Debbie Brown’s 50 Easy Party Cakes

I got Debbie Brown’s 50 Easy Party Cakes in the mail yesterday, and I love it! The cakes are absolutely adorable, and I can’t wait to have an excuse to make one. She also breaks down the steps in a way that makes it seem pretty easy.

The only thing I wish it had were the approximate serving amounts for each cake, but I suppose I could figure that out myself based on the pan shape and size used to make the cake, although some of it might be lost during carving. That will have to go into the equation as well I guess.

Luau Themed Baby ShowerCake

I made this cake as requested by a friend for a luau themed baby shower. It is white cake with buttercream icing and marshmallow fondant. The flowers and leaves are fondant. 8″ and 10″ rounds 5″ high each tier.

This was the most difficult cake I’ve done so far.

I’ve learned a lot of lessons from making this cake. #1: I have grossly been undercharging for my cakes. I know for a fact that other bakers would have charged a lot more these cakes. It really hit me when my (wonderful) husband had to go to the store three different times to get more ingredients. I had really underestimated the ingredients, supplies, and hours I would spend making flowers, baking, leveling, making icing, icing the cake, making fondant, kneading and rolling out fondant, covering the cake, stacking the cake, and decorating the cake. #2: Cakes are really difficult to make. Big cakes are a lot more difficult. I’m not that skilled yet, and I need a lot more practice. #3: I could save a lot of time and energy if I just bought fondant instead of making it myself. Plus the consistency would be more reliable.

This cake was so mentally and physically exhausting, I considered giving up on cakes altogether. It didn’t help that I was really tired by Wednesday of this week from taking care of the baby. The tiredness continues to add up as the week continues. I already committed to making a baby shower cake at the end of July though.

I’m not going to take any more orders for now.

I have a lot of work to do for Cady’s party anyway.

I think taking a break from cakes will help.

Great Site to Buy Fondant

I just got 30 pounds of Satin Ice fondant from CakeSupplies4U and got an awesome deal. Even after shipping it cost $75 less than in a local shop, which is quite a big chunk of money. It only took 4 days to get here, and they have Paypal, which is always a plus for me. These were their regular prices and not temporary sale prices.

Satin Ice seems to be the brand a lot of professionals (even the quite famous ones) and at home bakers use. I’m sure when they purchase it in large quantities, they get pretty good deals. Plus with all the fondant they use, not having to make it saves a lot of time for people who already put a lot of time into their work. Sharon Zambito also said that buying fondant ensures that the consistency is always the same.

I usually make marshmallow fondant to cover my cakes with, but I bought 5 pounds of black and 5 pounds of red because those deep, dark colors are difficult to do, especially in large quantities– like to cover a whole cake. Also, red and black food coloring can taste bitter in large amounts.

I also got 20 pounds of chocolate since I decided it was worth just buying it rather than making it.

There are two ways that I’ve read online to make chocolate fondant. One would be to melt chocolate candy wafers, mix with some other ingredients, and the next day knead into already made fondant, which I would have to buy anyway. I’m not sure if this method works with marshmallow fondant, but if it did, I’d have to make that the day before as well.

The other way would be to make marshmallow chocolate fondant to begin with, but you have to make it the same day you’ll use it, which means leftovers won’t be any good either.

I might try the first method someday to make white chocolate fondant, which I’ve heard is pretty good., but it will be quite a bit of work. There’s already so much kneading involved when using fondant as it is, and large amounts can be pretty tiring. I’d like to try it once to just to do it, but I might just make it on special request or for my family.

Green & Brown Elephant Baby Shower Cake

A friend of mine requested a green and brown cake with fondant to match the theme for the baby shower she was throwing for her sister in law as well as the bedding for the new baby boy, Rylan (a new name to me, and I love unique names). She also mentioned that her sister and law loved lions and elephants, so this is what I came up with…

It’s a white cake with buttercream. 8″ in diameter and 4.5″ high. Covered in homemade marshmallow fondant with fondant accents.

