GIFT BOX VANILLA CAKE WITH RASPBERRIES AND HOMEMADE FONDANT
It’s a gift that you can eat!!! I had a blast making this cake!!! Easy vanilla cake. smeared with raspberry jam and decorate with the homemade fondant. Yummm!!
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Butter and flour 2 8 inch square cake pan, tapping out excess flour.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. This is the flour mixture.
In a stand mixer bowl, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 minutes until thick and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed.
Add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating well with each addition then scrape down the bowl.
Add 4 tsp vanilla extract and beat to combine.
Reduce mixer to medium speed and add 1/3 of the flour mixture and 1/2 of the milk. Mix again until combined. Repeat the process and mix again. Finish the mixing with the flour. Scrape down the bowl as needed and beat until just combined and smooth. Be careful not to overmix.
Divide batter evenly between 2 prepared cake pans and spread out the batter into the pans smoothing out the tops with a spatula. Bake on the center rack at 350˚F for 28-30 minutes.
Rest in pans for 10 minutes then run a knife or thin spatula around the edges to loosen and invert it onto a wire rack to cool completely.
If the cake has a dome, cut the dome so you will have a flat top.
Spread the raspberry jam on both cakes then stack them together.
MARSHMALLOW FONDANT
Make the fondant ahead of time.
Smear the microwave-safe bowl with a little bit the veg shortening so the marshmallow doesn’t stick
Place marshmallows in the bowl and sprinkle the water on top.
Melt marshmallows in the microwave on high for 60 to 90 seconds until it becomes a soupy mixture. Add the vanilla extract and stir.
Add about ¾ of the powdered sugar and mix with plastic spatula. Then use your finger to gather everything together and place on a surface that is greased with shorting.
Knead the fondant with the rest of the powdered sugar and shortening as needed. Keep kneading until it’s smooth and can be shaped into a ball.
Divide fondant into two. Place one in a zip-lock plastic bag then in a container to prevent drying and use the other half of the ball.
Roll out the fondant and shape it into bows and put on top of the cake.