All Things Fondant

Since I have decided to make a Despicable Me cake for my nephew's birthday this August, I figured it would be smart to practice making more fondant shapes and figures, as fondant will be a large part of that cake.

I was a little disappointed that this batch of marshmallow fondant didn't go quite as smoothly as the first. I have a feeling it was because I made a much larger batch this time. Consequently I now know what the author of the blog post (with the fondant recipe) was talking about when she said the fondant would be VERY sticky. I had to use a lot more Crisco this time. But I did find that the more powdered sugar I added, the less sticky it got.

Note: It helps to make fondant the day before you plan to use it, as it allows the fondant to dry a little and become easier to work with.

The first thing I made was a minion character. There are some good tutorials out there, but this was the best blog post I found for making the outfit: http://cakesdecor.com/entries/17. I hated dying the fondant, as I discovered that the dark shade of blue that's required can stains your finger nails if it gets underneath them. But if it only gets on your skin it actually washes off quite easily, even without soap.

I wish I had made time to make the fondant in advance because the worst part was trying to get it to keep its form, but since it was so fresh it wasn't quite dry enough, so it would sort of sink down and melt.

Candy eyes, which you can get from almost any grocery store or party supply store, work really well for minions. I had used them once before when I made minion characters out of Milano cookies.

I just used chocolate frosting for the goggles, hair, buttons and hands this time since I was more concerned about practicing the body and the outfit for this first time around.

Note: If you buy the pre-made tubes of frosting from Wilton, you can actually use a coupler to attach a frosting tip directly to the tube, so you don't have to put the frosting in a bag.

I think it turned out pretty well considering it was the first one.

Fondant minion.

Then I decided to use the little cut-out shapes I bought at the cake decorating supply store.

I also thought this might be a good time to practice different ways of coloring fondant in order to see the various final outcomes of each type.

So, I compared the different "looks" of fondant with food coloring added directly to it, white fondant with food coloring painted on and white fondant sprayed with Wilton Color Mist.  

Note: Use Wilton Color Mist in a well-ventilated room. Start by spraying the fondant from about 8 inches away, just to get an idea of how heavy the color looks. Then if you need it darker, spray it again until it gets to your desired color. 

White fondant bow sprayed with pink color mist (left), pink colored fondant bow (right).

White fondant star painted with yellow food coloring.

The pearl color mist is meant to give it a bit of a shine/sparkle, and I realized when trying it out that it's best to only spray one layer of color, because too much color can actually hide whatever color the fondant is (unless it's already white).

Pink fondant heart with two layers of pearl color mist (left), pink fondant moon with one layer of pearl color mist.

So one thing's for sure, next time I will make time to make the fondant ahead of time, so it's easier to work with and holds its shape better. I'm hoping that will create a better minion. I also recently purchased a Wilton 10 piece fondant tool set and I have no doubt I'll be able to use that with the minion characters as well. :)

Fabulous Fondant and a Frosting Faux Pas

I've been seeing a lot of cake designs with rosettes lately, and I've been dying to try making some! Sadly, I don't yet have any of the right decorating tips, so instead I decided to try it using a similar tip that I already have.

I figured that since I plan to be practicing so many designs with frosting that I don't want to have to make my own frosting every time. So on my lunch break today I stopped at Target and picked up some frosting. I knew wasn't quite the same as real decorator frosting, but since I was able to make it work well enough the first time I started practicing roses for my niece's cake, I assumed the same would hold true for this time.

As it turns out, I was very very wrong. That type of frosting just doesn't have the same consistency as decorator frosting, which has a lot more shortening and doesn't melt as easily, unlike this stuff that just could NOT hold its shape. I didn't get any pictures of it, but believe me it was pretty much a disaster. Suffice it to say that the designs looked nothing like the ones on Wilton's website. It was then and there that I decided I would only buy the decorator frosting (which Wilton makes and you can order online or pick up from your local Party City store), AND that I would buy it in the big tubs so that I would never again have to worry about running out of it and having to use regular frosting.

I really didn't want to end the night on such a disappointing note. So despite only having about 40 minutes before my usual bedtime, I elected to attempt some marshmallow fondant. I quartered the recipe, which made me a little hesitant because that doesn't always work out well, but I knew that I didn't have a whole lot of time and if it didn't turn out well I didn't want to have wasted all those ingredients.

I'm happy to say that my luck changed, and the fondant turned out beautifully. I was a little nervous because the blog in which I found the recipe (DIY Marshmallow Fondant) suggested using A LOT of Crisco because the stuff gets really sticky. However, I found that I only needed a little bit on my hands, and it worked just fine to put it on parchment paper instead of having to cover the table with Crisco. Since it turned out so nicely, I then chose to try my luck at adding a little food coloring. It took a little bit of kneading but the color eventually blended in perfectly.

Then I rolled it out with my rolling pin and cut out a star with on of my cookie cutters. It was quite pretty. However, it did NOT taste as good as it looked. It may have been because the powdered sugar that I used was not fresh, which I do know affects the taste of frosting, and the same might be true for fondant. So I do plan to buy some more fresh powdered sugar, just to test that theory, because from what I've heard people will actually eat marshmallow fondant versus regular fondant since it tastes a lot better.

Fondant star

Then I decided to cover something with the fondant, just to see how difficult that might be, because I obviously plan to cover some cakes with it in the future. Of course I didn't have a cake at the time, so I improvised and covered a cup instead (similar shape, right?). It worked quite well; the edges/bunched up parts of the fondant smoothed down really easily, and I was able to cut the extra stuff off the bottom with just a butter knife.

Fondant covered cup

So in the end I was a little sad that the lack of the right kind of frosting prevented me from being able to practice more with the decorating tips, but I was thoroughly excited that the fondant turned out so well. That's something I've wanted to do for a long time, and I can't wait to keep trying more designs with it.