I made these four mini cakes for fun this week. I baked a 6″ square cake and filled it with chocolate ganache. I used a 2″ round cutter to cut out four small cakes. Crumb coated them with ganache and covered them with chocolate and regular marshmallow fondant.
Happy Caking
Louise
This comment relates to the beautiful photograph of Lamingtons made with teal coloured icing. I am from Perth, Western Australia and we often think of lamingtons when talk of a national dessert is floated. Now the humble lamington (available in every lunch shop or supermarket but mostly home made) may or may not be our national dessert (as it is the Pavolova that is often given the gong for this) but what is certain is that it has CHOCOLATE and COCONUT and VANILLA cake. Teal or any other hue or flavour is NOT a Lamington. For example a similar cake made with raspberry jelly is called a jelly cake (not US jelly which we call jam, but liquid set with gelatine which I believe is US jell-o) However your beautiful cake site/blog easily negates any differences of opinion on Lamington definition! I can’t wait to delve into it more…
I am making a cake filled with a cream cheese filling and they want fresh strawberries. Is this ok to put together for a cake covered in fondant? I am afraid the strawberries will go bad not refrigerated. I will be making the cake only about 16 hours before consumption.
Sorry the late reply. You can use fresh fruit in the cake. But I would assemble the cake the day before it is eaten. Also if using fresh fruit I would store the cake refrigerated until 1-2 hours before served. When a fondant cake have been refrigerated it will start to sweat. Do not touch the fondant and just let it dry up by itself.
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Hi Louise, so i know this is really silly of me and i probably sounds kind of dumb (haha) but i was wondering if you had posted the recipe on this site, because i cant find it… 🙂 or if you could give me some directions and such, that would be amazing!!
I have not posted a tutorial on how to make mini cakes. Bake a square cake, level and split in two, sandwich with a filling, chill and then cut out using a tall round cutter. Try not to make the too tall. Just about 2 1/2″. Cover them with a thin coat of buttercream or chocolate ganache, before covering with rolled fondant.
I need help… I wanted to try to make mini cakes I used circle cutters… When I tried to frost them the cakes started falling about… I didn’t even get a chance to fondant them… What would be some good advice?… Should I just buy the mini cake pans? What type of frosting should I used to crumb coat it before I put the fondant on? Should I have stuck them in the freeze before I used the cutter or before frosting??? I’m soooo stuck!! Please please please help!!!
Both the freeze part before crumb coat is always a good idea. A more soft spreadable frosting is also good when it comes to such small cakes.
How long did it take you to make the mini cakes? I want to make mini cakes for my wedding, but we could have up to 500 guests. It may be too much work for me 😛
I would say that 500 mini cakes it a lot of work. Mini cakes are not easier because they are small. They take just as much time as large cakes.
I’m thinking – ‘thank goodness’ after reading all the info. In the middle of a trial run of mini cakes (100 to make for a wedding in 3 weeks). The bride gave me a picture and said I’d like this one (top left) and I’ve since discovered they are from Cake Central – https://cakecentral.com/gallery/1348078. The extremely talented lady who has created them says she used a patchwork embossing mat – any ideas who manufactures these? Thanks from a very nervous Scottish cake decorator.
No wonder she loves those mini cakes. My good friend Toni have made them. You can get the Patchwork tool from here: https://www.sugaricing.com/Layouts/Default/ProductPage.aspx?productGuid=26d56800-8b04-4013-a0c8-d100eda8fb2a&allowAddToBasket=True
You can cover up the small drop with a flower like Toni did.
Success! Just wanted to say thank you for your tips and time. If you’re interested, you can see my efforts at https://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/photo.php?fbid=197644450273769&set=a.197644376940443.42108.105442352827313&type=1&theater
Thanks again x
Forgot that you can find a great video on the Peggy Porschen site: https://www.peggyporschen.com/content.asp?id=42 you can see the staff working on mini cakes.
Hello. I must say that this link bought me to tears. Thank you for sharing this link. I have a divine passion for baking and decorating however I am TERRIFIED bluntly put. And not to mention your site….DIVINE!…I have read EVERY SINGLE COMMENT from you and all of your visitors and I am overwhelmed with JOY and INSPIRATION that everyone is doing the exact same thing that I am doing or wanting to do with tons of questions…each one FACING THEIR FEARS HEAD ON….with little to no reservations. You and everyone here have motivated me to move forward, materialize my visions and thoughts and ideas….and SHARE THEM…most of all SHARE THEM.
