Kettlebell cake!

Last week was my brother’s birthday and so he put forth a special request for this birthday cake, he wanted it in the shape of a kettlebell and for it to be piñata style so that when you cut it open smarties and maltesers come gushing out.  Easy right? Haha

At first I had thought I would just bake a Giant Cupcake using my silicone mould then shape it accordingly into the kettlebell shape and simply cut out a ‘hole’ between the handle and the top of the weight. But then I thought the handle won’t be too sturdy as it will only be made from cake. My next thought was to just make the actual shape of the kettlebell weight from the cake and find something else to make the handle from. Then another thought, there must be ball shaped cake tins right? Of course! So I sourced the ball cake tins and used that instead.

That covered the weight part of the kettlebell but I had no idea how I was going to do the handle part. I google it to hopefully gain some inspiration but it seems most people used rice krispy treats or something like that, wasn’t really something I was too keen to try, so I just figured I would make it from fondant.

So I consulted my cookbooks shelf and pulled out this book.

And found this recipe …

I had all the ingredients in the cupboard and it looked relatively easy, and it was! It turned out really well, the tins were perfect, they rose slightly, but I was able to cut the tops of to make them flat in order to put them together to make the ball shape of the weight.

I also cut the bottom to make that a little flat so that it was more sturdy and kettlebells have flat bottoms too. Then I took a small bit off the front too as that was where I was going to put the weight number, or in this case, my brothers age.

So once all put together, I covered it in buttercream frosting, blue as was requested by the birthday boy.

Then onto the fondant handle.

I split my fondant up into 3 parts, 2 for the side bits of the handle and 1 slightly longer part for the top of the handle. Then I simply rolled them into thick sausages. Oh I almost forgot, I coloured the fondant blue first of course, to match the frosting colour.

Once each piece was rolled and to the size that matched my ‘weight’ I slid a bit of wooden dowel (kebab sticks) into each bit as that was how I was going to stick it into the cake. My local kitchen supplies shop had recommended getting cake wire and using that, but they were out of stock and the place they recommended closed before I could get to it, so I just used the kebab sticks instead. So I shoved them in to each piece, then gently molded the two top bit of the handle to the two side bits of the handle and laid it down flat to set overnight. I really should have done this on the weekend and given it more time to set, but I didn’t quite plan that far ahead :(

Looking back in hindsight it might have been better to have just done one long roll of fondant, then curved/bent it into the handle shape instead of doing the three parts then having to mold them back together. At least I will know for next time J

So I coloured a bit of the fondant black and used stencils to cut out the numbers 3 and 4 and stuck them on the flat part at the front. Then I had a little bit left over so I made a few little mini weights and dumbbells to have next to the cake.

Cakes aren’t really my speciality, but this once seemed to turn out pretty good. I definitely need more practise with working with fondant though, but nonetheless, it was fun :)

Dragon Eggs - Game of Thrones Inspired

I absolutely love Game of Thrones! But unfortunately its the end of another season :( how sad. Anyway, in the spirit of things I thought I would my post Dragon eggs that I made for Easter this year. This idea came from the amazing Elise from My Cupcake Addiction who also loves Game of Thrones. I get a lot of my ideas and inspiration from My Cupcake Addiction through following her Blog and subscribing to her Youtube channel. She releases 3 videos a week, they are all free and best of all she is Aussie! So it makes it so much easier to source the same ingredients and equipment that she uses and recommends! So I highly encourage you to check it out :) 

Dragon scales (aka fondant making)

So I started by making the fondant. This was a recipe from My Cupcake Addiction and I was really keen to try this as firstly, I had never made my own fondant before, but secondly it was made from marshmallows, so it wasn't quite as sweet as normal store bought fondant. You can find the recipe and a video tutorial on how to make it here. It was quite a simple and easy recipe to follow and is ready to use within 24hrs. 

Step 1: Melt the marshmallows 

Step 2: Add the icing sugar

Step 3: Knead together. I don't have a pic for this one as my hands were covered in marshmallow and icing sugar! 

Step 4: Wrap twice and leave for 12 - 48 hrs

The Eggs

So for the eggs, you can use white chocolate eggs e.g Dream, but as these were gifts for family, I knew they weren't too keen on white chocolate so I went with normal milk chocolate. You start by cutting a circle piece of the fondant for your base, stick it on to your egg, using a tiny bit of water. Then start cutting your dragon scales with a small leaf cutter, but turned upside down e.g using the round side not the spiky side. Beware: there are lots of scales to cut! Once done start sticking them onto the egg, going around the bottom, then moving up and going around again.

    

My workbench

First layer 

 I tried to overlap mine a bit more due to the brown colour of the chocolate egg peeping through, with a white chocolate, this wouldn't matter as much. 

 

'Scaling' the eggs

Once complete, gently but firmly ensure they are all pressed on. You can add some texture to the bottom of the egg by slightly 'trimming' the bottom part with scissors. 

While the fondant is still relatively fresh, spray your colour on. I just used basic Wilton colours in red, green and gold. There wasn't many other brands or options to choose from at the shops unfortunately, but never mind, it still worked well. If your doing the spraying inside, put down lots of newspaper, just to make sure you don't end up changing the colour of your kitchen décor whilst your spraying your eggs!

Spraying the eggs

Let them dry, then wrap in alfoil and store until you are ready to give them on as gifts.

                                  

My brothers and my boyfriend loved these eggs, but the first thing they said is: 'What's inside?' haha so if I was to do this again, I would make my own chocolate eggs and add a little toy dragon, or even make one from fondant!

 

The finished project!

Anyway, I had such a great time making these, it was fun to do something different from cupcakes. Have you made anything tv series of movie themed? If so, what? I would love to see pictures :)