Chinese Food TO GO

by Tammy Bowen
(Glendale, AZ)

Take Out Chinese Food

I saw this cake being made on a cake show a while back and wanted to give it a try. Luckily not long after the show, we had an Asian themed Pot Luck at work and I was able to make my version to share with my co-workers.

3 to 4 days in advance, cut 4 square pieces of fondant to match the width of you cake pan, plus icing (I cut the top of the squares slightly shorter to give the box a little extra dimension), then I cut 4 half pieces for the box top (cut the width of the box tops slightly shorter than the box sides so they'll fit comfortably inside). Place the fondant sides and tops on a sheet of wax paper to dry. Cover them lightly with a single layer of paper towel to keep lint and hair off them (do not put them in the refrigerator). Turn sides and tops several times a day to reduce the drying time.

Once the box sides are dry, mix red food color gel in royal icing and pipe a Chinese house on one of the box sides. I used the internet to find out how to write the words for: love, friendship, and hope, and then piped them on the other three box sides.

I used different food color gels in fondant to hand-mold the veggies: mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, and then the chop sticks and cookies.

I baked 4 - 6x2 cakes.

Stack two of the cake layers together with frosting in the middle and on top. Insert 3 dowels. Then, place a cake separator plate on top. Stack the other two layers together with frosting in the middle, and then place them on top of the cake separator plate. Frost all around the sides and tops of the 4 layers.

Gently push the first box side up against one side of the cake, and then use royal icing to glue the next box side to the first, then repeat for the other two sides.

Place the box tops inside the cake as shown in the picture, then the chop sticks and veggies.

Mix beige color food gel in fondant. Then, use a food extruder to make the noodles. (Note: you may have to rearrange the veggies so they show through the noodles. Also, a clay extruder can be purchased from you local cake supply store)

Place the fortune cookies on the cake board, with one cracked open. Use a small paint brush to write a fortune cookie note on white fondant and place it next to the opened cookie.