P.S. I’m waiting to post this on Facebook until after she picks it up, so she’s not the last to see it. You guys are getting a sneak peek 🙂

Flawless Fondant DVD Review

Like I said previously, I’ve purchased a few SugarEd Production DVDs to further my cake education and will be writing reviews on each one with no compensation for any positive recommendations that I make.

That being said, I loved this DVD! Even though the classes did a good job of laying down the foundation for my cake decorating, there were very many tips, tricks, and informational tidbits that I learned in this 2.5hr video that I never heard about before. I would definitely recommend this DVD. It’s possible that little bits of the information found in this video can be learned through vast internet searching, but as far as I know (and I do lots of internet searching), this is the best way to get all of the tips in one place in an organized manner with nothing left out and nothing unncessary.

I’m definitely going to start doing fondant her way.

Making Marshmallow Fondant for the First Time

I hope my hands look better than that when I’m not kneading.

I made marshmallow fondant for the first time, and it was very successful!

To be honest, I was worried nearly the whole time I was making it, and when I first started kneading it again for use the next day (some people say to let it rest for 24 hours). It seem difficult to work with, but a few seconds in the microwave took care of that.

I used “Rhonda’s Ultimate MMF” recipe from CakeCentral, but since I didn’t have any lemon extract, I just put in that much more lemon juice. I heated the marshmallows in a pot instead of the microwave, and I mixed it by hand rather than by mixer, which I know some people do as well.

I didn’t know how it would taste, but I found out it’s sooooooo good! I believe it was BakeAt350 who best described it as a “sugar pillow.” I’m going to start quoting that by the way.

I used this homemade marshmallow fondant to cover the calla lilly cake I made for my Auntie Em’s birthday. She brought it to her church, and I heard it was both delicious and an aesthetic hit. The card I had attached to the box with the description of the cake said that it was covered in “rolled marshmallow icing” to keep with my promise to improve fondant’s public relations by using names with more positive connotations.

My husband rolling the fondant for me.
He’s so sweet and helps me a lot.

Calla Lilly Cake

I made this calla lilly cake for my Auntie Em’s birthday. It’s chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream icing and covered in marshmallow fondant. The flowers are a 50/50 blend of gumpaste and fondant.

Cake Club and Fondant Calla Lilies

Cake club was great today. Everything went smoothly and started/ended on time. I really look forward to meeting again next month.

Today we made fondant calla lilies. These would be great for any cake, but especially for weddings and Mother’s Day (which is coming up) because they are so lovely and elegant.

Now that I’m home, I wish I had taken step by step pictures of how I made my calla lilies. I didn’t make them by the book, and I think they look more realistic. Not to mention it’s easier and requires less supplies than doing it their way. The flowers are so easy, and I promise I’ll post a proper tutorial next time I make them. I’ve never had a tutorial post before, but I should start writing them (even though there are probably tutorials out there in the internet world already) in case any of my friends are interested in knowing how to do these things.

I’ll try my best to explain it for now.

Supplies:
~ Clean work surface (having a food safe mat or vinyl/plastic place mat to work on would be great)
~ 1/2 fondant, 1/2 gumpaste blend (you can buy these or make them at home)
~ Cone shaped drinkingcup or snow cone cup (or something similarly shaped)
~ Yellow gel icing color (don’t use the liquid stuff from the grocery store, it’s too watery)
~ small rolling pin
~ heart shaped cookie cutter (I like using a big cutter to make big flowers)
~ plastic sandwich bag or air tight plastic container
~ piping gel or gum glue (recipes can be found online)
~ small food safe paint brush (or brush that you ONLY use for food)
~ toothpicks
~ cornstarch/powdered sugar blend

To prep:
1. Lightly dust your work surface with the 50/50 mix of powedered sugar and cornstarch. You only need a small amount to keep your fondant/gumpaste from sticking.
2. Do the same with the outside of your cups.

