Keep Calm and Fondant On

Everyone that knows me knows that I love to cook. Since it was one of my good friend's 21st birthday recently, I decided to go a little overboard. She asked me to make her something for her party so naturally, I decided to make a fondant cake (which I had never done before). As things happened to work out, the week of her birthday I also had 2 presentations & 2 tests, but that's just the way the cookie (or cake) crumbles sometimes! I managed to survive the week, but more importantly I made a cake that I am totally proud of.

This was the finished product. Be warned kids - don't try this at home, this cake by no means was made in one day. It was a 4 day process, I planned it that way so I could actually get some studying done. However, it makes it easier on your kitchen and your sanity if you make it a multi-day process also. For those of you who might ever want to make a cake like mine I'll let you in on what you'll need:

(this cake was made to feed about 20-25 people)

2 packages of Wilton rolled fondant (bought at HEB)

food coloring drops (bought at HEB)

powdered sugar

rolling pin

large cutting board

bread-cutting knife

4 9-in round cakes of your choice

2 large bowls of icing (I'll give you the secret recipe later)

Flower-shaped cutters

regular knife

pearl dust

decorating brushes

water

I began by baking the cakes. I made the top tier Italian Cream Cake (as it is my friend's favorite) & the bottom was chocolate. Both tasted pretty good but the Italian Cream Cake won the flavor challenge by far. I found it on this blog. ¡Delizioso! I made them both in the regular 9-in cake pans. I was careful to wrap the cakes (like 3 times) in saran wrap and refrigerate them to keep them fresh. I also put a slice of bread on top of each layer because I've heard this keeps them moist..my boyfriend and his roommate wouldn't stop making fun of me for doing so but the cakes tasted great so I say WORTH IT.

Another day I colored the one package of the fondant - this wasn't difficult at all. I would put 1 drop of dye on a fist-sized amount of fondant. I would fold & mush it together until the color got evenly distributed. Once it became more pigmented, I put it on a cutting board & rolled it until the color became perfectly even. At this point I would continue to add more drops of color depending on the what I wanted. A helpful trick I found is to put powdered sugar on the fondant if its getting too sticky to work with. Once you achieve the perfect shade, cover your fondant in saran wrap, put it in a ziploc & DO NOT refrigerate it. 

In my next post I'll show how I made the rest of the cake & put the finishing touches on! Check back soon!

Keep Cookin! Ray