Making of: Manesse Cake

Another Larp-event that called for a cake... The Grenzbrueck Reychstag. I wanted to try something new, so I thought about 'painting' a cake. The cake is a basic chocolate cake topped with orange-chocolate ganache and coated with fondant.
The cake is painted with royal icing and food colour pens.

For the chocolate sponge you need

150 g chopped dark chocolate
200 ml milk
400 g sugar
150 g butter at room temperature
4 eggs
300 g flour
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda

Pre-heat the oven to 160°C. Put the chocolate, milk and 200 g sugar into a pot and cook until the chocolate is melted. Then, mix butter and remaining sugar in another bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one, then add flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda. Mix carefully. Slowly pour in your cooked chocolate mixture and mix again, slowly.
Line a baking tray and fill in the dough and bake for about 30 minutes. Check whether it is done with a toothpick.

While the cake cools down, use the time to prepare the ganache.

250 g dark chocolate (at least 55%)
250 g single cream
grated zest of 1 orange

Chop the chocolate and put it into a bowl together with the orange zest while heating the single cream. When the cream is hot, pour it over the chopped chocolate and stir occasionally until all the chocolate is melted. Let the ganache cool down and set a little. When it is firm enough to be spread upon the cake, position the cake onto a tray and cover the cake with the ganache (top and sides). 


Let the cake rest in the fridge until set (until the cream becomes firm to touch). 

Then, cover the cake with marzipan and fondant.

You need:

800 g marzipan 
250 g  confectioner's sugar (sifted)
800 g fondant
confectioner's sugar for dusting


Knead the confectioner's sugar into the marzipan to make it less sticky to your hands, and the rolling pin, and the table, and... Then, roll it out into a large rectangular shape, hang it carefully over the rolling pin and pull it over the cake.


Now, draw the outlines of your desired motif with food colour pens.

Last thing you do is:


Mix one egg white with about 400 g confectioner's sugar (sifted) and divide into several parts (each about one tablespoon) and stir in some food colour and, if not liquid enough, some drops of milk. 


Now, you can literally paint the cake :)


Have fun!