Fondant or French Fancies are a small delicate sponge cake with a buttercream topping and covered in different coloured fondant toppings, then finished with a chocolate drizzle to complete.
They are traditionally called Fondant Fancies as they originated from french petit fours, perfect for afternoon tea or as wedding favours.
Equipment
Ingredients
225g Self raising Flour
225g Butter or Margarine
225g Sugar and Crumbs Icing Sugar ( Flavour of your Choice )
4 Large Eggs
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Baking Powder
150g Butter
300g Sugar and Crumbs Icing Sugar ( Flavour of your choice )
300g Marzipan ( Optional )
100g Apricot Jam ( Optional )
1kg Sugarpaste (Chopped)
150ml Water
Food colouring
100g of each Milk and White chocolate
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350F/180c fan Gas Mark 4
1. Line the tin with parchment paper, Beat the Margarine or Butter until creamy and then add the Icing Sugar and beat in well.
2. Add in the 4 eggs one at a time and beat in well, (don’t worry if it looks curdled it will go once the flour has been added).
3. In a separate bowl add the flour, salt and baking powder and mix in.
4. Add the flour mix into the wet mix and fold in well and then beat for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides during mixing to make sure all the flour is mixed in.
5. Spread the mix out in the tin making sure you push into the sides. Bake in the oven for 35 -40 minutes or until golden and a skewer comes out clean.
6. Leave the sponge to cool completely and then remove from the tin and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
7. Meanwhile make your buttercream by beating the butter until smooth and creamy and then add in the icing sugar, again scrape down the sides during mixing. Place a 3rd in a piping bag and snip off the end about 3cm. Leave the remaining buttercream in the bowl and set aside.
8. Take out the sponge from the freezer and flip upside down on the counter, trim the sponge at the sides and the top till you have a neat square. if using marzipan roll it out between two pieces of parchment paper to the size of the sponge, spread the apricot jam across the top of the sponge then peel away one piece of the parchment paper and flip the marzipan onto the sponge and peel away the other paper, smooth out and then trim the excess all the way around.
9. Use a ruler to divide the cake up into five 3cm long pieces horizontally then cut through them vertically into 5 pieces about 3cm each so you have 25 mini squares, 3cm x 3cm.
10. Take the buttercream in the bowl and use a pallet knife to cover each of the individual sponge cake sides (but not the top or bottom if using marzipan), pipe a blob on to each cake using the piping bag and then place the cakes on a baking tray, place in the fridge for 10 mins.
11. Make the fondant icing by placing the chopped up sugarpaste in a mixing bowl and then add a little of the water at a time, beat until it turns into a medium thick runny icing. Split between two bowls and colour each one a different colour.
12. Use a fork to insert into the bottom of each cake on an angle and dip each cake into the coloured icing and then place on a wire rack to set. Do half one colour and half another.
13. Melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave in short bursts of 30 secs at a time until melted, place in a piping bag and snip of a tiny amount. drizzle over the cakes.
14. Leave to set then place into cupcake cakes to serve, keep in an airtight container to keep fresh, best eaten within 3 days.
