Cinderelly, Cinderelly, CINDERELLLLA!

Disney Classic # 12 - Cinderella

So normally I wouldn't make two posts for one cake - but (!!!) this week's cake is particularly complex to describe. Originally I wasn't going to post the details about how I made the mini Cinderella who stands with the castle, but then I figured there may be someone somewhere who might like to know. I also don't normally post step by step photos, but I figured this time it may help. So, without further delay, here she is!

I've been making little figures out of fondant icing for a while now to sit or stand on or next to a novelty cake. I've never made an animated character before though! (This post is just full of firsts!) Usually they are characatures of the friend(s) that the cake is for, and a couple of times I've done characters from books. Doing these figures I developed a bit of a style - making them simplified and dumpy looking with no facial features - but I kind of like it so I'm sticking with it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I know this figure does not specifically look like Disney's Cinderella, but that's OK, because she is my version of her.

The real deal

Prep time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

180g ready to roll white icing
Food colouring (I use paste colourings, as you use less than liquid, the colour is more vibrant, and the icing doesn't get as sticky and so is easier to work with.)
Sugarflair Paste Colouring in Baby Blue
Sugarflair Paste Colouring in Yellow/Cream
Sugarflair Paste Colouring in Pink
1 tbsp icing sugar
few drops warm water

1. Make sure your hands are very clean and dry, otherwise the icing can get dirty/sticky/a bit gross.
2. Start off by making a very rough model out of white icing. Don't worry about making it stand at this stage, this is purely to give you an indication as to how much icing you will need in each colour. If in doubt - over-estimate! As an indicator, I used the following:
• 115g icing coloured baby blue for the dress
• 25g icing coloured a lighter shade of blue for the aaccents and the headband
• 10g icing coloured yellow for the hair
• 30g icing coloured flesh for the head and arms. (Note: you can buy "flesh" coloured food colouring, but I don't have that one so I used a little pink and a little yellow - it seems to work fine!)
3. Use a toothpick to place a small amount of colouring paste onto the icing you are colouring, and knead this until the colour is even. The best thing to do is start with a tiny bit of colouring and then add to it until you have the desired colour, it's always easy to make the icing darker, but not as easy to make it lighter.
4. Mould the various shapes/components which will make your figure. If you have tools and know how to use them then great, but I just mould these with my hands - it's a bit like playing with playdough. It is important at this stage to make sure that the base of the skirt is flat and even so that the figure will stand unsupported.
5. Put a tbsp of icing sugar into a small bowl and add a couple of drops of water to it to make a sticky icing that you will use to "glue" the pieces together. Take care when putting the "glue" onto the parts of you figure though, as this will dry white.
6. Assemble the pieces of your figure! Start by stading the skirt/base upright and sticking the two circles of the over-skirt to it with the icing glue.
7. Stick the torso to the skirt. As his piece is quite heavy, it is best to hold it in place for a few seconds to allow the icing to go tacky and hold it in place.
8. Pinch one end of each arm flat, and spread a little icing glue to the flat end. Stick these to the torso, overlapping slightly to create shoulders.
9. Assemble the pieces of the head seperatley. Stick the hair onto the head, flattening down as much as possible at the back, and curling up at the front to creat a fringe. Use the icing glue to stick the bun to the back of the hair, and the headnband just behind the fringe. Use a cocktail stick to make two holes for eyes.
10. Stick the head to the torso with the icing glue, and then stick the sleeves over the shoulders. Hey presto, you're all finished! Try not to handle the figure too much whilst the icing glue is drying, and keep it in an airtight container until it's ready to use!

I made my Cinderella figure the night before I made the actual cake as it saves time and the icing keeps well. So I've decided to post this "not-really-a-cake" post the night before the actual cake post goes on too, but I thought you might like to see a preview of the finished product (even though it didn't work out as planned - but more on that tomorrow!)

Happy Thoughts

x