This is the first one. I didn't have any "preplanned" ideas or anything and only had two fondant cutters so I went for the two layer flower cake that ended up looking like a frilly hat instead of a cake. :-) I got the colors after finding a piece of scrapbook paper that I liked the color theme of and made the fondant those colors.
The next cake I made was for my kids. I started about two years ago, making them a heart shaped cake for Valentines day so now that I had sort of learned the concept of fondant, I wanted to try it for their cake. The little red hearts I painted on with watered down gel colors but was not pleased with the outcome of it. It seemed to melt the fondant. I'll talk about what I did to change that the next time I painted fondant. This one was a one layer square with a circle cake cut in half to make the arcs of the heart. Aside from the painted on red hearts, I love the contemporary look to the design.
This next cake took me over a week to make. It is a 10" square and an 8" square and is supposed to be a "package" sort of cake. The little balls around the base of the top layer...are EACH hand rolled which is why they are not the same size. I didn't have a mold...and still don't but I really like the pearls look that I've seen on many cakes I've looked at before. The co-worker really loved this one too so that always make me happy.
The following cake is my most favorite of fondant cakes I've made...which are all included in this blog entry. One of my best friends was having a baby shower and I wanted to have a baby shower for her. I thought this would be the best time to try my hand at a baby shower cake. I knew she was having a boy and knew what his name would be. I was going to do a Noah's Ark type theme which I feel I was able to pull off...a little. I didn't have time to make duplicate animals so I went with what I had. I used store bought fondant on the top layer and I have to admit...I was mortified when I tasted it! It tastes terrible and I will never use it again. I have two homemade fondant recipes that I like to use and so even though it takes a little more time and effort...it's much more worth it when you eat it. I entered this cake into a baby shower cake contest too. If you have a second to stop by and comment, that would be awesome!
This most recent one was for another co-worker who LOVES deep sea fishing. He goes to places like Costa Rica and Mexico to fish so when our admin asked if I would make him a cake...a fish cake...my wheels started turning. At first I was going to go with a cartoon type fish but then after doing some research, I thought it would be great to do a fish that he might have caught on one of these trips. I was going to try a blue marlin but it would have been really long by the time I was done so I thought instead that I would do a Dolphin fish. I looked it up online at Google Images and after i found one I liked, I used it as a go by for painting the fondant. After much reading on "painting fondant" I finally learned that you are supposed to use an alcohol based liquid such as extracts of some flavor or a liquor such as vodka or bacardi. I had vodka in the house so I just used it. I didn't want to use up all of my extract flavorings as they can get expensive and I don't drink liquor so it was perfect. I was able to blend colors and work with them without it drying out too fast on me but also not melting my fondant. Our Public Services Director was pleased with his birthday cake and so was I.
Those are the cakes I've made so far. It is definitely time consuming but it is such a satisfaction to see peoples faces after the look at them...and eat them too because everything is homemade.
Thanks for looking and any advice or comments you have I'd love to hear them.
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