Forever Thankful and Grateful ~
Tala Panton
Florida
Tala, so very sweet of you.
Happy Caking!
Hi Louise!
I LOVE your website and all your ideas! I’m being asked to make 30 mini cakes for a bridal shower. So 2 quick questions for you:
1. how much cake do you think I need to bake in order to get 30 mini cakes?
2. The sugar syrup you mention to keep the cake moist, how do you make it? Is it the recipe w/2 parts sugar and 1 part water?
1.Take your square pan, Trace the pans circumference onto a piece of parchment paper. Take a circle cutter (the size you plan to use for the minis) and with a pencil you can fill out the paper with circles to see how many you’ll be able to make. Mini cakes should not be taller than 3″
2. Yes, it is.
Hi Louise,
lovely mini cakes you’ve got here. I need your advice on how to make your fondant stick to BC. The last time I make a cake with rolled fondant, it didnt stick to the cake and I didnt like the outcome. What did I do wrong?
Hi Louise,
lovely mini cakes you’ve got here. I need your advice on how to make your fondant stick to BC. The last time I make a cake with rolled fondant, it didnt stick to the cake and I didnt like the outcome. What did I do wrong?
I have never really tried that the rolled fondant would not stick to the cake. Could it be because you used a crusting BC? You can try and brush a thin layer of piping gel on top of the BC without messing the smooth surface.
hi Louise,
my name is Tara Davies and i was just looking up mini cakes on Google because i love making cakes and cupcakes so i clicked on one and brought me to this blog and i just wanted to ask you if you went to Tafe, university or collage to study pastry because i want to be like you when i grow up and i really want to no if you have to go to uni or any other places to study and i hoped you could tell me if you did.
Thankyou
P.S
i really like your cake/ cupcake designs they are really nice. these are some cupcakes i made my friend for her 13th
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1672916860826&set=a.1672916740823.2095981.1174534826
this is awesome advice from everyone. I am doing mini wedding cakes for my cousins wedding and this was such helpful information. Thank you all.
Just a tip – I made mini cakes for the first time a few months ago. This is how I did them. I had 150 to make.
1 12 x 18 resulted in 25 2″ mini cakes – so i baked 6 different flavors.
Each cake baked up 2″
I split the cake in half and used a piece of cardboard to left the top layer. I then filled the cake and replaced the top layer.
Each cake was freezed for about 1-2 hours – not the point of being hard as a rock – but firm.
I used a 2″ biscuit cutter – something that was tall – a traditional cookie cutter won’t work. It has to get through 2 1/2″ in height of cake.
Afterwards – I iced each.
Now covering in fondant – here is a trick. I set the cakes aside in the fridge – let the icing firm up some.
While they were firming up – I rolled out a big sheet of fondant and got my 5″ cookie cutter out (round). I cut a bunch of these circles and placed into a gallon ziploc….I repeated and repeated. This size worked perfectly!!! Each cake was covered with little to no waste.
I can’t wait to make these again!
Donna…all I can say is MUAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am grateful for your sharing this info!
Yes, making large cakes and then cut out the mini cakes is a smart trick. Then you can use all leftovers for cake pops ect.
dear louise,
thank you so much for your time and recipe.
ok, i will heed your advice and i hope to make pretty cakes like yours =)
lotsa love always,
adrianne
adrianne:
1:
250ml sugar + 250ml water put in a sauce pan and bring it to the boil. Turn the heat off and let it cool down before you add the seeds from 1 vanilla pod
Store it in the refrigerator if not used.
2+4: Since mini cakes can be difficult to handle, I would use a very thin layer of bc for the crumb coat and then maybe 2 layers of RF instead of 1? I also think that chocolate ganache is better as a crumb coat because it seals/smooth better. Make it a bit more liquid before you add it.
3: I dont really have a recipe for marble cake, sorry. But Im sure that you can find one over at cakecentral.com ?
Good luck!
hello louise,
wow, thank you so much for taking the time and having the patience for all of us louise. i hope you can help me too.i took up the task of making the miniature cakes for my bf’s bro’s wedding soon.
