1x6" or 7" cake card(the piano & figure will need to sit on this
white vegetable fat like Trex for kneading and/or rolling out the fondant
edible glue
Instructions
Covering the board
Knead about 500g of white fondant until smooth. Roll out, using spacers if needed, to a thickness of about 4mm.
Moisten the 15" cake board all over with a little water or edible glue.
Lift the fondant with your rolling pin and drape over the cake board.
Gently smooth the fondant with the smoother in a circular motion.
Using a small sharp knife (I use a paring knife), cut the excess fondant, keeping the edges vertical, in line with the board. Leave to dry.
Filling the cake
Level the top of the Madeira Cake, see recipe. Slice around to trim the brown crust if you want, I don't bother because I happen to like it.
Place the cake on a flat surface (on baking paper to save cleaning up). Very carefully, slice the cake in half by using a very long/large bread knife, cutting into and around the cake as you go along (Picture 1). Don't cut straight across as you might end up with uneven cuts. Cutting around the cake allows you to keep the knife level constantly. If it helps, insert toothpicks around the cake, equidistant from the base of the cake. Use a ruler and measure!
Carefully, lift the top half and place it on the side.
Using a palette knife, start filling the cake with the buttercream. Using a to and fro movement, spread it all over the cake, up to the edges.
Follow with jam.
Very gently, lift the top half of the cake and place over the cream/jam, aligning top and bottom as much as you can.
Covering the cake
The cake is first covered with a thin layer of buttercream that's called a crumb coat. This acts as the glue that holds the fondant to the cake. Of course if you're only using buttercream, the crumb coat will smooth out the crumbs, allowing a smooth second coat.
Dilute the buttercream with about half-one tsp of milk/water and mix well. A lighter buttercream spreads better.
Using your spatula, cover the cake completely with the buttercream. As this is the undercoat, we don't have to worry about making it pretty.
Knead and roll out the rest of the white fondant, to about 4mm thick. Remember to grease the surface with a little white vegetable fat before rolling out.
Make sure your cake is very close by. Again, using your rolling pin,( i.e., roll about a quarter of the fondant onto the pin) lift the fondant and drape it gently onto your cake.
Using your hands, fit the fondant on the cake, lifting and draping, not pulling. Using the the side of your hands, tuck the fondant at the base of the cake.
Smooth the top with a smoother and press down around the base of the cake to mark a cutting line.
Using a small knife, cut the excess fondant off.
Decorating the cake
Here, the piano sits on a small cake card which then goes on the cake. We need dowels in the cake for support. Please see page for Dowelling Cakes.
Once the dowels are in place, knead and roll out the black fondant paste as before, to a thickness of about 4mm.
Moisten the small cake card with water or edible glue and drape the black fondant over it, again smoothing it down and cutting along the edges, dead on to the card.
Place a tiny blob of moistened fondant on each of the dowels tips and moisten a little of the small square made by the dowels.
Place the now covered small cake card on the large cake, centring it. Press down gently.
Place the piano and the stool lightly on the black cake card. Once you're happy with their positions, press down ever so lightly to mark. Bear in mind that the piano man will be sitting on the stool, make sure you have enough space.
Take the piano and stool off and using a small paint brush, light apply some edible glue on the feet. Place them back on the black card, pressing down to set.
Apply some edible glue on the stool and sit Mr Piano Man down, placing his hands on the piano keys. Phew!
Now, you want to line the base of the cake and the edge of the cake card with a thin layer of black fondant, to bring it all together. If you have a sugar shaper, great, use it. If you don't, start with a sausage length and keep rolling out and along the length of the paste until you get a long, thin length. Moisten the edge of the card and the base and lay the thin, fondant length all around.
Notes
As you can see, I've left it simple and just finished it with some musical notes on the white board and some words.You could go cut out lengths of black fondant to resemble piano keys and stick them all around the sides of the cake to resemble a piano to make a bigger statement.