Fondant Fancies (French Fancies)

Fondant fancies with their beautiful pastel hues and elegant stripes were always my favourite cake as a child – well, what’s not to like about a sponge cube coated in sweet icing? They always seemed like the right choice for a tea party for my dolls – pretty, dainty and oh so appealing. So their recreation for my girls was a must – how could they miss out on such a gorgeous childhood treat?

As it turns out, fondant fancies aren’t hard to make dairy, egg and nut-free – they’re mainly an assembly of vanilla sponge, buttercream blobs and thick but pourable water icing. Not hard at all, but definitely a labour of love in that they take time. You’ll need to leave aside a good couple of hours to fit in the different stages and the final icing is certainly a bit of a challenge. Whilst I was happy with my results, the final appearance was a little more knobbly than a shop bought version!

Having said that, the delight on the girls faces of being able to eat a fondant fancy like their friends made it all worthwhile 🙂

Fondant Fancies (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes about 18

Vanilla sponge

• 200g self-raising flour
• 100g caster sugar
• pinch of salt
• 100ml sunflower oil
• 150ml oat milk
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla

– Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade/Gas mark 5

– Line a rectangular baking tray with parchment.

– Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Stir in the sugar.

– In a separate bowl, mix together the oat milk, bicarb, lemon, vanilla and oil.

– Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently mix, until well combines.

– Fill the baking tray and bake for 25-30 minutes, until lightly golden and a knife comes out clean.

– Cool on a wire rack.

– When completely cool, cut into squares with a serrated knife

Buttercream

• 2 tbsp vegetable fat (such as Trex)
• 1/3 cup dairy-free spread (such as Pure)
• 1 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted
• 2 tbsp cup oat milk

– Whisk together the spread and vegetable fat.

– Add the icing sugar, 1/2 cup at a time with a splash of the oat milk, until fully combined and nice and fluffy.

Nappage

• 1/4 cup apricot jam
• 1 tbsp water

– melt the jam into the water. Keep warm.

Water Icing

• 2 cups icing sugar
• water
• food colouring

– gradually add  little bit of water at a time until you have a thick but pourable icing

– place 2 tbsp in a icing bag with a narrow tip

– colour the rest with a lovely pastel food colouring

Assembly

1. Once the sponge is totally cool, slice into even sized cubes, around 5cm in diameter is about right, discarding the edges
2. Paint the cubes with nappage (warmed, thinned apricot jam) to stop the crumbs getting mixed into the icing
3. Pipe or spoon a dollop of buttercream onto the top of each sponge, then place in the fridge to firm up (about half an hour
4. Spoon some water icing over each fondant fancy and then using a palette knife, evenly coat the sides. If you have time, put two coats on each fancy for an even finish. Drizzle over white icing lines.
5. Leave to set
6. These fancies keep well for up to 4 or 5 days