Fairyland Forest Cake

Step 1

In advance: Make fondant decorations. Tint 16 oz. fondant leaf green, 2 oz. violet, 2 oz. rose, 2 oz. yellow.

Step 2

For leaves: Roll out green fondant 1/8 in. thick. Cut 40 medium and 20 small leaves using Cut-Outs; score vein lines using small end of veiner tool from tool set. Brush with Pearl Dust and let dry in medium Flower Former dusted with cornstarch.

Step 3

For cake flowers: Roll out fondant 1/8 in. thick. Use Cut-Outs to cut 6 medium flowers (3 violet, 1 rose, 2 yellow) and 2 small flowers (1 pink, 1 yellow). Roll small balls of white fondant and attach to centers with damp brush. Brush with Pearl Dust and set in Candy Melting Plate dusted with cornstarch to dry. For castle flowers: Make 15 flowers each in pink, yellow and violet using flower cutter with ejector set. Pipe tip 3 dot centers using royal icing. Let dry in small Flower Former dusted with cornstarch.

Step 4

For fairy wings: Roll out white fondant 1/8 in. thick; cut 3 left wings using small Leaf Cut-Out. Reverse cutter for 3 right wings. Let dry. Also: Figure pipe 3 fairies using pattern and royal icing. Let dry. And: Add shingles on turret peaks. Use royal icing and tip 5 for small turret peaks and tip 8 for medium turret peaks. Pipe rows of beads beginning 1/2 in. up from bottom edge. Flatten with finger dipped in cornstarch and overlap each row. Let dry. Glue legs on 16 in. plate.

Step 5

Bake and cool 2-layer 14 in. round, 2-layer 8 in. round and Wonder Mold cake. (Use firm-textured batter such as pound cake for 8 in. round and Wonder Mold cakes.) Trim wide end of Wonder Mold cake so cake measures 4 in. high. Ice and prepare 8 in. and Wonder Mold cakes for Stacked and Center Column Construction. On 14 in. cake and board, cut center hole large enough to fit width of 13 1/2 in. column. Prepare double-thick foil-wrapped 8 in. cake board; cut center hole in board and position 8 in. cake.

Step 6

Prepare 8 in. cake for rolled fondant. Tint 48 oz. fondant copper; cover 8 in. cake; smooth with fondant smoother. Reserve remaining copper fondant. Position 14 in. cake on plate and add column. Screw in 12 in. plate.

Step 7

Decorate tree: To form branches, cut lollipop sticks into 8 in. lengths. Bend sticks and attach from the middle of the column to the underside edge of the 12 in. plate using melted candy; let set. Tint Snow-White Buttercream brown. Using tip 21, pipe stripes to resemble tree trunk and branches. On 14 in. cake, pipe tip 8 bead bottom border. Pipe tip 3 message. Attach flowers and leaves with dots of buttercream.

Step 8

Decorate castle: To make 4 small turret towers which will be inserted in Wonder Mold cake more stable, cut plastic dowel rods in the following sizes: 3 in. for center tower, 2 1/4 and 1 1/2 in. for side towers and 3/4 in. for front tower. Stand towers upside down, attach cut dowel rod to base with melted candy; refrigerate until firm. Trace windows onto paper and cut out to make pattern. Roll out white fondant 1/8 in. thick, cut windows using patterns. Also, roll out fondant 1/8 in. thick and cut out windows for sides of door 1 x 1/2 in. wide. Cover 4 small and 4 medium towers with reserved copper fondant, securing with damp brush. Attach windows to towers and cake using damp brush. Outline windows with tip 5. Position door. Attach flowers to windows and around door with tip 3 dots of icing; pipe tip 349 leaves. Pipe shingles on Wonder Mold cake using buttercream icing and tip 12.

Step 9

At the party: Position castle on 12 in. plate. Insert 4 small turret towers in Wonder Mold cake; position 4 medium towers on sides of 8 in. cake. Position turret peaks. Flatten pieces of green fondant and cover plate. Attach leaves with dots of melted candy. Insert fairies on sticks.

*Combine Brown with Red-Red for brown shown.