This Great Cake Contest entry was submitted by mindycmc from Corning, New York: Green Eggs and Ham on a Platter!
What you'll need
- 2 White Cake Mixes
- Ingredients needed to prepare cake mixes
- 8" round pan, 6" round pan, 8" square pan
- 2 batches Buttercream Frosting
- 2 pounds Fondant (we use Marshmallow fondant)
- 2 Mint Patties
- Orange, Black, Green and Red Icing Color Gel
- 3 drinking straws or dowels
- 2 paint brushes (food use only)
- 4 Pastry Bags
- 3 round piping tips--large, medium and small
- Rolling pin
- Parchment paper
- Heavyweight cake board
How to make it
Prepare cake mixes according to directions. Evenly divide batter to make 3-8" round cakes, 2-6" round cakes, and 1-8" square cake. Bake cakes and completely cool on wire racks.
The day before decorating, construct the ham. Stack all round cakes--center the 6" layers on top of the three 8" layers--with buttercream frosting between each layer. While stacked, cut from top to bottom (with serrated knife), about an inch from the center of the edge of the 8" layers. This provides a flat surface upon which to lay the cake. Insert the straws through the stack to provide support. Lay cake on side on parchment paper.
Cut the cake to look like ham! Frost with thin layer of buttercream. Allow to crust--about an hour. Coat again with a heavier layer of buttercream and let sit overnight (to harden--providing for good support--the cake won't fall over under the fondant!)
Shape fondant eggs by rolling out a small ball of fondant (size of large marble) to 1/4 inch thickness. Drape over a mint patty on a piece of parchment large enough for both eggs. Paint center (over patty) with green gel color, brush edges of eggs with yellow color. Let dry overnight with cake.
For rectangular book cake, cut into 7"x6" rectangle with serrated knife. Tint 2 cups of buttercream orange, and coat cake thickly, making indent in left edge for binding, if desired. Let frosting crust overnight.
The following day, roll out baseball-sized ball of white fondant into oval shape. Place on cake board (for platter). Tint grapefruit-sized ball of fondant green, roll out and drape over ham. Cut off excess fondant. Shape a piece of white fondant to look like hambone, and place on ham. Position ham on platter, smoothing edges. Tint 1 cup buttercream black and pipe dimension lines (in assorted tip sizes) around ham. Place eggs on platter.
Position orange rectangle (book) on cake board. Pipe greeting with medium round tip in black first on rectangle cake, followed by white with small round tip. Pipe white pages on edges of cake using medium round tip. Tint 1/4 cup buttercream red, and pipe Dr. Seuss hat with white and black detailing using small round tip.
Take several pictures of your cake and enjoy!
