Star Trek Enterprise Cake

Oh the things I do for cake.  My brother-in-law Steven asked for a Star Trek Enterprise Cake for his birthday.  6 months in advance.  He is a Star Trek fan and since the new movie, Star Trek: Into Darkness, came out the same weekend as his birthday he thought it fitting to celebrate both.  This has been my most daunting cake challenge to date.  I would like to apologize to all those Star Trek fans that boldly go to my silly little blog looking for a good Star Trek Enterprise cake.  This is not.  I am an amateur at best.  I make things up as I go.  I know the dimensions are wrong.  I know the colors are wrong.  I know the size of the saucer is wrong.  This is my attempt at making a passable caricature of a Star Trek Cake. 

That being said.  I think I did a pretty good job at making it recognizable.

This is the first time I made my own fondant.

Marshmallow Fondant

• 16 oz (one large package) mini marshmallows
• 3 Tbs water
• 2 tsps clear vanilla
• 8 cups (2 pound bag) of powdered sugar
• Butter or Shortening
• Add mini marshmallows and water to a double boiler on simmer.  Mini marshmallows melt faster.  Stir until smooth and add vanilla.  Grease a plastic or metal spoon with butter or shortening for stirring.  Add 1 cup at a time of powdered sugar and stir in until it becomes too thick.  Dump it out on a powdered sugar dusted table top and knead in the rest of the powdered sugar until it becomes as takes on the texture of play dough.  Grease up some clear plastic wrap and wrap the fondant ball multiple times to make an air tight seal.  Put the wrapped ball into another large plastic bag or wrap in tin foil.  Refrigerate overnight.  The fondant is good for 2+ weeks in the fridge.  When you are ready to use it cut off a chunk and microwave for 10+ seconds at a time until it is more pliable.  Roll it out on a powdered sugar covered surface and use as needed.  One quarter of the fondant ball is enough to cover an 8" cake.  I used every bit of fondant for the Enterprise cake. 

This is J's practice piece of Fondant.  I asked him to do the writing on the saucer "USS Enterprise NCC-1701" because I think his handwriting is better than mine.  Writing on fondant with cake pens is very different from normal writing with pen and paper so he had to practice first.  

 I had to rearrange my fridge to fit it all it.  I made the cake in multiple sections.

 Fitting it into the car was equally challenging.  Along with the Star Trek Enterprise Cake I needed to return Dad's USS Enterprise model WWII ship which J painted for him, my usual shipment of saved egg cartons since they have chickens that could use egg cartons, and I made some cake pops for Mom.

 But in the end it was all worth it.  Once I got the thing put together with popsicle and lollipop sticks.

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Insert Star Trek music here.

Engage.

 Here is Steven, our birthday boy.  We had some chocolate on chocolate action.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

• 1 and 2/3 cup flour
• 1 and 1/2 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 and 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 and 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Beat all the ingredients together and bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes.

Chocolate ButterCream Frosting

• ½ cup shortening
• ½ cup butter – softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 – 4 Tbs heavy cream
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• 1 Tbs Meringue Powder
• 4 cups powdered sugar

Chocolate Ganache Filling

• 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• Chop up chocolate. Heat cream in saucepan.  When it is almost at a boil pour cream over chocolate and stir until melted.  Refrigerate until cool.  Whip together.

End music.