Using Gum Paste/fondant For The First Time...help

Decorating By resarie85 Updated 2 Dec 2008 , 2:52pm by resarie85

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resarie85 Posted 26 Nov 2008 , 11:13pm
post #1 of 7

I am making a special birthday cake for my son this year. I am making a tres leche cake...for those of you who don't know what that is it is basically a sponge cake soaked in milk. I bought a really cute wiggles cake topper ste and want it to look more professional than last year. I plan on using fondant, but as bad as this sounds, I don't know what to do. Do I frost, then cover in fondant and ice a gain, please help someone. His b-day is 3 days before Christmas, so a $75 cake is out of the question and I also want to learn a little more about cake decorating. Thanks in advance for your help!! icon_smile.gifdetective.gifparty.gif

6 replies
crisseyann Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
crisseyann Posted 26 Nov 2008 , 11:39pm
post #2 of 7

Hi, and welcome to Cake Central. I think your best bet would be to try the Marshmallow fondant recipe on this site. http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2148-Easy-Marshmallow-Fondant.html
It is super cheap to make and fairly easy to work with. You would ice your cake with your favorite recipe of buttercream (kind of a thin coat), then cover with the fondant. You do not ice again. Feel free to ask more questions if this was too vague. Good luck!

Cris icon_smile.gif

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ceshell Posted 27 Nov 2008 , 12:45am
post #3 of 7

Another tip for you since you are a first timer, you might want to buy a package of Wilton fondant just to get a feel for how the stuff should work. If you use the 40% off coupon it should only cost you $6. Now, you could also use it to cover your cake but if you learn anything at all here from CC, you should learn that Wilton fondant tastes AWFUL. If it is a family affair and you don't mind making sure to peel that nasty stuff off before serving, then it can save you some headache. It took me a while to get the hang of MMF, I didn't understand just how much powdered sugar needed to go into it, etc., and it's also a bit softer than Wilton. However, you do have plenty of time to learn (and really it doesn't take that long to learn, I figured it out after 3 attempts.)

My other advice would be to get some childcare or plan to stay up late and surf the heck out of CC! icon_smile.gif. I joined this site 2.5 years ago as an absolute beginner--I was only interested in recipes, not even decorating!--and the more I read and learned, the more I wanted to try things out and, with the expert help given here, I accomplished things with sugar that I had never imagined I could do.

If you don't want to search the forums, click on the articles tab at the top of the page, there is a lot of great help there. Here is a good one on marshmallow fondant: http://www.cakecentral.com/article47-How-to-Make-and-Decorate-with-Marshmallow-Fondant-MMF.html . You can find some good videos on youtube too, I found that super-helpful in understanding just how the fondant should "work" for me. Good luck!

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ceani Posted 28 Nov 2008 , 9:03pm
post #4 of 7

im new at decorating so everything i do is by trial and error I've never used mmf but if used the wilton fondant i just have question are you planning to use butter cream or whipped cream? Because I've used fondant accents on whipped cream and it melted the fondant.

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xstitcher Posted 28 Nov 2008 , 11:19pm
post #5 of 7

Hi and welcome to CC!! icon_smile.gif

Everyone has given you some great advice already! One thing I wanted to mention though was that if the cake you are planning to make is to light/soft (and I've never made a sponge cake so can't say) the fondant may be to heavy for it. You might want to give it a trial run first.

Also MMF is really good but I just recently tried Michelle Foster's Fondant and in my opinion tastes even better! You can always try making half batches of each and smaller cakes and see what you think. Both of these recipes are in the recipes section.

Here's a link that you can go to that might give you some more help as well:

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=6161454#6161454


If you have any other questions please feel free to PM or just post here. Have a great weekend and good luck!

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tracey1970 Posted 29 Nov 2008 , 2:06am
post #6 of 7

Just to add to the already great advice... if you don't feel like making your own fondant, Satin Ice is a good choice to buy. It works like a charm and tastes good too (in my opinion, anyway).

resarie85 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
resarie85 Posted 2 Dec 2008 , 2:52pm
post #7 of 7

Wow, lots of great advice. Thanks everyone. I have already bought the fondant, so I am kind of stuck with it. Not sure what brand (too lazy to get up and look, big fat pregnant belly...lol) but, I figure, if they don't like the fondant, they can just take it off. Point being I really want to make a pretty cake, especially considering my son notices the difference between pretty/ugly cakes. But this is some awesome info, thanks sooooo much. Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.

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