filling:

6 tbs apricot jam

4 tbs strawberry/raspberry jam

250g / 10 oz white marzipan

For the Icing and Extras:

750g fondant icing sugar

6-8 tbs water

20 halves of glacé cherries

75g / 3 oz dark chocolate

*muffin cases

1) Preheat oven to 180°C / Gas 4. Grease and line a deep rectangular tin approximately 6 x 8 inches.

2) Make the Cake: Cream margarine, caster sugar and almond extract together until pale. Beat the eggs in a separate jug and sieve the flour and ground almonds into a third. Add a third of the flour and egg mixture at a time and beat after each addition, until a smooth batter is formed (It should be a ‘just drops off the spoon’ consistency). Spoon the batter into the tin and bake for 25-30 mins, or until springy to the touch and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool.

3) Fill the Cake: Once cooled, carefully trim up the top and edges until they’re straight and slice the sponge in half horizontally. Spread each half with the apricot jam. Sprinkle the work surface with a little icing sugar and roll out half of the marzipan at a time, roughly the shape of the cake and place each half onto the cake halves. Spread one of the halves with the strawberry or raspberry jam and sandwich the other cake on top. Chill the cake for about 1 hour, to make the cake more manageable.

4) Measure the cake and divide into 20 squares (I found that 4x4.5cm worked best). Place the cakes on a wire rack, with a baking tray or tin foil underneath it – it’s about to get rather messy ;).

5) Decorate the Fancies: Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl and add the water sparingly until a runny paste is formed, just thinner than the consistency of golden syrup. Spoon a tablespoon-worth amount of icing over each cake and encourage it to go over the sides with the spoon or a knife. Give each cake a good spoonful first before you do any fill in the gap/ touch ups on any of the cakes. Place a cherry half on each cake and allow to dry for a couple of minutes. 

6) Meanwhile fold the muffin cases out flat; imagining a square base, fold edges into the middle four ways to make a kind of square shape. 

Take each cupcake and place in a case, roughly wrapping the sides around the cake to make sure it sticks to the icing. Tightly pack the fancies in the tray you baked the cake in, to encourage the cases to stick to the cakes in a square shape.

7) Melt the chocolate and allow to cool. Once the icing is dry, pipe or drizzle the melted chocolate over the fondant fancies. Devour.

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PLAIN JANE VANILLA FONDANT FANCIES

For the Cake

200g / 8oz caster sugar

200g/ 8oz margarine

200g / 8 oz self-raising flour

4 eggs

1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract.

Decoration

Buttercream:

150g / 6 oz icing sugar

75g / 3 oz soft unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

Iced Topping:

750g / 1 lb 14 oz fondant icing sugar

8 tbs water

food colourings (pink, blue, green, yellow etc)

Muffin cases

75g chocolate of your choice (white, milk or dark)

*Any sprinkles, glitters etc that take your fancy.

1) Preheat oven to 180°C / Gas 4. Grease and line a deep rectangular tin (8x12 inches approximately).

2) Make the Sponge: Cream the margarine, caster sugar and vanilla extract until pale. Beat the eggs in a separate jug and sieve the flour into a separate bowl. Add a bit of flour and egg at a time to the butter-cream and mix to combine after each addition. Repeat until all ingredients are used up. Spoon into the tin and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden, springy to the touch and a skewer comes out clean. Turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool. Trim the edges until they are straight, including the top if it’s a little uneven.

3) Make the Buttercream: Put the butter and vanilla extract in a bowl. Gradually beat in the icing sugar (so as to avoid an icing sugar cloud), until the icing is pale and spreadable. Smooth 2/3 of the icing onto the cooled cake, taking care to make the surface as even and flat as possible. Chill for an hour to set the icing, and keep the rest of the buttercream alongside it in the fridge (I find it easier to leave the icing in a piping bag so it’s ready to use in the next step.

4) Once chilled enough, measure and divide the cake into 20 square cakes (4x4.5cm did it for me). With a round nozzle pipe a globule of icing onto the centre of each square. You can chill the cakes again after this step for 30 minutes or so, but I didn’t find it necessary.

5) Make the Iced Topping: Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl and sparingly add the water until it forms a smooth runny paste, just thinner than golden syrup. Divide into as many bowls as you have food colourings. Colour the icing as desired and pour a heavy tablespoonful onto each cake, encouraging it to fall over the sides (be wary of the buttercream dome though!). Try to leave icing remaining so you can fill in any gaps left over. At this stage, add any sprinkles you fancy. Allow to set a little.

6) Meanwhile flatten out the muffin cases and fold the edges in four ways, as if the base is a square. Place each fondant fancy into a case and fix the sides to the icing. Tightly pack them into the rectangular baking tin you baked the cake in, so that the cases stick to the fancies. Allow to dry.

7) Melt your chosen chocolate and allow to cool before piping or drizzling over the fondant fancies. I also like to finish them off with a sprinkle of glitter. Enjoy.