Ingredients
Chocolate and ivory icing
Royal icing
Method
1.Colour 40g of the ready-made white icing chocolate brown; knead on surface dusted with a little cornflour until icing loses its stickiness. Roll icing on cornfloured surface into a 3mm thickness. Using cutter, cut a heart shape from icing. Cut wire in half, push one half into the heart shape; place on baking-paper-lined tray to dry overnight. Make another heart in the same way using 40g of the ready-made white icing colouring it ivory.
2.Trim cakes. Secure large cake to largest board; secure remaining cakes to same-sized boards. Prepare cakes for covering with ready-made icing.
3.Knead remaining ready-made white icing on surface dusted with a little cornflour until icing loses its stickiness.
4.Roll 300g of icing on cornfloured surface until large enough to cover small cake. Using rolling pin, lift icing onto cake; smooth with hands then smoothing tools. Trim icing around base of cake.
5.Use 500g of the icing to cover medium cake in the same way as the small cake. Use remaining icing to cover large cake in the same way. Dry cakes overnight.
6.Push 3 trimmed skewers into centres of large and medium cakes to support the next tier. Assemble cakes, securing each tier to the tier below.
7.To make royal icing; Sift the icing sugar through a fine sieve. Lightly beat the egg in a small ball until mixture is just broken up (do not whip into peaks). Beat in the icing sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it reaches desired consistency. Use a wooden spoon, mix in the lemon juice.
8.Tint royal icing ivory to match cake. Three-quarters fill piping bag with royal icing; pipe around base of each cake. Use fingertip to blend icing into any gaps where cakes join the boards. Dry cakes overnight.
9.Cut ribbon in lengths long enough to go around cakes. Secure around cakes using tiny dots of royal icing. Join ends of ribbon with royal icing.
10.To position hearts, gently push wires into cake.
Equipment needed: 9cm heart cutter, 20cm 18-gauge floral wire, wire cutters, 35cm round wooden cake board, 20cm round wooden cake board, 15cm round wooden cake board, smoothing tools, 6 wooden cake skewers, and a paper piping bag. The hearts can be made weeks ahead; store in an airtight container. Position them on the day of serving. Positioning and securing the ribbon around these cakes can be fiddly, as the ribbon can easily slip out of position. It’s best to secure the ribbon after the icing has set completely, which takes about two days. White icing is also known as fondant (it’s the traditional icing used on wedding cakes). It is available in packets from the supermarket and cake decorating shops.
Note