1) can you please recommend a good syrup recipe?its for marble cake with vanilla bean BC.
2)i will be baking the mini cakes using the alan silverwood multi mini round pans.have you the same advice for me in handling and crumb coating the cakes?
3)any good marble cake recipe that you can recommend please? i find that the recipe that i use is a wee bit runny, hence there was minor seeping.
3)i find that my cake didn’t have a smooth fondant surface after i tried wrapping the cake with RF. please advice.
thank you in advance dear louise
thank you so much
ok, Thank You
Louana: I dont think that it would be easier with poured fondant. 120 is many but I think that you will get the best result with RF.
him I need to make 120 mini cakes for next week. would it be easier if I cover the cakes with melted fondant? instead of rolled fondant?
Thank you so much. all your help has been great we have not tried to make the mini cakes again but when we do I will make sure I read all the advice that you gave me. thank you once again.
Kris: Mini cakes can be a pain to cover nicely. So to help try and measure the hight+width on the cakes and use that as a guideline on how large you need to roll it out. The larger the piece of fondant the more pleats you need to smooth away.
For your oven/cake problem it comes because of the way the oven distribute the heat. Try and bake at a lower temp and for a little longer. Sometimes it can also help if you the first 10-15 mins keep the door slightly open before you bake the cake finsh.
hello me again,
Hopefully last question 🙂 how did you cut the fondant to make the right size to go over the mini cakes? we tried a few things and it didnt work. Help thanks
okay here we go again. I took a cake sliced in two put the filling in used the cookie cutters and then crumb coated it. We tried to fondant it with the mmf it just did not work I dont know if we rolled it to thin or what but its a little frustrating. the last thing is we are making cakes in a square pan and every time i take it out of the oven one side is thicker than the other. any suggestions?
Kris: Im not sure I understand your question with the mini cupcakes? For the ganache try and see here: https://www.joyofbaking.com/ganache.html
Sugar syrup is uses to be brushed onto cake layers to moisten, you can also use it on cupcakes before you pipe the frosting.
okay so you just take the cake split it into 2 layers and then fill it. I was wandering about that. LOL. What about making mini cupcakes and then putting them together? also do you have a recipe for ganache? Lastly the sugar syrup what is that exactly for?
Thanks
Kris: I split 1 cake into 2 layers. Dont make the mini cakes higher than 3″. If you cant get a cutter that tall, then cut out the cake layers and sandwich them. The pastry bag is a great idea to ad filling to such small cakes.
You just ask away…… 🙂
okay so i would make two cakes put filling in and then cut out got that we tried last night to even crumb coat and realize that there should be something easier. I dont remember if you suggested it or not but a pastry bag is definitly a great idea. I also wanted to tell you that the cake stand is awsome.
well we are going to try the cakes again tonight if a problem believe me I will be asking for help. Thanks so much
Cynthia: I had a chocolate ganache filling between the layers.
Kris: I like the way where you sandwich a cake and then cut out with a cookie cutter. Mini cakes is definately not easy to make because they are small:-) I like firm cakes that do not crumble too much like Australian Mudcakes. As long as the flavour of the cake and filling match you can use whatever flavour you like.
Hi I just stumbled on to your site. My daughter and I are starting a business. We decided that we would do mini cakes and cupcakes with 6-8 inch rounds. Well we tried to practice with making the mini cakes tonight WOW what a disaster. Need a little advice on exactly what is the best flavor of cake to use and exactly how do we fill the cakes? do we make more than one cake and fill the middle than use the cookie cutters? Please help we thought we had this but we are way out in centerfield.
Thanks
Kris
Best solution to wanting to try everything and not prematurely filling up on huge slices of cake. This idea has inspired a little troop of really wee mini cakes in choc-raspberry, lemon curd, pink marshmellow, choc-caramel and strawberry-pistacio!
Thanks a bunch!
Hi Louise! Thank you so much for this brilliant idea! This is the perfect solution to my dilemma – I love variety but fill up on cake very easily. This way I can make wee little mini cakes – chocolate raspberry, lemon drizzle, pink marshmellow etc – try them all and not feel to guilty! – and its a great way to please all my fussy friends who have already made a list of requests!
