St. Martin Lantern Cake

If you've lived in Germany in November, you've experienced the phenomenon that is St. Martin. Celebrating the man, I get. He was pretty cool. But what do lantern parades have to do with a guy who cut his coat in half to share it with a cold beggar? No clue. But it's tradition. All children make paper lanterns and go down the street in a procession singing St. Martin songs.

My oldest's Kindergarten makes a big deal about it every year and everyone brings a cake for the bake sale. This year, I decided to make a fondant covered cake. Because... why not? It gives me a chance to try out new recipes and perfect my fondant techniques.

This cake is vegan red velvet cake, which I am totally not sold on yet. Maybe because I didn't grow up with it, but I don't get the draw. Is it vanilla? Chocolate? Buttermilk? Or just red food coloring? I'll try again a non vegan version next time to see if I like it then, but as of now, I remain skeptical. I also found lactose free cream cheese, so I made lactose free cream cheese frosting. I baked it in my recent acquisition, 8" layer cake pans.

 My preschooler wanted to help, so she mixed the fondant. I mixed two yellows and an orange together to get that just lit lantern color.

 I was just a touch short on the orange fondant, but I think it worked out.

 I covered the bottom and top with a black outline to cover the not so neat spots and make it look more like a lantern.

 I decided to decorate it slightly traditionally with moon and stars.

 Don't forget the handle or we can't carry the lantern!