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Year of the Rat Remy Cake

Celebrate the Year of the Rat with this Lunar New Year inspired cake! This moist almond cake is filled with orange marmalade and buttercream, and topped with fondant flowers and my favorite rat, Remy!
Course Dessert
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 1 6-inch cake

Ingredients

Almond Cake

  • 3 sticks unsalted butter, soft
  • 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 cup almonds, finely ground
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon almond extract
  • 6 oz orange marmalade, for filling

Buttercream Frosting

  • 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, soft
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons milk

Decoration

  • 18 ounces red fondant
  • 1 ounce white fondant
  • edible gold shimmer spray
  • edible gold cake paint
  • white pearl sprinkles
  • Remy stencil, see below

Equipment

  • 2 6-inch round cake pans
  • flower shaped fondant cutters
  • fondant smoother

Instructions

Almond Cake

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease two 6-inch round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract, beating until combined.
  3. Add flour, baking powder, ground almonds and beat until smooth.
  4. Divide batter between the two cake pans, filling about ¾ full.
  5. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  6. Cool 10 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
  7. Once the cakes have cooled, use a serrated knife to trim the tops of the cakes so they are even.

Buttercream Frosting

  1. In a medium bowl, beat butter until smooth. Add vanilla extract and beat until combined.
  2. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating on low and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add milk and beat to combine.
  3. Beat frosting on high speed until light and fluffy.
  4. Transfer a scoop of frosting to a piping bag and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Set aside until ready to decorate.

Fondant Flowers

  1. Gently knead the white fondant before rolling.
  2. On a surface lightly dusted with powdered sugar, roll out white fondant to about ¼ inch thickness.
  3. Cut into flower shapes using flower cutters.
  4. Place cut flowers onto a wax paper lined baking sheet.
  5. Spray cut flowers with edible gold shimmer spray.
  6. Place a white pearl sprinkle into the center of the flowers. Set aside until ready to decorate.

Assembly

  1. Warm orange marmalade in the microwave, about 15 seconds.
  2. Place one cake, cut side up, on a cake stand or plate flipped upside down. Pipe a thick ring of frosting around the outline of the cake.
  3. Scoop marmalade onto the cake, inside the frosting ring. Place the second cake, cut side down, on top of the first cake.
  4. Using an offset spatula, frost the rest of the cake using the buttercream frosting. Make sure sides are smooth.
  5. Place cake in the refrigerator while you prepare the fondant.
  6. Gently knead the red fondant before rolling
  7. On a large surface, lightly dusted with powdered sugar, roll out the fondant to about ¼ inch thickness, making sure to keep it in a round shape.
  8. Remove cake from the refrigerator and transfer to a cake board, cake stand, flat plate, or whatever surface you’re plating it on.
  9. Roll fondant onto rolling pin to transfer it to the cake.
  10. Drape fondant over the cake and use your hands to smooth the fondant down the sides of the cake, gently pulling the folds out and down.
  11. Use a fondant smoother to smooth the top and sides of the cake. Cut the excess fondant off the cake using a sharp knife.

Decoration

  1. Place the Remy stencil onto the top left side of the cake. Dip a small new/clean paintbrush into the edible gold cake paint and paint in the stencil. Do additional coats as needed.
  2. Remove the stencil from the cake.
  3. Place the prepared fondant flowers along the top right side of the cake. To attach, place a little bit of water on the base of the flower.
  4. Store cake in an airtight container in a cool room temperature area.