For the flower:
1. Roll your fondant gumpaste mix very thin (1/16 in) until you can almost see through it.
2. Cut it with your heart shaped cookie cutter.
3. Put the left overs in your plastic bag or air tight container because it dries/hardens very quickly.
4. Take your heart and wrap it around the tip of your cone with the curves of your heart on top and overlapping each other. “Paint” a little piping gel or gum glue where they will over lap to seal it closed.
5. Use your fingers, the handle of a small paint brush, or toothpicks to roll the edges of the bottom of the flower upward and outward from the cup.
6. Where the point of the heart was, pull it out gently and mold with your fingers to a more defined point.

For the flower center:
1. Use a toothpick to color a small amount of fondant/gumpaste yellow. Once you’ve dipped a toothpick into the fondant, use a new toothpick next time. Do not put a contaminated toothpick back into your icing. No double dipping 🙂
2. Roll out a small amount into a little cylinder with one end pointed (kind of like a carrot).
3. Once your flower has dried and hardened, use gum glue/piping gel and a brush to glue your center inside.

You can also add a calyx and leaves to your flower. You can also use a mixture of vanilla and luster dust to paint your flower center and add a shine to it. You can also use green sugar dust to paint the outside of your flower with a gradual change in color or do the inside of your flower that way with the yellow. I’ll explain more next time.

Make sure to always put the fondant/gumpaste in an airtight container when you’re not working with it to keep it from drying out.

Fondant unfairly gets a bad name sometimes

I’ve noticed there are those who immediately react to fondant with a big yuck without even giving it a chance. I’ll admit, I used to be one of those people who left it on my plate without even trying it. The truth is, I didn’t know what it was. I knew it was some sort of edible material that was used for molding, so I thought it was like clay. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the impression a lot of people get.

Also, there are some kinds of fondant that don’t taste that great. I’ll be honest, Wilton has a bad reputation for making a bad tasting fondant. I tried it once, but I only ate a small flower and not a whole cake covered in it. I actually thought that little sugar flower tasted good.

That brings me to my next point. Fondant = sugar. I read the chemical description of fondant, and it’s something about the sugar being supersaturated into a form where the crystals do something that makes it all smooth. I don’t remember exactly. The point is, cake is sugar. Icing is sugar. Fondant is sugar, too. Why hate on it when you know you love sugar? A lot of people even make it with marshmallows, and those are delicious!

Anyone who has ever seen any kind of cake show or looked at wedding cakes knows that fondant is very popular. It gives a nice smooth cover to a cake that can also be decorated with many different options. It can also be molded and sculpted into different items.

I’ve decided, to make fondant more appetizing. I’m going to start calling it something else. Sometimes, having a positive image is all about connotation. Some words have a negative or a positive one, and to some people, fondant brings negative ideas to mind.

Here’s my list of possible names I will start using (that I’m sure other people have called fondant already): rolled sugar, sculpting sugar, modeling sugar, and rolled icing. I think a cake covered in rolled icing sounds good as well as modeling sugar baby booties and sculpting sugar animals. I’ll probably only use one term at a time for an entire cake though because I don’t want to confuse people and make them think they are all different materials even though they are synonymous (or that I want them to think that).

Wilton Course III Lesson 2: First Gift Box Cake

I had a headache and was feeling too tired to go to class tonight, but I did the lesson myself at home. I figured since this was a lesson I thought I could do on my own, I might as well give myself a break. I didn’t want to drive all the way out there (5 miles away, lol), sit in an overcrowded class (storage room), not really get much help (because the class is over crowded), and work in a space where I don’t have room to move (especially since I’d be rolling out fondant with a rolling pin).

I texted my instructor and let her know I wouldn’t make it tonight, but that I’d see her tomorrow for Course II at the other location (where it’s in a nice bright classroom that isn’t overcrowded and has lots of space to spread out and work).

I made a Tiffany box cake. I still need to make the rosebuds that we’ll use in either the next or final class to make roses. I’m sure I’ll have time this weekend.

Here’s my first attempt at a gift box cake. I can already think of things I’ll do differently next time to make it better and easier, but I’m happy with the way it turned out.