Anti-Gravity Birthday Cake
So, today marks the 18th birthday of my close friend Scarlett and I knew her cake needed to be as special as her (she is an adult now after all). We were celebrating her birthday at work which made the need for a showstopper even more significant; leading to the decision to take on the challenge of the popular 'anti-gravity' cake. Scarlett's request was for the cake to have peanut M&Ms on it so I adhered and the cake was made.*
It certainly went down well.
The recipe;
To make this cake, I followed my all time favourite recipe and used two 9" cake tins. The recipe can be found here (http://icingonthecakes.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/essential-cake-recipes.html) but the quantities were changed to 10oz and 5 large eggs - I made the chocolate version but it would work with a normal sponge also. (It took about 23 minutes to bake at 180 degrees Celsius).
For the icing I used my favourite chocolate fudge icing (http://icingonthecakes.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-perfect-chocolate-icing_5.html) which needed to be doubled to cover and fill the cakes with a little spare to stick the chocolates on.
The method;
Once the cakes are cooked, allow them to completely cool before beginning to ice them.
Make the icing a little in advance and leave to cool and thicken before sandwiching the cakes together (this stops them from sliding apart and makes the cake more stable).
To get the anti-gravity effect of the cake, I bought a kit from Lakeland (http://www.lakeland.co.uk/71023/Anti-Gravity-Pouring-Cake-Kit) and followed the instructions to assemble.
After placing the cake in the right position on the stand, ice around the edge of the cake and place chocolate fingers to decorate - this works best if the chocolate fingers are from the freezer to stop them from melting!
Now it's time for the more tricky part of the cake. I melted a little chocolate to cover the plastic rod but in retrospect I think this made the whole process a little more difficult. Using the remaining chocolate icing, cover the top of the cake and then begin to stick the M&Ms (or any sweets/chocolate of your choice) onto the plastic rod working from the bottom upwards. This may sound easy, but it's a lot more difficult than I thought - make sure you have time and patience and you will get there in the end; it took me about 8 attempts to cover the rod but they remained in place once left to set.
Overall I used a share size bag of M&Ms and about half of a regular sized bag, again the whole process is made easier when the chocolate is cold.
Once the chocolates have been stuck to the plastic rod, pour the remainders onto the top of the cake to give the waterfall effect and leave in a cool place for the icing to set.
To balance the chocolate bag to give the pouring effect, I placed a long cocktail stick into the top of the plastic rod and placed the bag over.
Your anti-gravity cake should now be complete!
I finished mine off with a piece of ribbon around the chocolate fingers and I have to say I was impressed with my work.
This cake went down a treat at work and Scarlett was more than impressed, making the whole process worthwhile. A special cake perfect for a special friend.
Happy 18th Birthday Scarlett! x
*Peanut M&Ms are perhaps too heavy, a smaller chocolate may stick more efficiently. Make sure you have a couple of hours set aside to decorate this cake, patience is key!
It certainly went down well.
The recipe;
To make this cake, I followed my all time favourite recipe and used two 9" cake tins. The recipe can be found here (http://icingonthecakes.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/essential-cake-recipes.html) but the quantities were changed to 10oz and 5 large eggs - I made the chocolate version but it would work with a normal sponge also. (It took about 23 minutes to bake at 180 degrees Celsius).
For the icing I used my favourite chocolate fudge icing (http://icingonthecakes.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-perfect-chocolate-icing_5.html) which needed to be doubled to cover and fill the cakes with a little spare to stick the chocolates on.
The method;
Once the cakes are cooked, allow them to completely cool before beginning to ice them.
Make the icing a little in advance and leave to cool and thicken before sandwiching the cakes together (this stops them from sliding apart and makes the cake more stable).
To get the anti-gravity effect of the cake, I bought a kit from Lakeland (http://www.lakeland.co.uk/71023/Anti-Gravity-Pouring-Cake-Kit) and followed the instructions to assemble.
After placing the cake in the right position on the stand, ice around the edge of the cake and place chocolate fingers to decorate - this works best if the chocolate fingers are from the freezer to stop them from melting!
Now it's time for the more tricky part of the cake. I melted a little chocolate to cover the plastic rod but in retrospect I think this made the whole process a little more difficult. Using the remaining chocolate icing, cover the top of the cake and then begin to stick the M&Ms (or any sweets/chocolate of your choice) onto the plastic rod working from the bottom upwards. This may sound easy, but it's a lot more difficult than I thought - make sure you have time and patience and you will get there in the end; it took me about 8 attempts to cover the rod but they remained in place once left to set.
Overall I used a share size bag of M&Ms and about half of a regular sized bag, again the whole process is made easier when the chocolate is cold.
Once the chocolates have been stuck to the plastic rod, pour the remainders onto the top of the cake to give the waterfall effect and leave in a cool place for the icing to set.
To balance the chocolate bag to give the pouring effect, I placed a long cocktail stick into the top of the plastic rod and placed the bag over.
Your anti-gravity cake should now be complete!
I finished mine off with a piece of ribbon around the chocolate fingers and I have to say I was impressed with my work.
This cake went down a treat at work and Scarlett was more than impressed, making the whole process worthwhile. A special cake perfect for a special friend.
Happy 18th Birthday Scarlett! x
*Peanut M&Ms are perhaps too heavy, a smaller chocolate may stick more efficiently. Make sure you have a couple of hours set aside to decorate this cake, patience is key!
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