Course 3 of Wilton's Cake Decorating Series covers some more designing with buttercream icing, royal icing, and fondant. I was eagerly waiting for this course thinking that dealing with fondant would be easier than decorating with the other icings. I couldn't have been any wronger. Fondant is very high maintenance and at least it was very difficult for me to handle. It's going to take a lot of practice for me before I can decorate something decent. Taste wise too, I prefer buttercream icing to fondant.
The place where I attended the courses is not offering the 4th part of the course, Fondant and Gum Paste. So I think this is it for me right now. I think I will have to wait until next summer to take the 4th course.
The following were covered in Course 3:
For everything about how to decorate with Fondant check here for exhaustive details.
Coming to the cake recipe which I used for the class, I found it on the box of Ener-G Egg Replacer. It's a recipe for an egg free Victoria Sponge Cake. I made 2 changes to the original recipe. Used barley flour instead of all-purpose flour and canola oil instead of vegetable shortening.
Recipe
Vegan Sponge Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups Whole Barley Flour
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar
- 3 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon EnerG Egg Replacer
- ¼ cup Canola Oil
- 1 and ⅓ cups Warm Water
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F for 15 minutes. Line the bottom and sides of an 8 inch square/round pan with parchment paper and grease it with non stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl sift the barley flour and mix together the remaining dry ingredients.
- Add the oil and mix well. Add the water and flavor and mix for another 2 minutes.
- Pour into the prepared baking pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack. Then remove the parchment paper from the sides of the pan and slowly invert the pan to remove the cake. Transfer the cake to the wire rack and let it cool completely before frosting.
Taste & Texture
- The original recipe had used 2 cups of all-purpose flour which I substituted with whole barley flour. So the cake was not spongy as the name implies. It was quite dense. Maybe I should I have added another teaspoon of baking powder. Vinegar would do the trick too but I'm not for it in this particular recipe. Since I needed a layer cake, for the second layer I tried another similar recipe but added 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and felt that the flavor of vinegar was overpowering. You can see in the 2nd picture that the first layer is reddish in color than the bottom layer, it's because of the apple cider vinegar. It was airy but I prefer the dense cake minus the vinegar smell/taste. Maybe just ½ tablespoon of vinegar should be fine or adding some almond extract might reduce the aftertaste. This is again a guess only.
- The sweetness was right. If you are going to frost the cake, the quantity of sugar in the recipe is okay otherwise I think adding another 2-3 tablespoons of sugar should be fine for those with sweet tooth.
- Do I recommend baking this cake? Well, it depends on the individual taste. In our family, we are trying to include more whole grains and in general to eat more healthy. So we don't mind the denseness. Especially me baking quite often I cannot be using all-purpose flour so frequently. I'm not lying when I tell that everybody in my family liked this cake. I think our taste buds have accustomed to the texture and flavor of whole grains.
- It's not all times that whole grain flours give perfect results while baking. So if you want to use whole barley flour and also want a cake to suit everyone's taste buds I would suggest you to bake the vegan barley chocolate cake instead of this sponge cake.
- If you are looking for a vegan sponge cake recipe to bake for some occasion like a birthday, anniversary etc. I would suggest you try the exact same recipe but with all-purpose flour as mentioned in the original recipe. I too am going to try it and will post my findings here when I'm done.
Nutrition
Hetal says
Madhu: did you use store bought fondant? I have heard (and going to try making my own this weekend) homemade marshmallow fondant tastes way better than wilton's. I am making it to decorate my son's b-day favor cookies. Your cake looks awesome. Nice colors. I bet it tasted just as great.
Hetal, yes I too heard that Wilton's fondant doesn't taste good. I have to try the marshmallow fondant recipe once I find gelatin free marshmallow.
Parita says
Oh my the cake looks gorgeous madhu, I am yet to experiment with barley flour in baking but its definitely on my to do list 🙂
Do try it Parita. It's almost versatile, especially good in cookies.</</em>strong>
Anu says
Once again, awesome! The inside looks as beautiful as the outside! I salute your patience in making these!
Thanks Anu.
nags says
that looks so cute and your notes are very very helpful 🙂
Thanks Nags.
Sonia says
Hey Madhu, I have bought that Whole Grain Baking (King Arthur) book just 3 days ago, of course inspired from you! 🙂 It's awesome and very very informative book. I am so enthusiastic to make different recipes from it. 🙂
Many thanks for pointing out.
Well, even I prefer butter-cream icing cake to fondant one. I am not fan of fondant cake.
btw, I already have VOTE for you! Good luck!!! 🙂
Sonia, I too have to get that book just for myself. I keep renewing it in the library. Thanks for voting for me.
DK says
Yes fondant is was a real pain for me too. Just few minutes and the rolling was a pain in the backside. It makes beautiful looking cakes though but its simply too sweet for me and K! I was an exceptionally generous neighbor the day I made it 😉 I made almost similar cake too! well just like the book suggested...lol
My hands literally fell off after kneading and rolling the fondant a couple of times.
Sumathi says
Lovely Cake.. The fondant decoration looks awesome.. Is your fondant icing a vegan one ..If so please post it.. would be of gud help for me to join my course 3..
Sumathi I had bought the fondant 4-5 months back when I was planning to take a cake decorating course then. That time I was not aware that it was not vegetarian. I just checked for eggs in the list before buying. So I decided to use it anyhow because I did not want to throw it away. I'll definitely post a vegan recipe when I find and try it.
soumya Arun says
Hi MAdhu, the Fondant cake looks wonderful....I have also enrolled myself for the this and am in hunt for the vegan fondant recipe....if u find one, pls do post it. I shall go ahead and learn to make and then try a vegan version.
I too have to look for one Soumya.
Nithya Praveen says
Looks beautiful Madhuram.I am doing my Wilton course,yet to start with my third level.I jes cant believe its made with Barley flour...awesome!
Thanks Nithya.
Champa says
Nice colors. What recipe did you use for fondant. Because fondant is not vegetarian except for I think the brand satin ice. Fondant is high maintenance, yes, and it doesn't taste great, but you can do wonders with that. There are lot of cake decorators who exclusively do fondant. There are lot of people who can't pipe, but can make beautiful fondant decorations.
I forgot to mention about the fondant ingredients in the post. Thanks for the reminder, Champa. I'm guessing mine is not vegetarian too. I used a brand which is available here in Canada. It has mono glycerides and it's not mentioned if it is vegetable based. Just like royal icing fondant is also for visual appeal only. Earlier I used to watch Ace of Cakes and other cake decorating competitions in Food TV and have been awestruck by the versatility of fondant.
Cilantro says
This cake is very pretty looking, I like this a lot among your other ones. Delicious!!!
Laksh says
Madhu, You are outdoing yourself with each new post. Loved the colors on the cake. Looks very beautiful and professional.
Thanks Laksh. It could be way better though.
Nithya says
Looks really cute 🙂
Priya says
Beautiful cake, cant believe that u have prepared with barley flour...Gorgeous!
VeggieGirl says
BEAUTIFUL cake!