Glam Rock

I made this glam rock cake about 2 years ago for my final project in my favorite class at The Culinary Institute of America, Confectionery Arts and Special Occasion Cakes with Chef Cavotti.

The cake is a Genoise, which is a sponge cake that is leavened by tiny air bubbles trapped in the batter instead of by a chemical leavener such as baking powder. The cake itself is dry so it must be moistened with simple syrup before it is iced.

For the icing I used Italian butter cream, which was a requirement for this particular project. The roses are made of modeling chocolate. Modeling chocolate is pliable and is made of melted chocolate (white chocolate and food coloring in this case) mixed with corn syrup. The rope, buttons, and black checks are made of rolled fondant and the hearts and crossbones are made of royal icing. I made the hearts and crossbones using the same procedure as I did for the Mohonk logos.I brushed the buttons and black checks with water to give them a sheen.

It took 2 class days (about 10 hours total) to complete this cake, which doesn't include the actual baking of the layers.

It is still my favorite cake that I have made so far.