Covers 1 large cake or 2 medium cakes, Preparation 30 minutes

Decorating the cake is almost as fun as eating it, and topping your bake with fondant icing provides the perfect base to get creative, and it tastes great too!

Ingredients:

For the Butter Cream:

• 300g Unsalted Butter, softened
• 600g Icing Sugar
• 2 tbsp Milk
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

For The Fondant Icing:

• 300g Icing Sugar and extra for dusting
• 5 tsps Water

Method:

1. To make the Butter Cream Frosting to stick the Fondant Icing to the cake, place the softened Butter in a large mixing bowl and beat until light and creamy.
2. Gradually sift in the icing sugar, beating the mixture together and then adding more icing sugar as it combines.
3. Add in the Vanilla extract and the first tbsp of milk and mix until smooth, adding the second spoonful of milk if necessary. The mixture should be soft but not runny.
4. To make Chocolate Butter Cream add 1 tbsp cocoa powder until fully combined, or for a zesty flavour add the juice of half a lemon or the juice of half an orange, or to make colourful Butter Cream add 1-2 tsp food colouring and stir. For a lighter colour add less and for a stronger colour add more.
5. Pipe or spoon the Butter Cream onto the top and sides of the cake and smooth it with the back of a spoon or using spatula. Don’t worry if cake crumbs get stuck in it, the icing will hide it.
6. Cover the whole outside of the cake with the butter cream frosting, using a spatula or pallet knife.
7. To make the Fondant Icing to cover the cake, into a large mixing bowl sift the Icing Sugar.
8. Gradually add a spoonful of Water at a time, mixing with the icing sugar until it becomes a hard ball.
9. Sprinkle a dry surface with a dusting of icing sugar and then remove the fondant icing from the bowl.
10. Knead it with your hands for 3-5 minutes, using more icing sugar or water if it’s too wet or dry.
11. To ice the cake, roll the icing so its 3x the width of the cake, and roughly half a centimetre thick.
12. Roll the icing onto a rolling pin and place the centre of the icing on top of the cake.
13. Gently smooth the icing with your hands along the top and sides, smoothing any bumps or lumps until it lies flat and smooth.
14. Trim the excess using a knife along the base of the cake.
15. Decorate how you wish and serve in slices.