Mother’s Day is one of those special occasions where buying a store made cake just isn’t enough – how can you truly say ‘I love you mum’ with day old sponge or synthetic chocolate leaving a nasty aftertaste in your mouth?

Thankfully, we have the solution for you. It won’t require you jamming your kitchen cabinets full of products you’ll only use once, coat your worktops with copious amounts of flour or leave you with a gigantic pile of washing up.  All you’ll need you’ll usually find hidden in the back of your cupboards and some knowledge of what makes your lovely mum tick.

A lot of people I know dislike marzipan with a passion (even my own mum hates it) so this is a recipe that avoids using marzipan altogether. Another aspect of this recipe that differs from the norm is the method of coating the squares with the fondant icing – many people suggest to ‘dip’ the cake squares into the icing, I find that this either tears part of the cake away or destroys the piece completely so I always opt for the method outlined by the Kitchen Warehouse team below.

fondant for mothers day

 

Sponge:

  • 225g self-raising flour
  • 225g caster sugar
  • 225g softened butter or baking marg
  • 4 eggs
  • Rind of 1 lemon

Buttercream:

  • 250g softened butter
  • 200g icing sugar

Decoration:

  • 1kg white fondant icing
  • 150ml water
  • Your choice of food colouring
  • Your choice of flavouring
  • 100g dark chocolate

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 160c. Prepare a 20cm square tin by greasing it and lining with greaseproof paper.
  2. Begin to prepare the sponge batter but creaming the butter and sugar together, then add the rest of the ingredients and beat thoroughly until well combined and smooth.
  3. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and tap the sides lightly to level the mixture out.
  4. Place in the oven and bake for approximately 40 minutes or until a cake tester or metal skewer, inserted into the centre, comes out clean.
  5. Let the cake cool in the tin for about 10 minutes, then remove and allow to cool completely on a wire rack before putting it in the fridge to chill.
  6. While the cake is in the fridge, make the buttercream by beating together the butter and icing sugar until light and creamy. It should appear smooth and a very light cream colour.
  7. Remove the cake from the fridge and cut into equal squares, about 4cm each. Cover the four sides and the top with buttercream icing and place the iced squares back in the fridge to set for about 20 minutes.
  8. Cut your fondant into small cubes and place in a free standing mixer with the paddle attachment in place. Churn the cubes until it begins to break down and add a little bit of water to it until the icing becomes smooth and more liquid.
  9. This is when you can add food colouring and flavours to the mix but be careful – don’t add too much at any one time, instead put in small drops until the desired flavour and colour is achieved.
  10. Melt the chocolate, either in a double boiler over the hob or in a microwave-safe dish. Once melted, pour the chocolate into a piping bag and set aside.
  11. Remove the cakes once more from the fridge. Place onto a cooling rack covered with either greaseproof paper or tin foil to prevent messy worktops or drips running down your kitchen doors. Now drip a teaspoon amount of the icing over the square and coerce the icing to fall naturally over the sides. Sometimes you’ll have to do more coercing than others but make sure you get a good covering on all sides.  Leave to set in a safe place, but not the fridge as it will cause the icing to become dull.
  12. Using the piping bag filled with melted chocolate, drizzle a little over each fondant fancy in a zig zag type pattern. This isn’t mandatory so get creative!  Now share these with your dear mum over a nice cup of tea.

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Kitchen Warehouse

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