Hi Louise,these are soooo adorable!I am also making them for my wedding too!!About 50 of them)Its in October next year so plenty of time for practice!
I apologize in advance for the silly question but when you mentioned “filled it with chocolate ganache” what does that mean?
Thanks a lot.
nadia: Yes I do..
do u put cardboard rounds under each mini cake?
Patricia: It does sounds yum. I hope it all went ok. What you wrote sounded good. If only I had an A/C 🙂
It is a whipped ganache with the fresh stawberries on top. I sprinkled a little bit of sugar on the strawberries to keep them fresher…hope that works. I was hoping that if I put it in the fridge over night I could take it out and lower my air conditioning to a very cool setting letting it sit out until delivery this afternoon..I was thinking that would not allow it to sweat that much. My flowers are flat so I am not too worried about drooping…I guess we will see! Thanks for your help though..I do appreciate it.
Patricia: I can see your trouble. If it was just strawberry jam and not fresh you could just store it “outside” the fridge. Is it a whipped ganache or just the one where stir it together? If it is the stired one you should be able to keep it out but I dont know how the strawberries will go with that. Do you have any time for a tester?
Any way if you can store the belly cake in a large cardboard box it should minimum the sweating part. but depending how hot it is it will most likely sweat. So you would need to take it out to get to normal temprature before its being served.
Ohh I wished that I knew the answer Patricia. maybe cakecentral know more?
Hi! I LOVE all of this GREAT advice…Thank you! I was asked to make a pregnent belly cake with chocolate ganache and fresh strawberries for the filling…with fondant covering the top, how do I store the cake until I have to deliver it? I am confused because I am told that fondant cannot go in the fridge, but the filling has to be refridgerated…yikes! Please help! Thanks. 🙂
Amanda: mini cakes is not easy to cover so you need a thin coat of bc and your fondant must not be too thick either about 2-3mm. Try an measure your cake so that you know how much you need to roll out your fondant.
I’m making mini cakes for a wedding and after cutting them out and trying to cover them with a crumb coat either the bc is too think for the fondant to stick to the cake or the bc rips the cakes apart while trying to put it on the cakes… Any advice?
Thanks-
Maria: First of all. That is very large cakes to cover then if you are going to combining them side by side. Have you tried to cover such big cakes? I once tried to cover a a sheet cake in the size 15″x23″ and it was very hard to cover nicely. But I think that I used 8 pounds or more to cover that cake. So you are going to use a lot of mmf. Just to be sure I would use 10 pounds or so for one cake. Does it sound all wrong?
For the filling strawberry and pinapple sound good. I would use fresh cream, whipped with the fruit. Just remember that fresh pinapple will mess up the cream so you will have to use canned pinapple . Place the pinapple slices on paper to take out any juice.
Good luck
I will be making two sheet cakes – combining them side by side – pan is 12 x18 – so I will be making 4…how much MMF will I need to cover both cakes together not separate? Also, they want a strawberry/pineapple filling – any ideas on that?? I will make the dam of BC so the filling does not seep out – but I would actually like to use fresh strawberries and pineapple…Thank you! I love your website and the time you take personally to answer our questions!!
Melissa: Unless your MMF was very sticky when you roll it out then I dont think that more icing sugar would make it better. Not sure why maybe because it is MM used and not all sugar like the “normal” fondant.
I love all the advice on making MMF. I am experimenting with this type of frosting. My question is about the MMF once I applied it to the cake itself. Mine is difficult to cut and serve the cake because I am finding that it is wanting to stick to the knife. I am wondering if this is because I did not add enough icing sugar (sifted) before it was rolled and used. Could this be my problem?? Much appreciated, Thank you !
Ana: offcourse you need to chill the cakes first before cutting into squares or circules. That will make them a better to handle.
WOW!!! you are so kind in giving all these instructions. i have some questions: When you fill a large cake, and you cut the 2″ cakes, don’t they make a mess with the filling? I’m affraid that if I cut the circules, the first layer could slip off the second because of the filling. How can I prevent this? Wouldn’t be easier if I freeze the cake before cutting it? Sorry for this questions but I’ve never done this kind of cakes before.
Thank you.
