I made my third fondant cake for my sister's "cute as a button" baby shower one of her girlfriends put on for her. This was a cake for my sweet nephew Jordan! - hence the "J" and the button on the cake and cupcakes! So, if you're all following my fondant journey...here are a few tips/lessons learned on this one!!
1. Try to minimize driving!!!! - the trip to Salem and all the vibrations on the highway definitely led to a bit of "settling"! - which brings me to my next lessons learned...
2. I put a TON of frosting on this one...I thought, the more the better right!? :) It's 4 layers inside with tons of frosting in each layer and on the outside of the cake part (pre-fondant). I had the shape in a perfect round, with nice tight corners and a flat top before I fondant'd it...however, because the frosting was so thick, it couldn't hold the perfectly squared off-corner'd look! - so, it got a bit saggy...and you can see more of the layers thanks to the "settling"...so, next time I think the frosting should only be a light coating just to make the fondant stick so that the fondant has a more rigid surface to adhere to...at least that's what I saw them do on "Ace of Cakes"! :)
3. Don't use food coloring to make brown fondant!! - BUY BROWN FONDANT or use cocoa powder in the melted marshmellows (if you're making your own fondant) before adding the powdered sugar! - by the time I added a half of a jar of brown food coloring, and kneaded it for over 20 min, the fondant got really hard and therefore hard to work with - it dried out a bit and gave me the texture of an elephant's skin!! But, at midnight last night I was like, "OH WELL!"...so, next time I would either minimize my brown accents and use tootsie rolls - rolled out/cut into shapes...or try the cocoa powder method. By the way, if anyone has tried the cocoa powder method...let me know!! :)
4. I would roll the stripes much thinner next time! - just a personal preference probably
I think that's it! - here are a few more pics! - Yes, I did the baby on top thing...but this time, it's a boy baby :) and has a hat and pacifier in his mouth!! :)
1. Try to minimize driving!!!! - the trip to Salem and all the vibrations on the highway definitely led to a bit of "settling"! - which brings me to my next lessons learned...
2. I put a TON of frosting on this one...I thought, the more the better right!? :) It's 4 layers inside with tons of frosting in each layer and on the outside of the cake part (pre-fondant). I had the shape in a perfect round, with nice tight corners and a flat top before I fondant'd it...however, because the frosting was so thick, it couldn't hold the perfectly squared off-corner'd look! - so, it got a bit saggy...and you can see more of the layers thanks to the "settling"...so, next time I think the frosting should only be a light coating just to make the fondant stick so that the fondant has a more rigid surface to adhere to...at least that's what I saw them do on "Ace of Cakes"! :)
3. Don't use food coloring to make brown fondant!! - BUY BROWN FONDANT or use cocoa powder in the melted marshmellows (if you're making your own fondant) before adding the powdered sugar! - by the time I added a half of a jar of brown food coloring, and kneaded it for over 20 min, the fondant got really hard and therefore hard to work with - it dried out a bit and gave me the texture of an elephant's skin!! But, at midnight last night I was like, "OH WELL!"...so, next time I would either minimize my brown accents and use tootsie rolls - rolled out/cut into shapes...or try the cocoa powder method. By the way, if anyone has tried the cocoa powder method...let me know!! :)
4. I would roll the stripes much thinner next time! - just a personal preference probably
I think that's it! - here are a few more pics! - Yes, I did the baby on top thing...but this time, it's a boy baby :) and has a hat and pacifier in his mouth!! :)
3 comments:
that is BEAUTIFUL!
WOW!!! Jessica this is amazing! You are so creative...love the baby on top! Makes me motivated to try it myself
Wow!! I'm so impressed- it looks like a professional made it!! : )
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