Fondant: An Amateur’s Struggle

Right off the bat, let’s get one thing straight: I am an amateur baker at best.  I bake for special occasions, birthdays, office functions, random weekends, and during the holidays.  I’m no professional.  But dang, I really wanted my cakes to look professionally done.  I was itching to try to cover a cake in fondant, even thought I was scared to death.  Well, not real death, but definitely “I’m-going-to-get-caught-by-the-thing-chasing-me-in-my-nightmare” sort of death.

I usually dive head first into projects and am not afraid of mistakes.  I always have experienced that artistic mistakes can be fixed or modified so that no one is the wiser.  However, fondant didn’t seem to be one of those “oops-let-me-just-cover-that-up” kind of situations.

Therefore, I researched.  I googled. I you-tubed. Heck, I even binged. I found out a few extremely helpful tidbits to help me get started:

 Have the right tools on hand.  This will prevent numerous screaming matches at inanimate objects.  The tools I’ve found necessary are:

  •  Cake Circles– To rest your cake on as well as transfer the cake easily.  Several come in a pack and are pretty inexpensive.
  • Revolving Cake Stand –  I would recommend any stand that sits up off the counter AND revolves such as this one.  Both of these traits make the decorating process much less back-breaking.
  • A Good Buttercream Recipe – I am a huge fan of Chelsweets and follow her religiously on Instagram.  She’s got an amazing American Buttercream recipe that I have started to use on my cakes.  A no-egg recipe is the type you will want to use, as fondant cakes are not kept in the refrigerator.
  • Icing Spatulas – I use the smallest and the largest sizes the most.
  • No-Slip Silicone Pastry Mat – A LIFESAVER.  I cannot imagine rolling out any sort of sweet confection without this.  The silicone sticks it well to any counter so you don’t slide across the counter as you roll.  It is super easy to clean and roll up for storage.
  • Fondant Rolling Pin – You could use a regular rolling pin.  However, I have found that the material that an actual gum paste/fondant roller is made of is less apt to stick to the fondant.
  • Pizza Cutter Wheel – I didn’t see a need to buy a “fondant” cutter.  My pizza cutter works well for cutting off the extra fondant from the cake as well as cutting strips of fondant on the silicone mat (just don’t press down super hard).
  • Fondant Smoother – This is used to smooth (duh) the fondant onto the buttercream-frosted cake.  It’s handy as you go through the process of adhering the fondant to the cake, especially on the sides.
  • Sewing Pin – For those pesky air bubbles as you smooth out the surface of the fondant.

 

I love deals, so I usually check first for anything I need at the discount craft store.  I’m also a normal full-time working woman and love to shop on Amazon because IT COMES TO MY FREAKING DOOR.  1-Click payments are my jam.

Full disclosure, I bought colored fondant for my first attempts.  This is WAY pricier, but I wanted to tackle the art of using fondant covering before diving head first into making the fondant.  Managing stress levels, people.  I plan on trying to make fondant from scratch in the coming months, fingers crossed.

 

TIP: For deep colors such as red or black, I would go ahead and just buy it already colored. It’s simply not worth the time and energy trying to get it to not look dark grey.

Make an execution plan in advance.  I’m borderline neurotic, so plans calm everything down for me.  However, even the most spontaneous person may want to at least consider a plan before starting.  It is time-consuming work.  This will help you decide if you can squeeze the whole project in after work or just plain wait until the weekend.

Most of the time, planning includes tracing and cutting out shapes for decoration on top of the cake, allowing me to simply execute the day of.  The process steps I take into consideration are:

  1. Baking and Cooling Time for Cakes
  2. Mixing and Applying Buttercream to Cake
  3. Rolling and Covering the Cake in Fondant
  4. Decorating the Cake

Allow for proper cooling and “settling” time for cakes. Baking is a precise science, and that is evident when using fondant. Bulging is real, folks.  “Bulging” happens if you cover a cake without allowing it to properly cool or settle.  The weight of the fondant on the cake will compress it, leaving bulges where your layers meet.

 

Bulging was something I had no idea about, until it happened to me.  There is no sight more terrifying than a bulge after several hours of work on your pretty little cake.  A few tips I have followed in order to fight this battle-of-the-bulge:

  1. Bake your cakes a day in advance, let cool and/or refrigerate.
  2. When frosting with buttercream, create a dam on the edges of the cake where they meet.  This dam will act as a barrier and keep your cake from bulging out on the sides.
  3. Cover the whole cake with a very thin layer of buttercream (some call this a “crumb coating” and refrigerate it overnight.  This helps the icing firm up.
  4. Deliver or serve the cake no longer than a day after it is finished.  Because, well…gravity.

Never underestimate the power of a quick how-to video.  Some people ask me how I learned to use fondant: YOU TUBE.  I searched every kind of video ranging from simply covering the cake, making figures and elaborate flowers, to adhering decorations to the cake.

Life is just simpler for me when I am able to watch someone do the thing I am aiming to do.  Watching these videos also allows me to determine whether I need to take another trip to the store before beginning my first attempt.

A key to success with fondant is: don’t be afraid of failure!  I knew NOTHING when I started a couple months ago, and now I feel more confident.  As with everything, the more you do it, the more you learn, and the better and easier your finished project is.

In the entries to follow, I will give a glimpse into my first fondant projects- the good, the bad, and the oh-so-ugly.