Ribbon-Shaped Cake
(Father's Day Blue Ribbon Cake)
Ingredients:
Cake-Shaping Strip (from 6 sushi-mat segments)
Heavy-duty aluminum foil
Sheet pan
Prepared cake batter (from about 1 box of cake mix)
2 batches of Decorating Clay (or fondant or extra frosting) (keep 1/5 of it white and dye the rest blue)
Blue food dye
1 1/2 (16-oz.) container of store-bought white frosting
Instructions:
1. Line a sheet pan with a sheet of aluminum foil. Shape the Cake-Shaping Strip into a shape of the ribbon. Exaggerate the spatial features, as they'll seem smaller after you unwrap and ice the cake. Wrap the bottom foil layer around the strip, cutting the foil if needed. Press small balls of foil into outer corners or edges if you think that the foil didn't wrap around the portion well enough to prevent cake-batter leakage. Wrap additional 3x6-inch pieces of foil around select regions of the strip if needed to prevent leaking.
2. Prepare your cake batter. Spray the strip and foil with cooking spray. Pour the cake batter into the prepared "pan" and bake until done. Let the cake cool.
3. Cut away any cake batter that leaked through the strip. Carefully remove the Cake-Shaping Strip. Insert the flat edge of a table knife between the strip and the cake if this helps.
4. Generously coat two pieces of vinyl mats with powdered sugar. Place the blue Decorating Clay between the mats and roll it out. Apply a medium-thick layer of the store-bought frosting on the cake. Gently remove the top mat, and flip the bottom mat (with the rolled out Decorating Clay) onto the cake. Remove the bottom mat. Lightly press the Decorating Clay into the sides of the cake, and cut away the excess Decorating Clay. (Save the excess.) Use a wet table knife to smooth out any bumps or tears.
5. Cut out a center circular portion of the blue Decorating Clay.
6. Roll out the white Decorating Clay using the same technique as described above. Cut out a portion of the white Decorating Clay slightly bigger than the hole in the cake's blue Decorating Clay layer. Place this white portion on the cake. Cut the white portion to fit the hole, and gently press the edges of the white portion to be right next to the edges of the blue perimeter.
7. Using your extra blue Decorating Clay, form small rolls just slightly longer than your cake's blue perimeter. Arrange these rolls around the cake to create ribbon ruffles. Decorate the center white portion as desired.
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