Hi Tara,
If they are not covered with rolled fondant plastic wrap would be fine but if they are covered just store them in cardboard cake boxes.
As long as the cake is moisten with sugar syrup, buttercream and covered in rolled fondant should not dry them out.
I am sure it will all work out. As long as you have it all planned 🙂
Louise
Hi Louise,
Yeah, I think I might just stick with BC then. I think the chocolate ganache would be really good, but BC is easy, simple, and quick.
Ok… so simple sugar wash, then BC, then freezer. Got it.
Now, how about storage? Will they be OK if I leave them out on the counter covered with plastic wrap?
Thanks for the tip on the black icing!! I was really worried about it, but I’m sure with your suggestion, it will all work out!
Thanks again!!!
-Tara
Tara:
You could also use a BC as filling? it will work just as good.
1: yes
2: yes
3: yes, but I would also give then a thin coat of chocolate ganache or BC and then into the freezer.
To get reel black icing use Americolor and color the icing 2 days in advance. Do not at this stage try to obtain 100% black as the color will develop. When you are going to use it then give it more color if needed.
I will look forward to see pics:D
Hi Louise!
Thank you so much for your reply! Yes, I do have quite a bit of planning to do! And to be honest, I’m a little bit freaked out at the moment that it’s not all going to come together! My concern is that the wedding is on a Saturday afternoon and I still have my regular full-time job schedule to work around. I’m also doing all of this out of my 700 sq ft. apartment, so no “cold room” available here. 🙂
The bride wants to have marble cake, and she wasn’t sure about which filling she wanted. I think the chocolate ganache idea sounds great. And the mini cakes are actually going to be square, not round. This, I know, poses even more of a difficulty when covering with mmf. But I definitely plan on doing a trial run. I do plan to bake it as a large sheet cake and then cut them in to squares from there. I figured that would probably be the easiest way to go.
The decor is going to be really simple. It is a black and white theme. So I’ll use the white mmf, with a black ribbon around the bottom edge of each cake, and a black heart outline (piped out of royal icing) sticking out of the top of the cake. I’ll definitely pipe the hearts ahead of time so that I can just poke them in when I’m ready. I am concerned about getting the royal icing REALLY black though. But that might me a whole other issue 🙂
So as far as assembly… Would you suggest I do it in this order?:
1. Bake
2. Fill and cut in to squares
3. Brush on sugar syrup then freeze?
Then after they’re frozen, should I let them thaw before covering? Do I need to put anything else on the cakes before covering them in the mmf? If I start covering the cakes with the mmf 2 days in advance, what is the best way to store them? Will they dry out?
Sorry for all the questions!! You are such a big help! I can’t wait to send you a pic when it’s all done!!
Tara: I can see that with 150 mini cakes you have some planning to do:-) I would put them on cake circles. They will look wonderful on such cake stand.
What type of cake are you planing to use and will you have a filling as well?
If I was the one making 150 mini cakes I would bake a cake there can go in the freezer. Chocolate cakes often taste better by a trip in the freezer and I would use a dark chocolate ganache as a filling. Offcourse if you live in a very hot area chocolate ganache may not be the best choice? Also I would soak my cake with a nice sugar syrup to give the cakes moisture.
Are you planning to bake larger cakes and cut out smaller cakes? because that is a real time saver.
So I would make all the mini cakes in advance without the mmf. If you can store your cakes in a “cold” room I would make them over two days including the decoration of the cakes. What kind of deco will you be using?? Is it something that you can make in advance to save time?
Also another good thing is to try cover 1 mini cake so you can get a feeling on how much mmf each cake takes when covered. I would recomend only to roll out for 1 cake at a time because just because they are small they can take some time and the rest of the mmf will dry slightly and cause cracks. So if you know how much 1 cake takes you can then have small portions of mmf ready when you are about to cover the cakes.
I hope you can use some of it… and good luck with the project.
Hi Louise,
These mini cakes are absolutely adorable. I’ll be doing my first mini cakes for a wedding in June… 150 of them to be exact. I was just wondering if you reccomend that I put a small cake circle under each of the cakes? Or just put them straight on to the display stand? I plan on building the cake stand based on the tutorial you gave (totally awesome by the way). I’ll be covering them in mm fondant. Also, how far in advance do you think I can start putting them together without them drying out? Any reccomended timeline?
