Louis Vuitton Handbag Cake
An eye-catching Louis Vuitton handbag cake that will delight any fashion lover. The light sponge layers are filled with three types of cream and soaked with boiled syrup. The surface is made of brown fondant with hand-stamped logos and gold details. It takes time and patience, but the result is worth it.
Prep: 3 h
Cook: 1 h
Servings: 16
Energy: 462 kcal per serving
Method
01.
For the sponges, separate the egg whites from the yolks and whisk them almost to stiff peaks. Gradually add the sugar and whisk until thick. Add the yolks and continue whisking. Stir in the oil with the rum essence and whisk again. Finally, gently fold in the flour with a spatula.
02.
Spray a baking tin or ramekins with baking spray. Pour in the batter and bake at 160°C for about 25 minutes. Check with a skewer; it should come out dry. Leave the baked sponges to cool on a wire rack.
03.
For the chocolate cream, bring the whipping cream and chocolate to the boil, then leave to cool. Whisk the cooled mixture together with the sour cream until smooth.
04.
For the vanilla cream, whisk all the ingredients together.
05.
For the buttercream, cook the milk, sugar and pudding powders into a pudding, then leave to cool under cling film. Whisk the softened butter until fluffy and beat in the cooled pudding, a spoonful at a time.
06.
Cut the sponge from the baking tin twice horizontally, soak with the boiled syrup, spread with the first cream and assemble. Cut the round sponges from the ramekins in half crosswise and then lengthwise three more times. Soak them with the syrup and spread with cream as well.
07.
Place the pieces on the sponge from the baking tin with the arches facing upwards. Cover the whole cake with buttercream, smooth it and leave to set until the next day. The next day, take about 600–700 g of fondant and colour it with brown gel colouring and dark cocoa to the desired shade. Roll it out to about 0.4 cm thick, measure against the cake and cut out the top sheet that will cover the back and the longer sides. Trim with a pizza wheel and cut off the excess with scissors.
08.
Use paper to make a template for the shorter sides and cut the sides from the rolled-out fondant. Press them onto the cake, trim the size with scissors and smooth the whole cake. On top, make a long groove for the zip by pressing into it.
09.
Make potato stamps with the Louis Vuitton logos. Brush them with liquid edible gold colour and stamp the handbag. Tidy up the details with a brush.
10.
Colour about 200 g of fondant beige. Roll a small piece into an even sausage and use it, with alcohol, to cover the joins on the shorter sides.
11.
Roll out a strip as long as the groove for the zip. Press the zip into it and run a rolling pin over it so the zip pattern is imprinted. Trim off the excess fondant and stick the zip to the bag with alcohol. Model a zip pull from a small piece of fondant and attach it to the zip. Brush with gold colour to create a metallic effect.
12.
Cut the handle attachments for the bag from the beige fondant. Sew them with a pastry wheel and attach them to the sides of the handbag with alcohol. Two days in advance, make the connecting rings in the shape of small rectangles. They are a rolled sausage, shaped into the required form, stuck together and finally brushed with gold colour.
13.
Finally, make the handles from two strips, fix them into the connecting rings and secure with alcohol.
