Anyone who knows me, even just a little, knows this: I CAN’T STAND PINK. I don’t know why this aversion to what is considered the color that best symbolizes femininity.  I only know that it’s been this way as long as I can remember.

I will dress my daughter in green without a doubt!

And yet: never say never.  What better reason to try to overcome your own “fixations” than for a good excellent cause?

And so, to take part and give my little contribution to the nastro rosa (pink ribbon) campaign, I decided to make an exception and let pink enter my kitchen.  I pushed myself to buy pink plates (rigorously used and thrown away ), ingredients and various decorations to attach to my culinary delicacies.

A THANK YOU in particular to Carolina of Semplicemente Pepe Rosa, Chiara of Ma che davvero? e  Mammafelice who together launched the idea to color blogs pink on October 18.  Me? ehmmm I’m a little (a lot) late but it’s still October right?

Joking aside: every day and every month is good to talk about prevention.  You we shouldn’t ignore the signs that our bodies send us, timely diagnosis is our most powerful weapon.

Mini pink ribbon cake

For the sponge cake:

• 130 grams flour

• 6 whole eggs

• 250 grams granulated sugar

• 150 grams melted butter

Whip the eggs and sugar together until a spongy mousse forms.  Sift in the flour and then add the melted butter.  Pour the mix into a buttered and floured cake pan 24 cm in diameter.  Bake at 180° C for 25 minutes WITHOUT opening the oven.

From this base I obtained 6 mini cakes with the help of a round cookie cutter.  I then divided each cake into two layers and with a spread made of juice from fresh frozen berries, combined with fresh cream, I brushed each side of the disks.  Then I put vanilla flavored custard between each layer and completed the filling with some berries.

After stuffing the mini cakes, I went on to icing to improve the adherence of the fondant to the cakes: fresh whipping cream and a bit of powdered sugar… After covering them I put them in the freezer to get the cream to the right consistency.  Here are the results:

The frosting used for this dessert was an absolute discovery for me and my first attempt/experiment: the results were so exciting and gratifying that I consider this the beginning of a long love story between me and Fondant

Sugar Fondant:

• 150 grams marshmallows

• about 450 grams powdered sugar

• 2 tablespoons water

Melt the marshmallows in a double boiler, adding the 2 tablespoons of water.  The result should be a very think fluid.  Remove it from the heat and begin to add 150 grams of powdered sugar.  The dough will be extremely sticky but don’t get discouraged . Continue mixing and add another 150 grams of powdered sugar.  At this point grease a surface for kneading and sprinkle it with 100 grams of powdered sugar: begin to work the dough with your hands.

For me 400 grams of sugar was enough to obtain a moldable and not sticky dough.  I used the other 50 grams afterward to stretch out the fondant dough to cover the cakes.  The amount of powdered sugar can vary, so: have a good supply so as not to run short of the most important thing!

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest at least half a day before using it.  For reasons of timing, I prepared it the day before.  The sugar fondant, stored in this manner, keeps up to six months.

To color the frosting I bought some gel food coloring, which is much more practical than the powdered kind.  I cut from the ball enough dough to make the ribbons of the nastrorosa (pink ribbon) campaign and added a small amount of pink food coloring to this portion of dough: kneading until the color was uniform, I then adjusted the amount of food coloring based on the shade of pink I wanted:

After preparing the ribbons, I took the cakes out of the freezer, rolled out enough white fondant to cover to cover the mini cakes one by one… and Voilà -align: justify;”> 

Mini Pink Ribbon Cake, my small contribuition to the pink ribbon campaign:

Posted Dessert, Flour |