Is it a bad idea to drop peanut butter cups or other small candies into a cake you're going to stack?
I’m being super ambitious with a 1st birthday cake, and not only am I using fondant for the first time (though I am doing two trial runs prior), but I’m also making a tiered cake for the first time (one trial run on less tiers). I had considered doing fruit filling, but let’s be real here… I don’t trust myself to fruit-fill a cake and not have the cake fall in on itself, regardless of how many dowels I shove in the damn thing.
Anyway, while I don’t trust my ability to use a fruit filling and keep the integrity of the tiers intact, I thought it would be fun (and actually more of a change from fruit fillings) to drop small candies into the cake batter.. like Reese’s PB cups (the small ones) or kisses or Hershey minis cut in half… something no bigger than the PB cup. I know that they’ll “float” better if I toss them around in flour before dropping them into the batter, but I wasn’t sure about the integrity of the cake.
I figured, since I’m using fondant and therefore chilling the cakes, that the candies inside would sort of re-solidify and not stay gooey, hence not compromising integrity. But I could be wrong. I don’t want to waste my time, even on a trial run, if someone here can tell me it won’t work.
Soooo.. will it work?
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We put together multilayer wedding cakes, by using dowel rods in the cake to support the weight, and each layer on its own cardboard separator.
Right. I know to do all that. So any candies or whatever I bake into the layers shouldn’t affect the stacks anyway because of the dowels and cardboard?
correct, do remember that the weight of the candies will dictate where they end up at in the final cake. We will sometimes use cherry’s and since they are heavier than most batters, they will slowly sink through the cake as it bakes, ending up on the bottom and leaving a cherry trail through the cake as they sink.
@poofandmook Wow, you are feeling ambitious about the cake! I love to cook, but I suck at baking – just the thought of attempting to apply fondant has me running for the hills.
I hope it works, ‘cause it sounds awesome. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
@laurenkem: I did a fondant trial for NYE, with homemade marshmallow fondant. It made a huge mess, and I admittedly did not use the proper frosting under the fondant, AND I did not have a fondant smoothing tool. I’m picking up the tool along with a cake leveler and the dowels/cake boards/pans, and I will be using the right icing underneath this time. I’m pretty good with meticulous tasks. After all, I do filet crochet! lol
@poofandmook; Given that this cake sounds very elegant, I might skip the interior candies.
Hershey’s invented the mini-chocolate chip because of the weight===>sinking factor.
For a more crazy sophisticated decoration plan, check out Martha Stewart[‘s perfect wee pears, peaches, cherries, leaves and stems make from marzipan.
http://www.marthastewart.com/911918/making-marzipan-fruit
( I may have misunderstood you. Is this the first birthday cake you have made or is it for a child’s first birthday.? If the latter, simply slather the candies on top. He will eat the cake with his fists under any circumstances.)
Your cake sounds wonderful enough without the additions. I can’t speak to the filling question, but I can say that some folks have a powerful aversion to peanut butter, besides those who are allergic. I’m afraid I’d have to admire it from afar and miss the treat.
I think it would be fine, but I doubt that it will add much.
It’s a child’s first birthday. It’s supposed to be a 5-tier Yo Gabba Gabba cake. I was daunted by the idea of 5 tiers at first, but I found a 5 tier pan set and each pan is only 2 inches, so the tiers won’t be all that thick.
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