This coming Mother’s Day, I decided to bake and make this mini Cake Bouquet. I have a sweet tooth and I can eat cake all day long. This is perfect as a Mother’s Day gift or even breakfast with tea!
The secret for cake decorating is to use a firm, moist cake and Madeira sponge cake is the best choice. It can be flavoured for variety like lemon, chocolate or almond. Madeira sponge pre-mix can be widely found in supermarkets or for convenience, you can get ready baked Madeira slabs instead of baking your own.
To make Madeira sponge, you will need:
- 315g self-raising flour
- 155g plain flour
- 315g butter
- 315g caster sugar
- 5 eggs, beaten
Method:
- Sift both flours together and set it aside.
- Whisk the butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy.
- Add the beaten egg approximately one egg at a time to the mixture.
- Fold the flour into the mixture.
- Bake for 1 hour in the oven at 160°
- Cool it completely before storing in an airtight container.
To make buttercream, you will need:
- 125g butter
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 375g icing sugar
Rather than make my own sugar paste, I decided to buy these from the supermarket. On a previous occasion, I bought the white icing fondant and added my own colours. However, I found it difficult to mix darker coloured icing fondants. Hence the reason for buying them ready-made. This recipe can make at least 8 – 10 Cake Bouquets. Note, if you buy icing fondants from a shop, you will need quite a lot and it can get quite expensive.
To make this cake bouquet, I have used pink, red and green fondant. To help me to roll them out, I have been using OXO Good Grips non-stick rolling pin. This comes with self-righting handles that spring back into position to keep your hand and knuckles from hitting the countertops.
Method:
- Roll out the green fondant and use a leaf cutter to cut out the leaf. If like me you don’t happen to have one, just use a sharp knife and slice the shape of a leaf then etch the veins using the back of the knife.
- Roll out the red fondant and cut into strips. Roll and flatten the fondant to make a rose.
- Roll out the pink fondant and cut into strips with enough to cover the cake.
- I then spread the buttercream thinly used my OXO Good Grips bent icing knife onto the cake and then rolled the pink fondant onto the cake. Cut off any excess fondant with a knife and smooth it with a cake smoother/icing knife. Dampen fingers with water to seal the edges or use sugar glue.
- Next decorate the top with the roses and the leaves. Finish it with a ribbon tied near the top edges.
If your mum/partner does not fancy cake, maybe you could make her breakfast in bread! Breakfast in bed is not complete without a few slices of toast and I have used this OXO Good Grips Spreader to spread butter on my toast and bread. Its non-slip handle comes with a stainless steel blade. It is very sturdy, durable and easy to spread with it wide, curved blade.
Or perhaps she would fancy a healthy fruit granola for breakfast? This Good Grips Can Opener comes with big handles and oversized knob for easy turning. It opens wide and also features a built-in bottle cap opener. It feels very sturdy and easy to use!
So what breakfast would you like on Mother’s day? A cake, breakfast in bed or a healthy one?
Disclosure: We received the samples for the purposes of writing this review, however, all thoughts and opinions remain our own.