Yummies

 November 20, 2011
Here is a little cake I put together for a friend whose daughter is turning 16! What a age?! I can certainly hold off to say that my little lady is 16... I would cry! I am going to cry for sure when she is 2!! 16 would be a hysterical moment!! lol

Anyway.. Here is the cake.. It turned out cute! She loves music and pinks and blacks!!

 Enjoy Jennie!!










Hey everyone,
 I have had lots of people ask how I make the fondant cakes. Super simple. Here is the super easy way to make a fondant cake. There are lots of pictures for those of us that need a visual.
Materials (1 tier cake):
2 bags of powdered sugar
2 bags of Lg Marshmallows (10oz)
1 box Cake mix of choice
1 Can already made frosting or your choice of frosting (I use butter cream frosting)

Tools:
Baking pan (round or square)
Sharp knife
Frosting spatula
cake stand

So here are the steps to get you ready to fondant.
Make your cake. I chose a white cake mix by Pillsbury and added gel food coloring in burgundy. I was making this cake for a good friends birthday and she loves pink. So to make it a little more grown up I chose burgundy. I also added 1/2 tsp of peppermint extract to add some simple flavor (don't add too much, you will hate yourself later).
Let them cool. If your cake baked at the height or lower of the pan, good! If not, and it went over, its ok. Use your sharp knife and skim the cake using the pan as a guide, and cute off the excess (use for snacking, this is hard work :).
I freeze my cakes over night, so they are easier to work with and don't fall apart when you are frosting them.
 **The day before you plan to decorate your cake or need it, make your fondant.
Start by melting your marshmallows:
Place 1 whole bag and then a 1/2 bag in a microwave safe bowl with 3 Tbsp of water.
Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between. It will look like this. (A tip for stirring, spray your spoon with butter spray, i.e PAM)

I made two batches of the fondant, and so one batch I made it easy and added the coloring to the melted marshmallows

Pour the marshmallows into a heaping pile of powdered sugar

This part is messy, so coat your hands in butter or butter spray and start folding and kneading

Keep going until it starts forming dough-like.

The way I can tell when its ready is when i can stretch it about shoulder width and it breaks. PERFECT!

At this point roll it into a ball and coat it with butter or margarine, I havent found a difference. Wrap it in plastic wrap, twice, and then put it in an air tight container or ziplock freezer bag. Let it sit over night.

Time to decorate!!

I used butter cream frosting and frosted my cakes. Some I had 2 layers and the top was only 1 layer. Try and make it as level as possible using a frosting knife.

2 layers.. One is smaller than the other.. but hey.. it works.. right.. You wont even notice

Here is your fondant from the night before. Knead and work it a little before rolling it out on some powdered sugar.

measure your cake and multiply the side measurement x 2. This will be the length and width you will need to roll the dough to. (6 inches + 4 inches + 4 inches = 14 inches wide and deep)

Flip the dough over your roller or arm and move the cake under the fondant. Slowly place the fondant on the cake. It will look like this.

Smooth the sides with your hands.. If the fondant was rolled too thin it will tear, so be extra careful. If it is kinda sticky, use some powder sugar on your hands to help. Mold the fondant around the cake.

Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter. Cut the fondant from the very bottom of the cake. There is your basic fondant cake!! Yaya you did it! Practice. Practice.. Practice.

I was making a zebra cake on one layer so I colored my white fondant and rolled it out. Now, cut random stripes.

Apply a dab of water where you want the stripes (or whatever fondant decor you want) to go. Apply the fondant. Water is like glue!

If you are doing layers, I use regular straws and cut them the height of the cake. Depending on the size of the cake I use 3-4 and press them into the layer you are putting the top on. (I didint use cakeboard, but you can get them at michaels or HL for cheap). This will add for support so the other layers wont smash the bottom one.

One straw

And 3.

All 3 layers are done. I had to move the cake onto a platter and the bottom layer needs some readjusting but over all it turned out pretty nice!

For the other decorating I did on this cake, I just checked out some pics from the internet and tried to mimic them. I put stripes on the top layer first before putting on the entire fondant sheet. It shows the stripes through it for texture. The little white balls are sugar pearls. I actually got these at walmart.
So I hope this helps those that were wondering how i do my cakes. I dont do them professionally, but they are fun to make and super fun conversation pieces at parties! So good luck!
Comment if you have any questions. I may need to do another cake soon for HALLOWEEN!! hmm.. so maybe I will put up a video.. what do you think?? Helpful??