Louis Vuitton Cake

by Orla Cleary
(Sydney, NSW, Australia)

Here is how you bake this Louis Vuitton cake.

Cake Ingredients:

220g Butter
220g Dark Chocolate
125g self-raising flour
125g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
1/5 tsp bicarb of soda
480g fine sugar
4 eggs
7 tsp vegetable oil
100 ml butter milk

Ganache Recipe:

1000g dark chocolate
500ml pure cream

Method:

Mix all the cake ingredients together until smooth and well combined. Pour into a greased tin, cover with tin foil and put in the oven (preheated to 180degrees) for approx. one hour.

Let cool before removing from the tin.

For the ganache, break up the chocolate into little pieces, add the cream and melt in microwave. Stir every 30 seconds to 1 min to ensure all is melting and combining together well. When melted cover with cling wrap for 5 mins, stir again then leave to cool over night.

The next day, cut you cake into two or three layers and soften the ganache in the microwave until smooth and easy to stir yet it still holds a thick enough consistency.

Place the cake on a temp board cut to the desired base shape of the cake. Ganache the cake layers together (do not do top of the Louis Vuitton cake or sides yet!) and don't scrimp on it either.

Use a sharp knife to cut the cake into the desired shape and size of bag. Once completed, proceed to layering your ganache to the outside of the cake - twice is ideal.

Ensure you keep it as smooth as possible to allow the icing to sit well on it later. Smooth using a heated knife to remove any lumps or sharp edges.

To Decorate:

Icing:

I used RTR icing. You will need approx. 1-1.2kg of icing.

Firstly, mix all colours required for the cake and then store them in plastic bags to keep them fresh until use. I used Wilton Brown food colouring to get both shades of brown on my cake. Using the lighter colour cover your cake board and set the rest aside for the handle and LV signs.

Next use your dark brown colour to cover the bag - run a water wet brush over the cake to ensure it is ready to take the icing. You will use about 800g of icing to cover the cake.

Roll icing out to about 3-5mm thick. Wrap it up over your rolling pin to allow you to lift it with ease and to roll it out over the bag cake shape.

Use your hands to smooth it into place over the cake, use a pizza cutter to get a close cut around the bottom edges of the cake.

Zip & Logos:

Roll out 1/3 of the remaining light brown icing and use pre-cut Louis Vuitton shaped templates to cut the logo signs out (I just used thin cardboard which I cut into LV shapes).

Place them in order around the handbag cake, using water to stick them to cake. I rolled out two long thin strips of icing, layered one on top of the other and then used a stitching tool to cut/mark the edges and middle of zip. Using my hands and a balling tool I shaped the zip puller.

Handles:

Roll and shape the remaining icing into handles. Get thin dowels and enter them at the base of each handle. Leave these to set overnight as they can be heavy.

Once hardened, you can then slide the other side of the dowels down through the cake to secure the handles into place.

Finally, I used an edible gold paint liquid to paint over the zip and logos.

Slide a knife under the cake temp board and lift. Very carefully lift the cake and place on top of your pre-iced cake board. You can use a small amount of ganache or else royal icing to make it stick.

Well done - you have now completed your first Louis Vuitton cake!