This week will mark the 28th birthday of my good friend Mike. Right now, he is obsessed with rock climbing, so I thought it would be fun to make a cake to follow that theme.
The foundation is just a basic white cake with chocolate buttercream. I made the mountain out of Rice Krispie treats and then covered it with some fondant that I had tinted grey. I also used fondant for the boulders, shrubs, and miniature person hanging on to the side of the mountain for dear life. For the gravel, I made a small batch of rock sugar.
This was a recipe I had made only once before (in pastry school), but I remember having a lot of fun with it. Basically, what you do is heat up sugar and water to 285 degrees Fahrenheit, then stir in a tablespoon of royal icing. When the mixture foams up like crazy, you pour it out. When it cools and dries, you are left with rock sugar.
In its original state, rock sugar is white. But since I wanted a more natural look to the candy gravel, I tinted half of it brown with some cocoa powder.
It's pretty amazing how realistic the rice krispy / fondant combination makes the rock look real.
ReplyDeleteThat looks like crack. :o)
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