Christmas is coming!! This month there will be all kinds of parties and dinners with plenty of opportunities to bake something spectacular to take as a dessert! These mini cakes are so cute and are perfect for a party or even a gift for someone special! Keep reading and I will show you how to make these mini cakes step by step!
What you will need:
4 or 5 inch round cake pans or specialty mini cake pan
Cake mix
Buttercream
Fondant
Food coloring
1. Make cake mix, grease and flour mini cake pans, cook for 3o minutes, let cool, stack three cakes with buttecream in between each layer. It is very iimportant to grease and flour the pans since they are so small it is easier for the cake to stick to the pan! Check the cake with a toothpick to make sure it is done before you take it out. You can cook all of the mini cakes at the same time if you have enough pans.
2. Frost the cakes with buttercream on a turn table. This is the trickiest part I think! The cake is so small and much harder to frost! I started from the bottom and worked my way up. After everything was covered with buttercream I scraped the sides with a bench scraper. Please note the smoother and cleaner you get the buttercream, the better the fondant will look. Every bump and crease in the buttercream show through the fondant!
3. Roll out fondant into 12 inch circle and cover the mini cake. Smooth down sides.
4. After you have put on the fondant, you can cut out pieces of different colored fondant for decoration. For my cakes I cut out polka dots, holly leaves, and small christmas trees. I cut out the holly free hand with a small knife, and the christmas trees with a cookie cutter.
Ingredients
- 2 boxes white cake mix 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups granulated sugar 1 1/2 teas. salt 8 egg whites 2 2/3 cups water 4 Tbls. vegetable oil 2 cups (16oz carton) sour cream 2 teaspoon clear vanilla flavor 2 teaspoons almond extract
Instructions
- Mix all dry ingredients by hand using a whisk in a very large mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Bake at 325 degrees
- ***One recipe makes: one 14" round + one 6" round
- or one 16" round
- or one 12" round + one 10" round
- or one 12x18" sheet cake
- or one 12" round + one 8" round + one 6"
- Half a recipe makes: two 8" rounds
- or two 6" rounds + 6 cupcakes
Ingredients
- 8 ounces miniature marshmallows (4 cups not packed, or half of a 16-ounce bag)
- 1 pound powdered sugar (4 cups), plus extra for dusting
- 2 tbsp water
- Food coloring or flavored extracts, optional
Instructions
- Dust your counter or a large cutting board with powdered sugar. Place the marshmallows and the water in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute, until the marshmallows are puffy and expanded.
- Stir the marshmallows with a rubber spatula until they are melted and smooth. If some unmelted marshmallow pieces remain, return to the microwave for 30-45 seconds, until the marshmallow mixture is entirely smooth and free of lumps. If you want colored or flavored fondant, you can add several drops of food coloring or extracts at this point and stir until incorporated. If you want to create multiple colors or flavors from one batch of fondant, do not add the colors or flavors now. Instead, refer to step 6 below for instructions.
- Add the powdered sugar and begin to stir with the spatula. Stir until the sugar begins to incorporate and it becomes impossible to stir anymore.
- Scrape the marshmallow-sugar mixture out onto the prepared work surface. It will be sticky and lumpy, with lots of sugar that has not been incorporated yet--this is normal. Dust your hands with powdered sugar, and begin to knead the fondant mixture like bread dough, working the sugar into the marshmallow with your hands.
- Continue to knead the fondant until it smoothes out and loses its stickiness. Add more sugar if necessary, but stop adding sugar once it is smooth--too much sugar will make it stiff and difficult to work with. Once the fondant is a smooth ball, it is ready to be used. You can now roll it out, shape it, or wrap it in cling wrap to use later. Well-wrapped fondant can be stored in a cool room or in the refrigerator, and needs to be kneaded until supple before later use.
- If you want to add coloring or flavoring to your fondant, flatten it into a round disc. You might want to wear gloves to avoid getting food coloring on your hands during this step. Add your desired amount of coloring or flavoring to the center of the disc, and fold the disc over on itself so that the color or flavor is enclosed in the center of the fondant ball.
