Fondant Rolling Pin Cake

With Kelly Delaney

You can make this cake using fondant, food coloring and a rolling pin. Kelly Delaney teaches you how to color and roll out the correct shapes. Using Fondant – Fondant 101

1. Fondant is white, sugary dough. Wilton is a great brand of fondant and you can find it any crafts store. Fondant is purchased and not made. (although you can make it, if you would like to)
2. When purchased, it comes in block form and you remove pieces from the block as you need them and store the excess into the bag it came in so it doesn’t dry out.
3. When using fondant you do lots of kneading with it, just like kneading dough, to activate the ingredients by the heat of your hands so you can work with you it to roll it out or shape it.
4. When working with it, you want to use confectioner’s sugar so it doesn’t stick. You can use flour but since fondant is sweet it makes sense to use the confectioner’s sugar. Never use regular granulated sugar.
5. You always want to smooth out your fondant after rolling so it isn’t lumpy from the confectioner’s sugar.
6. You can color fondant. Use liquid gel food coloring because it works best with moving the color through the fondant.
7. Some colors can be tough to make because of the ingredients in the fondant and how they re-act with the food coloring (ie-periwinkle may turn blue over time).
8. Fondant is often described as tasting like a tootsie roll.
9. You can use fondant presses to make things, you can sculpt fondant and make figurines (just like play dough) and you can paint of fondant.
10. There are tools you can purchase to work with fondant and books out there with ideas on how to use it.

Ingredients

Rolling Pin Cake
Tools Needed:   jelly roll, white fondant, brown food color, buttercream, piping bags, tips, gloves, confectioners’ sugar, rolling pin, off-set spatula, pizza cutter, dowel, dowel cutters
Jelly Roll-Make from scratch with a recipe you have or purchase one.
Buttercream /frosting and confectioner’s sugar-use recipe or buy frosting at a grocery store
Off-set spatula, rolling pin, dowel, dowel cutters, Wilton Fondant, piping bags, gloves, brown liquid gel food coloring, pizza cutter-purchase at any crafts store.

Instructions

1. Before working with your fondant, cover your jelly roll with buttercream. It doesn’t have to look perfect because you’ll be covering it with the fondant and the buttercream will help the fondant stick.
2. The first step in making our rolling pin cake is coloring our white fondant a brown rolling pin color.
3. Pull your white fondant out of the bag and figure out how much you’ll need to cover your jelly roll. Tip: Put the excess fondant bag into the bag and wrap it up so it doesn’t dry out.
4. Because of the oils in your hands, put gloves on to begin kneading the white fondant. Knead to warm up so it’s easy to work with.
5. Starting with the white fondant add some of the brown liquid gel food coloring and continue to play with the fondant to work the color in.
6. Spread confectioner’s sugar onto your table or board and knead the fondant just like dough. Watch for the pocket of food coloring to see where the color comes through. Tip: you can spread confectioner’s sugar or flour on your table or board but since we’re using fondant that is sugary and it’s for a cake it makes sense to use the confectioner’s sugar.
7. Continue to work the fondant so the color comes through. Tip: A liquid gel food coloring is a thicker paste and applies well to fondant. Stay away from powdered gel because it looks speckled and not smooth.
8. Add food color as needed to get your desired color.
9. Once your desired color is achieved remove your gloves and massage the fondant in your hand. Tip: You can make your colored fondant in advance just make sure to store it well so it doesn’t dry out.
10. After massaging the fondant it becomes like pie dough.
11. Spread more confectioners’ sugar on your table or board to avoid stickiness and take your rolling pin and roll out your fondant. Tip: roll out your fondant super thin (not so it’s see through) so it’s tastier and easier to work with.
12. As you roll out the fondant, eye ball the size of fondant you need to the jelly roll you are covering.
13. With the palm of your hand rub the fondant to get it sheen and bring out the oils so it’s shiny. Tip: You can purchase a brush at a crafts store to do this, but the palm of your hand works just fine.
14. Flip the fondant over and rub the other size.
15. It’s time to cover the jelly roll with the fondant, wrap just like ravioli. Invert the cake and put the fondant over the jelly roll.
16. Use the pizza cutter to remove excess fondant around. Put the excess in a bag to store and use at a later time.
17. Roll front of fondant up and use hands to mold by rubbing.
18. Fold in the fondant on the sides.
19. Taking your dowel, use your dowel cutters and snip 4” off each end of your dowel. These pieces will go into each end of the jelly roll as the rolling pin handles.
20. Take some of the extra brown fondant to cover the dowel pieces and make the handles. Sculpture in your hand.  Make sure the pieces are equal in size.
21. Insert 4” dowel pieces into each end.
22. Your rolling pin is complete!

“Dough” for Rolling Pin Cake

1. Your rolling pin is going to lay on what looks like a piece of dough. Take white fondant and knead with confectioner’s sugar. You don’t need to wear gloves when you do this. You want to use the heat of your hands to really be able to knead the fondant.
2. Roll out the fondant to the appropriate size for your rolling pin cake.
3. Pick up rolled out piece of fondant move hands under it like its pizza dough.
4. Place fondant piece on table or board and rub to give it shine and rub off the confectioner’s sugar.
5. Take your pizza cutter to remove any excess that doesn’t fit on your board.
6. Remove your rolling pin cake and place onto piece of fondant. Tip: If while moving your rolling pin you hit it by accident and make a mark, it’s okay. Fondant is so easy to mend. Just use your fingers to rub and fix.
7. Because baking and cake shows have become some popular, this is a great cake to give to someone who has an interest in these things. Write an inscription using your bag filled with a colored buttercream  on the piece of white fondant that is the “dough”.
8. Enjoy!

Courtesy of Kelly Delaney, Cakes for Occasions, 2010.

Owner of Cakes for Occasions Kelly received her culinary education from the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland and the Cordon Bleu in London. She started her business with a single oven in her mother's home and has won dozens of awards for her outstanding products. These include Reader's Choice Awards and North Shore Magazines "Best of Boston" Award. Her "Pearls & Shells" cake was voted the viewer favorite and featured on NBC's Today show for their Destination Wedding segment in 2004.

Delaney has also been featured on Boston's Fox 25 News, NECN's Good Morning Live and Phantom Gourmet, TV Diner with Billy Costa, KISS 108's Matty in the Morning Show, Oldies 103's Breakfast Club, MAGIC 106.7's Exceptional Women as well as numerous other programs.

Cakes for Occasions is a gourmet bakery located in Danvers, MA produces over 700 wedding cakes a year.