Unfortunately it turns out that two small children can drastically alter the best laid plans.
So all week I fought for time to work on that post with no success. And because of that I really didn't feel too comfortable with starting something new until I could finish what I had started.
I also didn't feel comfortable with adding on to the last post and not producing something new as well.
Which is why I am trying to continue last week's post but make it new somehow.
Here goes nothing...
Last week I told you about making some fun little cakes for a birthday. Well, they turned out beautifully.
(Ignore the lack of sprinkles! I made a boo-boo with this batch.)
Now, I know that this may not really seem like an update to last week's post but I promise that it is.
But how?
Well, you remember how I mentioned marshmallow fondant?
If you don't... Well, then you must not have read the whole post last week. Tsk tsk!
I'm kidding!
And that's what I worked on all week long. The marshmallow fondant.
Which, as it turns out is extremely easy to make and is quite a bit of fun too.
Seriously, this stuff was super fun to make.
But before we can even put fondant onto the little cakes we need to cover them with some butter cream frosting. I actually have no idea why this step is necessary but I do plan to do some reading up on that. Just because I'm curious.
Yes, yes I know. They are not pretty to look at right now.
I had a bit of trouble getting the frosting to spread fairly smoothly at first so I wound up making it a bit thinner and poured it on. Hence the funny little set up I have going on.
But that's okay! They're going to be covered and you won't even notice the terrible job I did frosting them. Haha!
Now, if you're interested, here is a link to the fondant recipe I used:
http://www.amysconfectioneryadventures.com/2013/01/diy-marshmallow-fondant-mm-fondant.html
It's a lot like playing with play-dough. It's just a very sticky play-dough.
No joke, this stuff is crazy sticky. But so much fun to squish.
And I know for sure I will be trying more decorating with it in the future. Oh yes, absolutely I will.
So you can see that I did some plain white and some blue. The white is actually already on one of the cakes. Which was also fun to do. Although, for future reference it needs to be a smidge thinner I think.
Fondant is terrific for getting that beautiful smooth finish so many people like to see on a cake. And marshmallow fondant is even better because it doesn't have that not-so-yummy flavour that your run-of-the-mill fondant typically has. This stuff is sweet and seems to stay a little bit chewy.
The picture clearly shows how messy my workstation tends to get when I'm doing stuff. Ugh!
It doesn't show the process involved with decorating with the fondant though.
I'll give you a brief rundown of what I did to get the fondant from a ball to spread out over the cake.
You really need the fondant to be just the right consistency for it to work properly. Too dry and it will crack and break as you're spreading it over your cake. Too soft and you can't roll it out or smooth it on the cake properly. So you actually have to knead it like you would bread dough and add in some powdered (icing) sugar until you find that perfect consistency.
And then you need to roll it out on a mat or even parchment paper that has been sprinkled with a little more icing sugar. I really need to perfect the rolling process to figure out how thin to make it.
Now it gets a little bit tricky. You need to roll it onto your rolling pin and carefully roll it back out onto your cake. This isn't such a big deal if the cake is tiny like mine are though. I just carefully lifted an edge until I could slide a cake under. And then I smoothed it down with my hands so I knew where to cut away the excess.
(I will do my best to add some more pictures in the near future by the way.)
Once the fondant is draped over your cake you can use your hands or a fondant smoother and work at smoothing it out until it -- well, until it looks the way you want it to I suppose. Any excess can be cut off the bottom.
I never had trouble with it wrinkling funny at the corners like I've seen some blogs explain but that could be because my cakes were so small. I find it hard to explain what I mean here though so I'll have to try to get a picture of it.
If you do get a wrinkled corner you just need to pull it away slightly and re-smooth with with your fingers. Does that make sense? I hope so.... It's late and I'm a wee bit tired.
Lastly, you can add any extra decorations you might like. Whether it be something made from more fondant or a little store-bought decoration.
Now... It is time for me to call it a night.
Good night all!
(I'll try to get a few more pictures added in the morning!)
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