For my friend Maureen's birthday I created this mini cake wrapped in its own surprise package. The two pale pink fondant covered cake tiers are only 4" and 3" wide, respectively. The roses were formed in sugarpaste using molds as were the two strings of pearls. Both the pearls and flowers were over-dusted with pearl powder. The sugarpaste drapes were first embossed with a raw silk design then also dusted with pearl powder. For the base, I coverd a foamcore round in pink fondant, the raw edge of which was then encircled in two layers of ribbon. A loop of one of the ribbons was attached to the bottom of the foamcore in order to facilitate pulling the cake from its box.
The cake itself is a Marquise au Chocolat or less pretentiously, a flourless chocolate cake. This particular marquise has a hint of raspberry liqueur and would be quite tasty served with a raspberry sauce, a few fresh berries and topped with a dollop of whipped cream. My own particular favorite version was served with a pistachio sauce. Your favorite liqueur and sauce could be substituted, of course (think Kaluha, Kirchwasser, Grand Marnier, Cointreau, Orangello, Frangelico, Amaretto, etc).
Although this miniature cake was made for a birthday, it could easily be adapted to suit numerous other special occasions including the bride and groom's take-home-cake with which to commemorate their special day. If styrofoam cake dummies were substituted for the actual cake, a miniature wedding cake replica could be placed under a glass dome or bell and kept indefinitely. And since the trend towards individual cakes has taken the wedding world by storm, an even smaller version of this cake would be appropriate for that particular use. It could also be used as a wedding favor placed in its own custom-designed sugar box (for those with big budgets or generous dads, of course).
Maria
