um i am new in cake making i have made lots of cakes and alot have come out cute and i am proud of myself. but i don't know anything about gumpaste and all the other stuff yall abbreviate. i have only used homemade buttercream frosting and store bought fondu. i want to find out an easier way to make my charactors on my cakes. i also need a recipe for great tasting fondue. What is gum paste i have seen so many beautiful cakes on this web-site and everyone is using gum paste. sorry i am soooooo green but i am eager to learn and very, very appreciative for any helpful info or point in the right direction on where i can learn more!!!!!!

First let me wlecome you to cakecentral...you're gonna love it here!

Here is a link to the acronyms, it should help explain a lot of the abbreviations:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-2926.html

If you click on the "Recipes" tab you will find all sorts of recipes for icing and fondant

If you click on the "Articles" tab you will find detailed instructions that will give you info on different techniques.

Hope this helps!!

Welcome lilread!
I have only been cake decorating for a little over a year and a half but I have experimented with fondant and gumpaste. Gumpaste is a sugar dough like fondant but it has extra ingredients that make it more workable for flowers and figures. You can roll it very thin and it will dry very hard. I love it because it doesn't get as soft as fondant and its great to work with for decorations and things. I mainly only use fondant for covering. I use the Satin Ice brand for both fondant and gumpaste. It tastes great and they are both wonderul to work with. I tried to make my own fondant but it just didn't work out and I found it easier for me just to buy it. I have also used the Wilton brand gumpaste mix (you just add water and powdered sugar) and that is wonderful too (but their fondant is AWFUL).
As far as the abbrev., I was lost with those too so thank you Mrs Missey for the link!
Hope this helps you and just let any of us know if you have any other questions. This is the best site for help and ideas. It is totally addicting!!
Heather