- Begin to knead the ball of fondant just like you did before. As you work it, you will begin to see streaks of color coming through from the center. Continue to knead until the streaks are gone and the fondant is a uniform color. Your fondant is now ready to be used or stored as outlined above.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup sweetex or crisco
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon meringue powder
- 2 pounds powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup milk or water
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- mix the sweetex, salt, and meringue powder with electric mixer to blend aobut 30 seconds
- Add the milk in the bowl, then add the sugar and blend by hand with a spatula until the sugar is absorbed into the liquid
- put bowl back on the mixer and beat on medium speed for 2-5 minutes until smooth and a little fluffy.
- if mixture is too stiff, you can add more liquid. if it is too runny add more powdered sugar
ENJOY!
Shamene
My cakes were featured here!
These mini cakes are adorable! Thank you for the recipe!
Thank you Ritchil for stopping by! I’m glad you like them!
Very nice. Plenty of cake to satisfy. Pinned to my Christmas Crafts and Food Board.
Thank you Sarah for pinning them! I am glad you stopped by!
Oh I love these, they are so cute. I too am pinning them! (maybe one day I will actually make them too!
Thanks too for the easy looking fondant recipe, I usually use shop bought and feel like I’m sacrificing taste for looks.
Thank you Julie
I know what you mean about store bought fondant. Hopefully you like my recipe!
These are so cute! I think I’d rather have one of these than a real present! Thanks for posting the step-by-step instructions.
Thanks so much Rebecca! I appreciate your comments and am so glad you stopped by
Love, Love, Love! These are fantastic looking! Thanks for linking to Less Laundry, More Linking party!
Aww thank you Nancy! no problem, I love linking up at your party!
The decorations on these are so amazing! I love the festivity. I wish there were a way to get around buying more pans though, lol. Thank you for sharing these on Foodie Friday
Thank you Adelina! I actually only have two pans so I had to make several rounds lol
These are just so festive! I love them!
Thank you so much Christine!!
Great project !!
I would love you to come and share @ Craft, Create & Inspire linky party !!!
Look forward to seeing you there
http://livel0vecreate.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/craft-create-inspire-linky-party-9.html
Claire x
Thank you Claire! I will come link up!
These look delish! I like the almond-sour cream flavor combo. I want one now!
Thank you Jessa, I appreciate you stopping by!
Love this! I hope you will link this post up to the All Things Linky Christmas Party tomorrow! See you there! http://wp.me/p466oG-qA
Cathy
APeekIntoMyParadise.com
Thank you Cathy, I will for sure come link up
Wooow!Looks amazing!!!Thanks for recipe!
hugs
Thank you Anastasia! I appreciate you stopping by!
What BEAUTIFUL little cakes! They are so cute and so festive! Love them!!!
Thank you Maria! I am glad you like them. Thanks for all your comments!
These are absolutely fantastic looking! Thanks for sharing at our MM party – pinning to my board!
Beautiful and yummy! Thanks for linking to Snickerdoodle Sunday!
These are so cute. I love cakes but love mini cakes even more. Thanks for sharing on the weekend re-Treat link party! Hope to see you again Thurs at 7PM EST.
Britni @ Play. Party. Pin.
Thank you for your comments Britni! For sure I am linking up again, love your party!
Thank you for linking up at Craft, Create & Inspire last weekend !!! your yummy cakes are featured this week !! Be sure to grab a featured button, looking forward to you partying with us again this weekend
claire xo
Thank you so much Claire for featuring my cakes!! You made my day!!!
Such cute cakes! I have solved the problem of baking 2-3 mini cakes at a time or buying many same sized mini pans. I bought round circle cookie cutters 2″, 3″, 4″, 5″, 6″. I then bake cake in half sheet pan and once cool i cut out circles with cutters. So much easier. And cake scraps? Saved for cake pops/balls later or just eaten.
Thanks you for the ideas and can’t wait to make individual Valentine, Easter, cakes the possibilities are endless!
really cool ideas Lisa! I might have to try that!
My brother suggested I might like this blog.
He was entirely right. This post truly made my day.
You can not imagine just how so much time I had
spent for this info! Thank you!
Would it work with marzipan instead of the fondant?