Fondant Fancies

These really are such dainty little cakes and are just gorgeous to look at....pale white icing adorned with vivid roses, like something from a fairy tale. Here in the UK, when you think of fondant fancies, chances are you are thinking of those Mr Kipling cakes, which aren't that bad at all but obviously these are on a whole new level. 

These weren't without their fair share of difficulties, I did try to make more of a traditional fondant icing that the fondants could be dipped into, however, the consistency was certainly troublesome and it didn't cover the layers as nearly as sufficiently as I wanted it to. Therefore, each fondant fancy was covered in a layer of fondant icing that I rolled out. 

I love these looking so simple and understated, but of course, you can customize your icing to have pink, yellow, green, blue, purple etc colour fondant fancies. As well as this the filling can easily be altered to suit your taste. Traditionally there is no jam filling inside, but I think it's simply delicious and cherry and almond are just heavenly together. You could have a layer of lemon curd or chocolate ganache! 

I have plenty of advice to give in order to make this easier. 

The first is: use old sponge. No, not stale or moldy obviously, I just mean use sponge that is at least two or three days old. Not only does it cut better, it doesn't crumble so easily and it means you can get neat, tidy squares. There's no need to worry about your cakes being dry, after all they will be adequately filled with butter cream and jam. 

Do take the time to measure the squares out. These are a fairly precise thing to make, but your patience will be rewarded. 

Fondant Fancies

Makes 25

For the sponge: 

8oz/225g sugar
8oz/225g self raising flour
8oz/225g softened butter
4 eggs 
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the buttercream and jam layer: 

125g/4oz softened butter
100g/3oz icing sugar, sifted 
3 tbsp cherry jam 

For the marzipan topping: 

200g natural marzipan 
2 tbsp apricot jam 

For the fondant icing:

500g fondant icing, plus a little icing sugar to roll 
Rose decorations (optional)
Edible glue/royal icing to stick 

1. Okay, let's start with the easiest thing to make. The sponge. This can be made well in advance to when you need it, so it should be the first thing you do. Preheat the oven to 180C/160c Fan/Gas Mark 4/ 350F. Grease and line a 20cm/8in square tin. 

2. I've used the all in one method for this purely for the sake of convenience, so using an electric mixer, beat all the ingredients together until smooth. Level this off nice and evenly into the tin, tapping a bit to even the surface. Bake this for 30-35 minutes, until a good golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. 

3. Leave this to cool and invert onto a wire rack to cool further. I wholeheartedly suggest that you now leave this sponge at least a day or two before assembly.

4. Using a serrated knife, slice your cake length ways so that you end up with two halves. Go slowly and carefully here. Remove the crusty brown layer so that you have an even surface to work with. To make the buttercream, mix all the ingredients together until smooth. Save a few tablespoons for later to help the fondant icing stick to the cake. Put this on the bottom half and spread evenly in one equal layer. 

5. Now heat the cherry (or other preferred flavour) jam up briefly in a saucepan. Pass through a sieve to make sure it's smooth and put this on the other half. Sandwich the two carefully together. It should look something like this. 

6. Brush the top of the cake with the apricot jam (warmed up and sieved) and roll the marzipan out to the exact size of the cake. It should be fairly thin. Place this over the top of the cake and trim any excess. 

7. Cut into 25 squares. You may need to trim the edges to get a more even square. Cover the sides of each square in a little buttercream and roll out the fondant icing so that it is about 5mm in thickness. Cover each cube of sponge in fondant icing (I did insist on doing each one individually, but this is impractical and it's far easier to do many at a time). Smooth the icing so that it doesn't rip or tear, and there you have a beautiful fondant fancy! 

8. Adorn with decorations of your choice. Voila!