These cakes were made for the tea and coffee session after the judging round of St Peter Port (
www.floralstpeterpo rt.org.gg/) in the Floral Guernsey Community Competition 2008. They went down very well, so I decided to share the instructions!
(Guernsey is a small island in the English channel, for those that don't know. The Guernsey in the USA is named after us... it's where I'm from, and I'm new. Hello!)
The design was inspired by sushiluvzombie's fantastic cakes (
www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=240213.0), and the Floral St Peter Port logo, which is based on the St Peter Port daisy, found growing in our granite walls. I designed the logo, too!
So, how to make them? Start off with your favourite cake recipe - I used 100g flour, sugar, marge, and 2 eggs for 12 cakes, 180°C for 15 mins.
Whilst you are waiting for them to cook, sort out some smarties (m&m's, skittles or similar). You can either just pick out the red and yellows, or sort them completely and make a pretty rainbow...
Then, if necessary, cut the tops off to give a flat work surface. I was making a lot, to feed judges, our committee, and all the school kids and parents we'd roped in at the school. Kids always boost your points in competitions like this!
Next, mix up some buttercream (icing sugar, marge, a little hot water - experiment for consistency) and dye it green. Pipe this into six leaf shapes on each cake, spread evenly round a circle, about the size of a 2p coin.
The easiest way to do this is to pipe one leaf, rotate the cake 180, pipe the opposite leaf, then rotate and pipe the middle two.
Now we get to the clever bit. Water down some yellow food colouring, or it will be too intense. Dust a plate, and your scissors, with icing sugar to stop them sticking as you chop
slices from a marshmallow.
You should be able to get four or five from each marshmallow, but if you try to cut them too thin they will curl or sometimes rip. (This does however give you the excuse to eat them...)
From experience, I would advise only doing one or two marshmallows at a time, as they do get sticky. Once they are chopped, use a brush and your watery yellow to colour them. Then stick each one into the middle of a cake. It should just overlap the leaves, and be held down nicely.
Be warned, you will get messy!
Next we add the petals. This will take a lot longer than you think...! Mix a little apricot jam and boiling water together to make a glue. Roll out some royal icing. (I was going to use a marshmallow fondant, but didn't have time to experiment, so I don't know how well it would work. I might try it next time..)
I put 16 petals on each daisy, starting with the four points of the compass, then NE, SE, SW and NW, then another round of glue before a second offset layer of petals. As I made 50 cakes, this meant 800 petals, so there's no wonder my fingers are sore!
If you don't have a handy petal cutter, you can use a circle cutter and overlap to get the same shape.
The finishing touch is to add a ladybird or bee, made from a smartie and writing icing, with a little icing underneath to stick it to the cake. Ta-da! Daisy cakes to impress..
(Shown here with some tasty gâche that someone else made. Gâche is a local fruit loaf, very rich. I've not been brave enough to try making one yet - I've only lived on the island 23 years!)
