Drop of Disney

Happy Lunar New Year! Today marks the start of the Year of the Rat and I’m so excited to share this Lunar New Year inspired cake featuring my favorite rat, Remy!

Almond and orange are some traditional Chinese flavors and so this cake is a moist almond cake filled with orange marmalade and buttercream frosting and is topped with red fondant, gold fondant flowers, and a gold outline of Chef Remy.

This cake has a lot of moving pieces, so I recommend giving yourself some extra time. While the individual aspects of it are pretty straightforward, putting it all together can be a lot at once.

To start, make the almond cake. Once everything is combined, the batter for this cake will seem a bit stiff, but that’s okay. Divide the batter between two 6-inch cake pans, filling about 3/4 full. I had a little bit of excess dough, which I just made into cupcakes. They cake bake at the same time as the cakes, just take them out after 15 minutes.

Once the cakes have baked, let them cool in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. When the cakes have cooled, use a serrated knife to cut the tops off so that they are flat. Set aside until ready to assemble.

While the cakes are cooling, make the frosting and fondant flower decorations. The frosting for this cake is a lightly vanilla buttercream. Since the cake is going to be covered in fondant, you don’t need a lot of frosting, just enough to make a barrier for the marmalade and thin layer around the outside of the cake.

Once the frosting is made, transfer a large scoop to a piping bag. This is will be used to make the barrier for the marmalade. You don’t need use a piping tip for this, just cut the end off of the bag. Cover the rest of the frosting with plastic wrap and set aside until ready to decorate.

To make the fondant flowers, first take a small amount of white fondant and gently knead it. Then place on a flat surface lightly dusted with powdered sugar. This will help keep the fondant from sticking. Roll it out using a fondant roller or rolling pin, to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into flower shapes using various sizes of cutters. I used cutters from this pack of fondant cutters from Amazon. I really like that they have a plunger to help remove the cut fondant from the cutters.

Once the flowers are cut, place them on a wax paper lined baking sheet. To get the gold color, I sprayed them with edible gold shimmer spray from Wilton. With the spray you can add as much or as little gold coloring as you’d like. Once they’ve been sprayed, I added a white pearl sprinkle to the center of the large and medium flowers.

When the cakes have cooled and are ready to be assembled, first place one cake, cut side up on a cake stand, or an inverted plate, to frost. Pipe a frosting barrier around the edge of the cake. Warm the marmalade briefly in the microwave before placing on the cake, inside the barrier. Place the other cake, cut side down onto the first cake.

Use an offset spatula to frost the rest of the cake using the remaining buttercream frosting. Try to make the frosting as smooth as possible so that there won’t be any lumps under the fondant. Once the cake is frosted, place the cake in the refrigerator to set while you prepare the red fondant.

Similar to the white fondant, gently knead the red fondant before placing it on a large surface, lightly dusted with powdered sugar. Using a rolling pin or a large fondant roller, roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness, making sure to rotate it so that it retains a large circle shape. I used pre-made fondant from Wilton, which worked well. It was easy to work with and roll out, and also stretchy enough to pull when covering without immediately tearing.

Once the fondant is rolled out, remove the cake from the refrigerator and place on a cake board or whatever you will be serving it on. Roll the fondant onto the rolling pin, just one roll, and transfer it to the cake. Place one edge of the fondant so it is touching the cake board furthest from you and then unroll the fondant towards you until it covers the entire cake.

Use your hands to smooth the fondant on the top of the cake and then down the sides of the cake, gently pulling the folds out and down to move them off of the cake itself. Once the fondant on the cake is without folds use a fondant smoother to smooth the fondant and cut off any excess using a sharp knife.

Once the cake is covered, you’re ready to decorate! Start by placing the Remy stencil onto the cake. I used my Cricut machine to cut out the image on cardstock and then removed the black outline to create a stencil. I placed Remy on the left side of the cake so that he could smell the flowers on the right side of the cake. However, you can place Remy and the flowers wherever you’d like.

Once the stencil has been placed, dip a new or clean paintbrush that hasn’t been used with paint into the edible gold cake paint and paint within the stencil to make the outline. Carefully remove the stencil and touch up any spots as needed. I did a couple coats of paint, just to make sure everything was covered and looked vibrant.

Place the flowers along the right side of the cake, in whatever pattern you wish. I started with some of the smaller flowers, moving into the larger flowers near the center and then ending with the smaller flowers again. Use a dab of water on the base of the flower to more securely attach it to the cake.

Once the cake is decorated, it can be served right away or store in an airtight container in a cool, room temperature place. Avoid putting the fondant in the refrigerator as it will get gooey and soft. If it does need to go in the refrigerator, don’t cover it.

Happy Lunar New Year! Enjoy!

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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.