Graduation Cap Cake

General Instructions

Make a 4” high cake (2 – 2” high cakes with a filling between the cakes or 1 split and filled 3” high layer). Base ice the cake with buttercream icing. Cover with fondant. Decorate the side of cake if desired. Cover square board with fondant. Make a tassel and center button from fondant. Use a little water to attach the fondant button and tassel. Use icing to hold cap top board onto the round cake.

Detailed Instructions

The Satin Ice brand of fondant that we carry at the store tastes good, is easy to work with and comes in white, ivory and chocolate. Fondant can be colored with regular gel colors that are used to color buttercream icings. Start with white fondant if you are making colors. An easy way to make black is to start with chocolate fondant. The Satin Ice chocolate fondant is very dark, if you want a lighter brown color, mix it with some white fondant. When ever you use fondant, it is important to knead the fondant. Kneading activates the gums and makes the fondant elastic. If you don’t knead it, it will crack as it dries. Roll out the fondant on a table top using a little bit of cornstarch just to make sure that the fondant doesn’t stick. The fondant for the cake should be rolled out to 1/8” or no more than ¼” thick. The fondant for the board can be rolled to ¼” or even a little thicker. To cover the board, coat one side of the board with a very thin coating of buttercream icing. Roll out the fondant to a circle 2” larger than the square. Pick up the fondant using your forearms as support and center it over the board. Rub the top of the board to smooth and to adhere the fondant to the board. Place a larger board on top and use it to help turn the fondant and board over. Apply a thin layer of buttercream icing to the edge and bottom of the cap board. Bring up the fondant and smooth seams as best as possible (remember, this is the bottom of the cap).

Roll out fondant for the cake. Calculate how large to roll the fondant for the cake by adding the diameter of the cake and 2 times the height. (Example: 8” round cake 4” high would be 8 + 4 + 4 or a 16” circle). This is the minimum size needed. It is always helpful to roll it just a little bit larger. Place the cake on the cake board and place it on the table, not on a turntable. Pick up the fondant using your forearms as support and center it over the cake. Rub the top of the cake to smooth and start smoothing the sides using the heel of your hand as a smoother. Don’t pull down on the fondant. As you work further down on the sides, pull the fondant out from the bottom and smooth down. Cut off excess fondant using a sharp paring knife. Smooth bottom edge. Attach the cap board onto the cake using a little bit of icing as glue. Mold the button by making a small fondant ball and press it flat. Make the tassel rope by rolling 2 long thin “snakes” of fondant. Place the “snakes” next to eachother and roll each hand in opposite directions twisting the fondant into a rope. The tassel strings can be cut out of fondant, use a streamer like in the picture or even a real tassel.