Swimming Diploma Cake tutorial

I've always loved baking, but I've never been much into cake decorating. Why? Because there was no need to do that. I bought pretty cakes at the bakery. But when my oldest son turned out to be a celiac, it proved difficult to get a safe cake. My sons first birthday cake was hideously expensive & unfortunately not tasty. It was some sort of chocolate & bavarois thing because the 'cake architect' didn't dare use gluten free flour and this was what he could make guaranteed gluten free. 

That was the moment I realized I had to learn how to decorate a cake so my kid had a decent birthday cake. My first one wasn't pretty at all, but I learned along the way and now I love making my kids special cakes that no other kid has. They are far from perfect, but I still get better with every cake and I learn new techniques every day.

Last week my son got his second swimming diploma, something that in our tiny country with lots of water is a necessity, so that deserved a cake. A pretty, special, gluten free cake. This is what I made:

And because I know it's not easy making a decorated gluten free cake from scratch I thought I'd share the 'secret' of how I made this cake. So, here's the tutorial. 

Ingredients cake:

• 375 grams (13 oz) of butter
• 375 grams (13 oz) of light caster sugar
• 6 eggs
• 375 grams (13 oz) of rice flour
• 3 teaspoons of cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum

Ingredients filling:

• 400 grams (14 oz) of cream cheese (I used MonChou cream cheese)
• 250 grams (9 oz) of powdered sugar
• 4-6 tablespoons of milk 
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla aroma
• 4-5 sliced caramelized pears (I bought them in a jar, caramelized and all)

For decoration:

• 375 grams (13 oz) of white fondant
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of pink fondant
• a bit of yellow (blonde) & orange fondant
• a black food coloring pen
• 140 grams (5 oz) of blue frosting (you can color a bit of the frosting that is used for the filling & to cover the outside of the cake). I bought a blue frosting for cupcakes that is gluten free)

Instructions:

• Grease and line two round baking tins with a 20 cm/ 8 inches diameter.
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade, 400 degrees fahrenheit.
• Mix all ingredients in a big bowl till you have a smooth batter. 
• Spoon the dough into the baking tins and bake the cakes in 35-40 minutes until the cake is firm and the cake bounces back when you softly press the top. 
• Let the cake cool completely. 
• Mix the cream cheese frosting till smooth and spread some on both halves. Put the sliced pear on the frosting on the bottom cake.

• Put the other half on top with the frosting downwards. 

• Now carve a circle on in the top cake and spoon out some cake as to create the pool. 
• Spread cream cheese frosting on top and on the sides. The left over frosting can be coloured blue to make the water later on. 

• Put the cake in the fridge to let that set while you roll out the fondant. 
• Roll out the fondant on some baking parchment dusted with powdered sugar. Make sure it doesn't get too thin and make it twice as large as the cake so you can smooth it out over the cake easily. 
• Cut the excess fondant away. Create 'tiles' using a knife. Softly press it into the cake at the same intervals. Do not cut, just carve a tiny line into the cake. Do this all around the cake. 

• Pipe the blue frosting on the top of the cake, making waves. I just went from side to side layering the frosting on top. 
• Now place your figurine on top. I made it the day before and made it look (a bit) like my son. This seems difficult, but all you need is patience and remember it is just like making a dough figure. I made everything separately, the legs, the body, the arms & the head. I used a knife to slowly carve the yellow fondant to make it look like hair.  I coloured the eyes using a black food coloring pen that looks just like a marker. I then assembled the body and carved out the swimming trunks out of a piece of rolled out orange fondant and formed it around the figure till it fit. I drew on the knot on the trunks. 
• Once you place it on top make some splashes with some frosting near the arms and legs by piping on a bit of extra blue frosting. 
• Take a piece of white fondant and form it into a starting block. Put a skewer in the bottom of the starting blok and punch that into the cake. Now it won't fall off. 

• Roll out some orange fondant and cut out a number for the starting block & letters to form your words on your cake using number & letter cutters (I use Wilton ones). You can stick those on using a bit of glaze you make from powdered sugar and a few drops of water. To give it a bit of extra shine i used some blue Wilton Sparkle Gel to draw some extra waves in the cake.I also used some extra sparkle gel to form the B for his second diploma. And there, your cake is done! 

A unique and safe cake for my celiac son!