Pause the world. What was he talking about??? I had not plans for a Revolutionary War cake! But as he talked about it, I began to vaguely recall him mentioning wanting one. The thing is he seemed to want something different every two days, so I had not married myself to any one particular plan. I did not want this to be a total failure, though. He was already not having a party. I could not mess up his cake too!!
Fellow parents of history buffs, teachers of Revolutionary War, or whoever else may want an American Independence themed cake, allow me to present my creation.
I don’t even remember which one I used. He wanted chocolate, so I used whatever moist boxed cake mix was a good deal at the store that week.
I actually covered the cake in chocolate ganache, per Daniel’s request, but that is not required. You can frost the cake in a layer of whichever kind of frosting you like because you are just going to cover it up with fondant anyway.
If you want to make chocolate ganache like I did, this is a delicious and easy recipe on Sally’s Baking Addiction.
HOWEVER, you do have to have white icing also on hand for the decorating part. I made buttercream frosting from a family recipe. It is delicious. You will use it to make the stars and the white stripes and any writing you want to do on the cake.
Now y’all, I know people knock canned icing all the time, but it is also a huge time saver, and my family loves it too. Feel free to also use that shortcut.
Here’s my buttercream frosting recipe, courtesy of my aunt, Pat Smith:
1/2 C butter 3 T Milk
1/2 C coconut oil 1 t vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt 1 box confectioner’s sugar
Cream butter and oil in mixer. Add vanilla and salt. Beat in 1 cup sugar at a time. Add milk and beat at high speed until light and fluffy. Makes 3 cups.
Pat Smith. (Original recipe uses Crisco instead of coconut oil.)
This was my very FIRST time using fondant, but Daniel had requested it, so I decided to take the plunge.
No, I did not make my fondant from scratch. No way was I about to add that to this long process. Instead, I went to partycity.com, and I bought both red and blue fondants. Then I selected curbside pick-up and picked it up without ever having to get out of my car. This all took less than an hour. Our store was so quick, but give yourself more time than that, of course.
You can also order it on Amazon.
(I do collect advertising fees when you order through my Amazon links.)
Basically, just follow the fondant box directions. If you have extra time and want to make your own, go for it.
I do not own a “fondant roller” like the box directions said, so I just used a good old fashioned roller.
Yeah, I made a mess. For the blue one, I used way too much powdered sugar, so my fondant was all blue/white by the time I was done. Thankfully, I realized by accident that if you rub tiny drops of water on it, the white comes off. I just used a slightly damp paper towel to remove white smudges that were too obvious, but be careful about it.
I did a much better job on the second try, with the red fondant.
You may want to watch a tutorial on how to do this. Roll the blue fondant over the rolling pin loosely. Have your cake like right next to where you’re working so you don’t have to go far. I made my fondant way bigger than my cake. That way I could just trim off the excess rather than be horrified by its not meeting the bottom of the cake. That worked well.
Yes, my fondant had a few wrinkles on the sides. It was my first time. I did smooth over it, but I let a few wrinkles be honestly. The boxed directions said to use some special fondant tool I don’t own, so I just rubbed the cake all over with a large spoon. Ha! Basically you want to make sure it’s all stuck to the icing good. It really did not require too much smoothing.
Here’s a video presentation of covering the cake with fondant for my fellow newbies.
Your buttercream frosting is your glue. Put it under all your fondant decorations and little Risk soldiers to hold them in place.
I just made long rectangles of the red fondant. Then I piped my buttercream frosting on top of the blue fondant in all the places I wanted to stick the red stripes. It was a lot like making a gingerbread house, where the white icing is your glue.
I did a long strip of red around the bottom of the cake. Then I cut another long strip that I tuck folded near the ends to lay on top of the cake like a ribbon. See the picture:
I put buttercream frosting under the strip on top of the cake too, to hold it in place.
I did icing on the bottom and then a thick stripe of icing around the middle, to give it the red, white, and blue look.
Then I used that same icing to make the circle of stars on top of the cake and to write Daniel’s name.
I also used the white frosting to hold down all the Risk soldiers.
I guess if you don’t already own a game of Risk, this would be the most expensive part. It just worked so perfectly because it is the right time period. Most toy soldiers have more of a World War II helmet/ green uniform vibe. These Risk soldiers come in different colors, are tinier, and have cannons and horses. They are just so perfect for the 1776 theme! Plus, red for the British and blue for the Americans! So perfect!
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That is a very unique theme for a cake! It turned out great!
Thank you, Wayne!
What a lovely cake! A Very Happy Belated birthday to him :))
Thank you!
Bravo! The cake looks awesome. He's lucky to have you as a mom. Happy birthday to him!
Thank you! :)
Wow. I don't think I could pull off a night-before cake of that caliber, myself - very nice. I bet his eyes lit up when he saw that masterpiece! Props to him for an original party/birthday theme.
Thank you! He was so excited.
Wow! Very impressive! Looks great! Glad you blogged it.
Thank you!
That turned out great!! What a good last minute save.
Thank you! Could you give me a link to your blog, Joanne. I took so much time off the whole blog thing that now I can't find it.