How to decorate the confirmation cross cake.

The chocolate pieces are molded and the fondant beads and grapes are made and painted. This talks about how to assemble all of the pieces together.

 

Tools Needed

Wilton Cross cake pan

8×8 square inch pan

3 small bowls

2 medium bowls

Celtic cross mold

 Doves chocolate molds

List of Ingredients to Purchase

 

Grocery store items (by location where I find them)

  

Spice / sugar/flour section  

 

Other aisles

Sam’s Club and Cake Speciality store

  2 ½  pound Ghiradelli double chocolate candy making bar

Purple powdered food color

Brown powdered food color

Gold luster dust

Bottle of 5 mm dragees

 

 

 Recipe steps:

Have all ingredients come to room temperature.

Ingredients needed

 

To make the cross for the rosary and the doves:

Ingredients needed

Ghiradelli Double Chocolate Candy Making Bar

Gold luster dust

Celtic cross mold

 Doves chocolate molds

 

Measure 2 oz of Ghiradelli double chocolate candy making bar in a small microwave safe bowl. Warm it for 45 seconds. Stir as much as possible.  Heat the chocolate for an additional 15 seconds.  Stir as much as possible.  Continue heating and stirring for 15 seconds until the chocolate is mostly melted, then just stir until the rest of the chocolate is melted.  Do not overheat it in the microwave or the chocolate will change consistency and will not be good. Pour the chocolate into a Celtic cross mold and two doves chocolate molds. Make sure to tap the mold on the table several times to knock out any bubbles from the chocolate so that the chocolate will not have holes left from air bubbles.  Keep tapping on the table until you do not see any more bubbles coming to the top.  Let it sit in the refrigerator for twenty minutes. Then turn the mold over and bang gently it on the table until all the chocolates fall out.

Paint the Celtic Cross with gold luster dust. Color the beads using Gold luster dust. Mix the Gold luster dust with a small amount of vodka to make a thin paste and using a clean paint brush, paint the Celtic Cross with the gold luster dust. 

 

Recipe steps:

Making the large chocolate cross for the top of the cake

Ingredients needed

Ghiradelli Double Chocolate Candy Making Bar

Wilton Cross cake pan

 

 

Warm about a half a pound of Ghiradelli Double Chocolate Candy Making bar in a microwave safe bowl. Warm it for 45 seconds. Stir as much as possible.  Heat for an additional 15 seconds.  Stir as much as possible.  Continue heating and stirring for 15 seconds until the chocolate is mostly melted, then just stir until the rest of the chocolate is melted.  Do not overheat it in the microwave or the chocolate will change consistency and will not be good.

 

 Pour the chocolate into the cross pan.  Place it in the refrigerator until it is hard. Once it is hard, turn the pan upside down with your hand under it so it doesn’t fall and break. If it is cool enough the chocolate should just fall out. Place the chocolate cross on top of the cake. The edges of the chocolate cross will probably stick up from the cake. Take some of the ganache and place it underneath those edges. Then barely cover the edges of the chocolate with ganache. When you are done it should like part of the icing is a different color. You are now completely done icing the cake.

 

To make the grapes:

Ingredients needed

Rolled fondant recipe

Purple powdered food color

Brown powdered food color

 

 

Set the fondant on the table, break off a small chunk and kneed it in your hands until it is soft and pliable. Color the fondant purple by place a small amount of purple powered food coloring into the fondant.  Kneed it until the fondant is the same color throughout.  Once it is soft and pliable break off a very small piece of it and roll it into a ball. It should have a diameter of less than a centimeter. Take seven of these balls and smush them together. They should look a little like a cluster of grapes. Place the little cluster of grapes on the cake on the right front edge of the cake. Make another cluster and place it on the left edge at the top of the cross. Color a tiny bit of fondant with brown powdered food coloring for the stem.  Make a little snake and put it above the grapes for a stem.  

 

Making the large beads for the rosary:

Ingredients needed

Rolled fondant recipe

5 mm dragees

Gold pearl luster dust

 

Roll seven balls that are the size of a normal circular bead. Also make two beads that are slightly larger then the other seven.  Place one of the larger beads at the corner where the bottom and left piece of the cake meet. Be sure to place the bead so that it is right at the edge of the chocolate. Moving forward about a centimeter, place three of the smaller beads there. Then after another centimeter place one of the larger beads after the three smaller ones. Then place ten 5mm dragees on the cake branching out in both directions. I had them curling up and down. Then place a larger bead after the sets of ten. Place another set of ten on both sides after the larger beads at the end of this set make sure the two edges aren’t two far apart. Place two more, larger beads on the ends. Then place one more set of beads to connect the two edges.    

 

Once the chocolate cross is done place it on a paper towel lying on the table.

Get out four bottle caps. Put raspberry, brown, gold pearl and, gold luster dust in separate bottle caps. Place a few drops of Vodka in each of the bottle caps just enough to make it easy to pant. Then take a clean paint brush and paint the grapes with the raspberry luster dust. Paint the stems with brown. Paint the five larger beads and the chocolate cross with the gold luster dust. Paint the other seven with the gold pearl. 

   Place the top part of the cross on the larger chocolate cross attached to the cake. The tip of it should be in front of the first bead.

 

If you  have extra cake batter and ganache  you can make Chocolate Ganache Petit Fours.