Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Fondant or Fondon't??

Well, this was my very 1st EVERYTHING with fondant: My first time handling it, my first time making it and my first time tasting it. Yes, I admit it. I've NEVER tasted fondant before. I come from a world of whip cream fantasies and buttercream dreams. Even my wedding cake was made of buttercream. I was completely turned off by the idea of having Play-doh on a cake. I mean, that's what EVERYONE always said it tasted like. So, experimenting here and there with baking, in general and what not got me to thinking about the fact that if I want to become a professional cake decorator then I have to learn how to work with fondant. What better time than the present ,right?




Here's the recipe I used:


http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Rolled-Fondant/Detail.aspx


Here is a tweaked, slightly cheaper version of the original w/ step by step photo's of course:

Ingredients
1 (.25 ounce) package unflavored gelatin
3 tablespoons cold water
1/2 cup corn syrup (Caro Syrup)
1 tablespoon glycerin
2 tablespoons shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 cups sifted confectioners' sugar



Combine gelatin and cold water; let stand until thick.


Place gelatin mixture in top of double boiler and heat until dissolved.


Add glucose and glycerin, mix well.Stir in shortening and just before completely melted.



Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Mixture should cool until lukewarm. Place 4 cups confectioners' sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the center.



Using a wooden spoon, stir in the lukewarm gelatin mixture.


Mix in sugar and add more a little at a time, until stickiness disappears.



Knead in remaining sugar.



Knead until the fondant is smooth, pliable and does not stick to your hands. If fondant is too soft, add more sugar; if too stiff, add water (a drop at a time). Use fondant immediately or store in airtight container in fridge. When ready to use, bring to room temperature and knead again until soft.








Whew.....okay, now that we've done that it's time to roll out this sucker and lay it on the cake.





The frosted cake



The fondant rolled out


The fondant on the cake (before trim)


The fondant on the cake (after trim)


Color being added to the leftover fondant



Colored fondant being cut into shapes


At some point, my hands became far too sticky so the step-by-step photo's had to cease for the better benefit of my camera, lol. Okay, don't laugh but....here's the finished product:










Well, needless to say, I've got ALOT of practice work ahead of me. Tomorrow I will post about my errors, mishaps, opinions of fondant and ways to possibly improve. In the meantime, I'm going to go finish celebrating my 2nd anniversary with my hubby!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Knock, Knock....Who's there?

Hey guys. I just want to check in with everyone to let you know that I am fine. The past month has been interesting to say the least. As stated in my previous post, I started a new job. My hours are helacious (1:30pm-10pm) which has been very hard getting adjusted to and I encountered a brief health issue (thank goodness it was brief) and now I'm back @ 100%. I am pleased to say that posting will resume back to normal this weekend. I just want to thank everyone for checking up on me and for still peeking in to the blog to see if there have been any updates. I haven't given up on that dream one bit you guys. I just got side tracked for a bit. I can't wait for my new project this weekend!! Not baking has been absolutely disturbing to me!! My KitchenAid stand mixer actually has dust on it......Yeah, that's right people, dust!!


Once again, thanks for sticking with me and I can't wait until the weekend! It's 2am right now in my neck of the woods so I'm going to hit the hay now!

 
template by suckmylolly.com