My first cake with fondant

This has been on the "to try" list for a while. Since one of my favorite blogs (makeit-loveit.com) did a Make a Cake series where you learned how to make fondant and decorate with it, I decided this was the time to try it.

I did it all in one day (baked a cake, made fondant, AND buttercream icing too) which might have been a mistake. Although the cake turned out pretty well, I feel like I won't be doing it for quite some time! lol

Here's my final result:

Now to tell you about all the "whoops-es" along the way!

First, in the lesson on making fondant, she basically says whatever you do, don't use off brand marshmallows. Because this was a quick experimental cake, that's all I could get my hands on at the time. :( It turned out alright, but I think that it would have been a little more stretchy and pliable with good marshmallows.

Unfortunately all I had to work with was regular food coloring, so the purple didn't turn out as I had hoped.

Here I am with everything ready to go:

And what do I do? I break one of my cake pieces in half!!

Not really a big deal though.

So I continue, covering my cake in buttercream as best I could. Because this was a quick-experimental cake I didn't bother trimming my cakes so that they made a nice little square.

Then I was ready to tackle the fondant.

Look! I did a great job!!!!

...Or did I???

Bwahahahaha. Way to go Jill!

Nothing a little icing can't fix! :P

Not so bad. lol I wish I had though to get cookie cutters out and make pretty little shapes to cover it though. Oh well, maybe next time!

And one more shot of the finished cake:

Things worked out pretty well actually. It was my grandma's birthday yesterday, so after the family went out for supper everyone was invited over for cake! It's always good when you have someone to help you eat all that cake, your hips thank you.

After this adventure, it'll probably be a while before I try it again.

I have a friend who makes beautiful cakes and I think I'll leave it to her (although she has since shared some of her secrets which is slowly enticing me to keep trying....) She mentioned the idea of a girly night of playing with fondant - FUN!!!