Wilton Fondant & Gum Paste Course – Class 4
March 10, 2009 § 4 Comments
Yes, folks, I made my own fondant. I am officially awesome. Or, at least, I feel pretty awesome. They said I was crazy, but I was super-proud of my completely from-scratch cake…okay, minus the gum paste. I bought the ready-to-use stuff. But I will be making that myself next time around! Making fondant wasn’t all that difficult. I used this recipe and made it in my stand mixer, then let it rest for a few hours, but then when it came to kneading it I quickly became worried. I had read that marshmallow fondant wasn’t quite as elastic as the store-bought, so I wasn’t that surprised when it just broke apart when I started pulling at it and trying to color it. Over time, though, it began to stretch a bit and after about a half hour of kneading, it was fully colored. And I thought my arms were going to fall off. Unfortunately, I still had the task of rolling it out and getting it on the cake. That took three tries. On the third try, I said that’s it–whatever happens happens. I am not rolling this out again! And luckily, it didn’t go so bad. A few bubbles and crinkles, but overall, it was okay. And I knew it would hardly be noticeable after I decorated it. Not perfect by any means, but not bad for my first try with homemade fondant.
In class, my instructor demonstrated inlays and outlays, some borders and the favor box. Then she let us decorate our cakes. I already knew what cake I wanted to do, so I only had to make the favor box, my border and my center strip. I spent the past week making daisies here and there. The good news is my teacher says that gum paste lasts forever, so I can use the daisies again–that is, if I get them back after DH took the cake to work today. I just love my cake.
I am so excited about everything I’ve learned so far in these classes. I can’t believe I can now do a lot of the things I see on professionally-done cakes. I start Course 3 next week, which is Fondant & Tiered Cakes. This course involves decorating with buttercream & fondant together. I am really excited about working with tiers. I can’t wait!
Glad the fondant worked out for you! Your cake looks AMAZING! If you try the homemade forndant again, and it is a bit stiff, pop in in the microwave in 5 second increments until it softens a bit.
Thanks, Melissa. Yeah, I will do that next time. I think it will save my arms a lot of work.
Wow that looks fantastic! I just did my first course 1 cake on Monday night and it was definitely trickier than I thought it would be
Looking forward to the other classes though!
Thanks, Molly! Yeah, I think buttercream is more difficult than fondant. Fondant is like edible play-doh. It’s so much fun. ; )