Tardis Fondant Cake

Do you know Dr. Who?
Do you love Dr. Who?
Do you love his Tardis?

I have to admit... I haven't seen much of Dr. Who. I see a lot of posts on Tumblr and Pinterest about it, and I feel like I know quite a bit about the series even though I don't watch it.

A while back, a sweet young lady requested a Tardis cake for her birthday. Her mother didn't feel like they had the time and patience to make such a cake and asked me if I could make it.

Of course I would!

This cake was my first fondant cake I ever did. I was super nervous and a total beginner, but I am incredibly proud of how it turned out!

I used a homemade white cake recipe, a homemade buttercream recipe, and homemade marshmallow fondant. I baked the cake in a 1/2 sheet pan which is 18" x 13".

I will just put a disclaimer here: This is something that may take some trial and error to put together. That's totally fine! If this is your first time making a fondant cake, you will probably mess up. That's totally fine! There may be creases and cracks and smudges on your fondant. That's totally fine! Take this opportunity to make something you really love and share it with friends who will be equally appreciative! The family I made this for LOVED it, even with its imperfections. You may have to remeasure the strips to go on the Tardis, you may have to re-roll fondant because you didn't measure it right. You'll do great! Good luck and let me know how it turns out!

The things you will need:
Royal blue gel food coloring (Tardis blue, if you will!)
Black gel food coloring
Marshmallow fondant recipe (see below)
White cake recipe (see below)
Buttercream recipe (see below)
An 18" x 13" x 3" cake pan
A piping bag with a #3 tip
A rolling pin
Wax paper
Extra powdered sugar
A small bowl of water
A small never-been-used paintbrush
A small paring knife or X-acto knife
A ruler

Marshmallow Fondant:*  - you can visit the original post here

Ingredients:
2 bags of Kraft Jet Puffed marshmallows**
4 - 10 tablespoons of water
4 lbs. C&H powdered sugar**
Crisco or shortening for kneading
Royal blue gel food coloring

* You might need to make this in half batches. The original recipes is half of this, but for this size of cake, you need two batches of fondant.
** Do NOT buy generic brand ingredients! I did this and ended up scrapping that recipe and starting over. I normally buy generic ingredients for baking and cookies, but the ingredients in Kraft and C&H are just better than any other marshmallow and powdered sugar brand I've bought. If you don't have those brands, buy a name brand that you know is good quality.

Directions:
1. Melt the marshmallows and water in a microwave or double broiler until it is a liquid consistency.
2. Stir in 3/4 of the powdered sugar. Turn out onto a greased sheet of wax paper, coat your hands in crisco, then knead in the remaining powdered sugar.
3. Separate a small portion of your fondant and keep it white. Wrap in saran wrap and set aside.
3. Add color to the rest of your fondant and knead it until it becomes fully incorporated, soft, and slightly shiny. If your mixture is too soft, knead in 1/4 cup powdered sugar until you reach desired consistency. If your mixture is too hard, knead in 2 tbsp water at a time until you reach desired consistency. You will use quite a bit of food coloring to get the Tardis blue color.
4. Wrap the fondant in saran wrap to keep it soft until time to use.

White Cake:

Ingredients:
2 cups milk, room temperature
12 large egg whites, room temperature
4 tsp almond extract
2 tsp vanilla extract, preferably clear
4 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
3 1/2 cups granulated sugar
8 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
3 sticks unsalted butter, cubed and room temperature

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350F. Lightly grease your 18" x 13" cake pan. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together milk, egg whites, almond extract, and vanilla extract until blended. Set aside.
3. Using a sifter, sift together the all-purpose flour and cornstarch in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the baking powder, sugar, and salt. Mix together, then add the butter slowly until combined.
4. Once the butter is incorporated, add in the milk mixture and beat until well combined.
5. Pour the batter into the cake pan about 2/3 of the way full and bake for 40 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean, it's done, if there is batter stuck to the toothpick, bake for an additional 5 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
6. Allow the cake to cool completely before continuing on with the project.

Vanilla Buttercream:

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
2 - 4 tbsp milk

Directions:
1. In a stand mixer or hand-held mixer, cream butter until smooth.
2. Slowly add in powdered sugar until incorporated.
3. Add in vanilla and salt. Add milk 1 tbsp at a time until you reach desired consistency.

How to assemble the cake:

1. Make all of the recipes from above, making sure the cake is completely cooled.
2. Place the cake on a cake board that is at least 20" x 14". This gives the cake room to add more depth, such as the butter cream and fondant. Level the top of the cake and set aside.
3. In a small bowl, add 1/4 cup of buttercream and add the black gel food coloring until you reach a completely black frosting. Place this into a piping bag with a #3 tip and set aside.
4. Use the remaining buttercream and frost the cake. You can apply a generous amount since you won't need anymore of the frosting.
5. Frost the cake as smoothly as possible and place in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Be sure to let it sit out at room temperature for about 10 minutes before you apply the fondant.
6. On a lightly greased sheet of wax paper, sprinkle a generous amount of powdered sugar onto the surface and roll out the Tardis blue fondant to about 1/4" thickness and large enough to cover the top of the cake. You will also want to cut out strips for the sides of the cake as well, making sure the fondant overlaps just a little bit. Use the diagram below for more accurate measurements. Attach the fondant by simply pressing it gently onto the frosted cake, and brushing the connecting joints with just a little bit of water before pressing together.
7. Roll out the remaining blue fondant to 1/4" thickness and, using the diagram below, cut out strips and squares to place on the top of the cake.
8. Roll out the white fondant to 1/4" thickness and, using the diagram below, cut the three rectangles for the windows and the Police Box sign.
9. Attach the strips and squares of fondant onto the cake by brushing the area where you are placing the fondant with a little bit of water, and gently pressing the fondant onto the surface.
10. Lastly, take the black icing you made earlier and write out "Police Box" on the sign. If you have a little bit of extra white fondant, feel free to create the little note on the door. If you have a #1 or #2 tip for your black frosting, you may be able to write part of the note like "Free for use of Public" or "Pull to Open" to give it a more Tardis-y feel.

Tardis Diagram: