Spotlight Grand Opening Neapolitan Cake...
The reason for my prolonged absence from the kitchen, as previously mentioned, is my new job. After 3 weeks of non stop work to get the new store up and running, the end of set up approached and we got a day off before the grand opening. I seized the opportunity to bake a celebratory cake for the occasion:
This was a cake for firsts for me.
First layer cake.
First neapolitan cake.
First time making marshmallow fondant.
First time piping words.
I could go on. But the main point is, I was a bit of a nervous wreck brining it in. Presentation wise, to be honest, I didn't like it. I'm not even sure why. But it wasn't like the picture of perfection I had in my head.
You be the judge.
If you don't live in either Australia, New Zealand, Singapore or Hong Kong, your country won't be home to a Spotlight store, so you probably have no idea what it is. It started off as a fabric store at Vic Market, but has since grown into a fabric/craft/haberdashery/homemaker/party/etc retailer. So I wanted something bright and colourful. Hence the choice to do a neapolitan cake.
So we started off with 3 layers, assembled with whipped cream:
Next came the chocolate buttercream (usually, this recipe calls for a chocolate icing which is a tablespoon of icing sugar away from being a chocolate ganache, but under fondant I went for the buttercream).
Then for the fondant decorations. I had never make marshmallow fondant before, let alone used it, so I was nervous about using it for a cake I'd be showing off on Grand Opening day. Would it stiffen enough? Would it be pliable enough? How good would it be for moulding? Would it taste as good as everyone said it did?
Turns out it was amazing to use for covering the cake. It didn't crack and withstood rough treatment, and tasted so much better than the usual stuff (though not as yummy as marshmallows themselves). It provided a perfect finish and was a cinch to use.
The idea was supposed to be that of embroidery cloth. The words were to looks "backstitched into the canvas. I only wanted the embroidery pattern to be on the top portion of the fondant, not down the sides of the cake. So I used the embosser once the fondant was actually on the cake. Mistake number 1. It failed. I smoothed out the top again and moved on.
I started modelling things the store supplies. I got teased for being biased towards Craft/Spartys (my department), but it was more aesthetics than anything. So I stuck with yarn, ribbons, balloons, buttons (there's some habby) and blossoms. I ran out of motivation (and time... and space) after that.
And once it was finally done... it just irked me. I don't know why, but the look wasn't right. I was told to shut up and stop being picky; the cake was a hit. But I still just can't like it for some reason I can't put my finger on.
Then I was terrified of how it would look once cut. Turns out the layers looked much better than I imagined (in my head it was a mooshy catastrophe). Thankfully, it tasted great.
Want to taste it for yourself?
Here's the recipe!
This was a cake for firsts for me.
First layer cake.
First neapolitan cake.
First time making marshmallow fondant.
First time piping words.
I could go on. But the main point is, I was a bit of a nervous wreck brining it in. Presentation wise, to be honest, I didn't like it. I'm not even sure why. But it wasn't like the picture of perfection I had in my head.
You be the judge.
If you don't live in either Australia, New Zealand, Singapore or Hong Kong, your country won't be home to a Spotlight store, so you probably have no idea what it is. It started off as a fabric store at Vic Market, but has since grown into a fabric/craft/haberdashery/homemaker/party/etc retailer. So I wanted something bright and colourful. Hence the choice to do a neapolitan cake.
So we started off with 3 layers, assembled with whipped cream:
Next came the chocolate buttercream (usually, this recipe calls for a chocolate icing which is a tablespoon of icing sugar away from being a chocolate ganache, but under fondant I went for the buttercream).
Then for the fondant decorations. I had never make marshmallow fondant before, let alone used it, so I was nervous about using it for a cake I'd be showing off on Grand Opening day. Would it stiffen enough? Would it be pliable enough? How good would it be for moulding? Would it taste as good as everyone said it did?
Turns out it was amazing to use for covering the cake. It didn't crack and withstood rough treatment, and tasted so much better than the usual stuff (though not as yummy as marshmallows themselves). It provided a perfect finish and was a cinch to use.
The idea was supposed to be that of embroidery cloth. The words were to looks "backstitched into the canvas. I only wanted the embroidery pattern to be on the top portion of the fondant, not down the sides of the cake. So I used the embosser once the fondant was actually on the cake. Mistake number 1. It failed. I smoothed out the top again and moved on.
I started modelling things the store supplies. I got teased for being biased towards Craft/Spartys (my department), but it was more aesthetics than anything. So I stuck with yarn, ribbons, balloons, buttons (there's some habby) and blossoms. I ran out of motivation (and time... and space) after that.
And once it was finally done... it just irked me. I don't know why, but the look wasn't right. I was told to shut up and stop being picky; the cake was a hit. But I still just can't like it for some reason I can't put my finger on.
Then I was terrified of how it would look once cut. Turns out the layers looked much better than I imagined (in my head it was a mooshy catastrophe). Thankfully, it tasted great.
Want to taste it for yourself?
Here's the recipe!