Thanks for your help!
-Tara
Josh: You can find my reply under the marshmallow post.
hi louise!! want you to know you have a fan here from papua new guinea! i stumbled upon your site a few months back and till now i always check it out.. i find your site very helpful. i can’t find crisco here, can i just use vegetable oil or butter/margarine?
thank you so much for sharing your wonderful tips!
josh=)
Hi Justine,
Yes I will see what I can do.
Hi Louise…I just love your site. I just found you tonight and am so happy with all the new ideas & advise. I was wondering if you would post the MMF recipe? Thank you and I look forward to checking in regularly!
~Justine
Hi Kara,
I know from one of my friends who is a master to do cakes with MMF. She told me be careful with adding the color after as is tends to crack lot more.
Louise
Hi Louise!
Well, to answer your questions – yes, I did let the MMF rest overnight before use, but I only do that becasue the person I got the recipe from suggested it.
Also, I color the MMF AFTER it has sat overnight, and that is a ton of work. I am glad to hear that you add the color before adding your sugar, while the MM is still liquid. I will try that next time.
And yes, I do add Crisco when I roll out the MMF. I am hoping that the next time I make this, the crakcing will be less becuase I will add the color at the beginning stage and not let it sit overnight. I will let you know if I have success!
Thanks for the helpful tips –
Kara
Hi Kara,
Thanks I am glad you like my site!
The few times I have made MMF I have been adding 2 tbsp. of Crisco when I put the mm in the microwave.
Also I color my MMF when the mixture is liquid. I then have some white MMF if the colour gets too dark.
Do you let your MMF rest overnight before use? I know some does and some dont. I always hold back some of the icing sugar to the next day.
Do you knead in Crisco before you roll it out??
Hmm lot of question from me now:-)
Let me hear what you do.
Louise
Hi Louise!
I check out your blog often – i is very helpful and I love your ideas and tutorials.
I have made a few cakes using the MM fondant – but it seems that the more color I add to the fondant, the more cracks I get when I actually lay it on the cake. Do you have any ideas/experience to help with the cracking? I thought that maybe the longer I knead the fondant to incorporate the color, the more cracking? Overall, I love the MMF because the taste is much more palatable –
Thanks!
I had three cake layers and two ganache and I think they were about 2″ high.
How did you make the mini cakes? Is it just one layer of the cake or did you use multiple layers to make the cake that height (how many inches high is the cake?)?
Hi Keli,
Well I am glad that you can use my ideas:-)
I used the chocolate ganache under the pink aswell. I add a bit of melted chocolate chips & some cocoa but I think that I will stick to only cocoa next time. I dont know if you add 2 tbsp of shortning to your MMF mixture?? As the chocolate MMF tend to crack a bit.
Louise
HI,
I love your mini cakes, they are perfect for a baby shower I am doing on Friday for my sister. Did you use the chocolate ganache under the pink also or did you use a white so it would not show through? I know how to make mmf, but how did you make yours chocolate? Chocolate chips? Cocoa? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks, Keli
🙂
Thanks for the detailed explanation. 🙂
Thank you Minnie~Knits and Yan!
I must say that the MMF taste better than I thought, but you can add flavours to it yourself.
The thing with MMF is that you simply melt marshmellows, a bit of water and a bit of shortning. When it turns liquid you simply stir&knead in icing sugar and thats that.
I find it difficult to make regular fondant (the one with gelatine) But as there is gelatine in the mm its much easier. I also think is gives the cake a more silky look. Thats with the reg. MMF not chocolate.
What to choose is up to you. One of my friends only use MMF when she cover her cakes. She crumb coat her cakes with chocolate ganache. 1 part chocolate & 1 part heavy cream. Bring cream to the boil and pour over the chocolate. Let it melt and then stir until smooth. Put it in the fridge to set up a bit. You want it to be soft and smooth before you use it on the cake.
When I made the MMF I took some photos. I will post them later this week.
Louise
Hi Louise, what’s the difference between MMF and the regular fondant in terms of ease of working with and taste. If i want to cover a wedding cake, which should i use?
those are gorgeous! Does the MMF taste really good? I’d guess it’s much more delicious than regular fondant, but I’ve never tried it out.