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5 from 1 vote

Isomalt Fault Line Cake

This Isomalt Fault Line Cake is such a showstopper. It is made with a simple vanilla cake and vanilla buttercream. It is then decorated with a pink buttercream fault line and a stunning isomalt sail.
Prep Time50 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Decoration Time2 hours
Total Time3 hours 25 minutes
Servings: 16 Servings
Author: Sarah Mark

Ingredients

For the Cake

  • 450 g Unsalted Butter or Stork
  • 450 g Caster Sugar
  • 450 g Self-Raising Flour
  • 9 Large Eggs
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Buttercream

  • 375 g Unsalted Butter
  • 750 g Icing Sugar
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • Pink Food Colouring

For the Isomalt Sail

  • 150 g Isomalt
  • Pink Food Colouring

Instructions

To Make the Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 180C (160C Fan). Line four 8” cake tins with greaseproof paper and leave to one side.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
  • Add in the flour, eggs, baking powder and vanilla and whisk until all combined.
  • Split the mixture evenly into the three cake tins and bake in the over for 35-40 minutes. You will know they are ready when they are golden brown and springy to touch.
  • Leave them to cool in the cake tin for 15-20 minutes and then remove and put them on a wire rack to cool fully.

To Make the Buttercream

  • Beat the butter in a bowl for around 5-10 minutes until it is pale in colour and soft.
  • Add in the icing sugar a little at a time until all fully incorporated.
  • Add in the Vanilla Extract and mix until compoetley combined.
  • Remove 250g of the buttercream and place into a spare bowl.
  • With the smaller amount of buttercream add the food colouring a little at a time mixing in between each addition until you reach the desired colour.
  • Cover the bowl of pink food colouring and leave to one side.

To Decorate

  • Once your cakes have cooled place the first one onto a cake board or plate and either pipe (I used a large round piping nozzle) or smooth the buttercream onto the top. Don’t worry if it splodges out of the sides we will fix this later.
  • Place the next cake on top and repeat. Repeat this process until all three cakes are stacked.
  • Using a cake smoother go around the sides of the cake and smooth out any icing that has splodged out.
  • If there are any gaps, fill these in and smooth again. Don't worry if you can still see the cake through the buttercream this is just the crumb coat. Pop the cake into the fridge for 30 minutes until the buttercream has set.
  • Once your crumb coat has hardened pipe the remaining icing around the sides and top of the cake. Smooth with your cake smoother. Any buttercream that comes off on your smooth pop back into your mixing bowl. We will use this to decorate the top.
  • If there are any gaps fill these with buttercream and smooth again until the cake is completely smoothed.
  • Smooth the top of the cake with your palette knife and pop the cake back into the fridge to let the buttercream set.

To Make the Fault Line

  • Once the buttercream has set, quickly whip up your pink buttercream again. It shouldn't take long around a mintue until it is lovely and thick and smooth.
  • Using a small palette knife, get a little of the pink buttercream on the end of your palette knife and smooth this onto the bottom of the cake.
  • Work your way around the entire cake using small amounts of buttercream at a time.
  • Now get your cake smoother and smooth the pink buttercream, just like you did for the white buttercream, if there is any excess buttercream pop this back into the bowl
  • Put the cake back into the fridge for 20-30 minutes or until the pink buttercream has set.

To Make the Isomalt Sail

  • Add the Isomalt to a large saucepan on a medium heat. Stir continuously until the isomalt has turned to liquid.
  • Once it has turned to liquid remove from the heat and add a little food colouring and mix until it is fully combined.
  • Keep an eye on the isomalt and as it begins to thicken pour it onto your silicone mat.
  • Gently move the isomalt around the mat by lifting the corners until it is thick but still runny.
  • Gently mould it over the top of your cup. Using some clips, make some folds in the silicone mat.
  • Leave to cool completley.

Finishing Touches

  • Once your buttercream fault line has remove from the frigde and using a small food brush go around the edges of the fualt line and paint them gold.
  • Once your isomalt sail has set, carefully remove it from the silicone and pop it on top of your cake.