Sugar Plum Fairy Cake

My heart stops a little when I see beautiful food. I can spend hours on Tumblr and Pinterest looking at food – and often do. I wanted to make a cake for our holiday dinner that was pretty, not too complicated and delicious. This Sugar Plum Fairy cake reminds me of a ballerina’s tutu. It makes an unbelievably stunning centerpiece for a winter holiday dessert table.

The secret to this cake is the Swiss meringue buttercream and ganache. Don’t let that scare you off. They are simple to make and use. It is a winning combination when paired with your favorite gluten free cake recipe or gluten free cake box mix.

I love using the Swiss meringue buttercream because it is less sweet than American buttercream and unbelievably silky. It is delicious and beautiful.

Make sure you double your recipe or use two boxes of mix, so you will have three nice 8″ layers of cake.

You will need a candy or instant thermometer to make the Swiss meringue buttercream recipe.

Our chocolate layer cake or devil’s food cake recipe, would  be delicious choices for this cake.

To make this cake dairy free, as well as gluten free, please see the notes below.

For more delicious gluten free recipes for all your holiday needs, please visit our recipe page.

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Sugar Plum Fairy Cake
Make your cake layers 3 - 5 days ahead of time, wrap well and refrigerate until needed.
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Rate this recipe!
Course Dessert
Servings
servings
Ingredients
Frosting
Ganache
Course Dessert
Servings
servings
Ingredients
Frosting
Ganache
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
  1. Bake three 8" cake layers according to instructions. Let them cool completely. If making ahead, after cakes are cooled, wrap well in plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.
Frosting
  1. It is incredibly important that your egg whites and butter be at room temperature for the best results.
  2. Place eggs and granulated sugar into a metal bowl or the metal bowl of your stand mixer.
  3. Place bowl over a pot of simmering water, making sure that the bowl does not touch the water.
  4. Whisk or stir constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture comes to approximately 160ºF. This will take 3-5 minutes. The mixture will be very hot to the touch, please use caution.
  5. Immediately place the bowl on the stand mixer using whip attachment and whip on high until frosting has become thick and glossy, forming a stiff peak. Continue to whip frosting until the bowl does not feel warm to the touch, a total of about 10 minutes.
  6. Switch the whisk attachment to the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, drop in butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. If frosting appears curdled or clumpy at any time, increase speed to medium-high and beat until smooth.
  7. Once all of the butter has been incorporated, mix in vanilla, salt and raspberry jam and melted white chocolate. Before adding the melted chocolate, allow it to cool a bit. You need to be able to pour it, but don't want it piping hot. If needed, continue beating until smooth.
  8. Add food coloring to tint frosting to desired color.
Ganache
  1. Place the finely chopped chocolate into a medium bowl.
  2. Heat the cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Stirring occasionally, bring just to a boil. Remove from heat immediately.
  3. Once the cream has come to a boil, pour through a sieve over the chopped chocolate.
  4. Without stirring, leave bowl alone, allowing the hot cream to melt chocolate for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth.
Frosting the cake
  1. On your serving platter, place a small dollop of frosting. Place first cake layer on top of it.
  2. Cover top of cake layer with frosting and place next layer of cake on top of frosting, gently pressing into place. Top with a layer of frosting. Repeat with third layer.
  3. Thinly ice cake top and sides and place in refrigerator to chill.
  4. Once chilled, with remaining frosting, completely frost cake top and sides, making top level and sides as smooth as possible. If available, a bench scraper (knife) and a turn table are very helpful tools to use.
  5. Once cake is frosted, pour spoonfuls of the ganache around outside top edge of cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. There is no right or wrong way to do this. I put extra ganache on the plate next to the cake to secure the cake in place and finish the bottom edge.
  6. When sides are completed to your satisfaction, pour ganache onto the center of the cake, allowing it to fill the top of the cake. Smooth with the back of a spoon or an inverted spatula. If your ganache starts to harden during this process, warm up for a few seconds in a microwave and stir well before continuing.
  7. Once ganache is set, if desired sprinkle cake with powdered sugar and decorate.
  8. Refrigerate cake until serving.
Recipe Notes

This Sugar Plum Fairy Cake recipe is gluten free, vegetarian. It can also be dairy free with the substitutions noted below.

For a dairy free frosting and ganache: Substitute Fleischmann unsalted margarine, instead of the butter. I have tried other butter substitutes and Fleishmann works the best.

For the ganache: Combine 2 tablespoons of nut milk (I used cashew milk) with 6 oz of vegan white chocolate chips. Microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until the chips are melted. Allow to cool before pouring on top of frosting. If needed, you can refrigerate the ganache to cool.

I used the King David brand of vegan white chocolate chips. Other good brands to try are Pascha, Rescue chocolate and No Whey!.

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