I apologize in advance if this is in the wrong area.

I just finished making my first present cake.

Two eight inch white cakes with a dulche de leche filling and rolled buttercream. I guess it's okay for my first one and it is just for practice, but I know it can be improved in future attempts.

Any suggestions please?

Here's the picture...

I think it's pretty good for a first try. Some things I would suggest though are:

1) After filling your cake, give it a few hours to 'settle' a bit so that you can avoid the middle bulge.

2) Invest in a pair of fondant smoothers. You will need two, so that you don't get any finger prints or bulges while you steady the cake with one hand and smooth with the other.

3) A thin smear of crisco can help to remove a lot of the corn starch stains. Either that, or a clothes steamer if you have one.

4) Try to make sure your cakes are even, and have straight edges before covering in fondant. Any imperfections in the cake will be seen even after you cover it in fondant.

Good job on your first try though. Keep at it!

Thanks Nancy! I'll look into those smoothers and definitely keep your other suggestions in mind.

Can anyone tell me how to get rid of the shiny look though? I don't like that.

did you make your own fondant? if you add too much crisco, it can cause shiny fondant

Hm... yeah. I made my own. But I followed the recipe. Maybe I need more powdered sugar?

You said you used the rolled buttercream, I think that it retains the shiny look. I haven't used it myself but I want to remember reading that in past posts.

Hm... well, great. I don't like it to be shiny like that. Maybe I need to try an actual fondant. However, I've heard that fondant doesn't taste all that great... *sigh*

Try MFF, the fondant tastes great, easy and cheap to make and is not shiny

Hmm... Okay, I will. Thanks!

And if you have a good source for clear vanilla, you can use that in the Michelle Foster Fondant instead of milk or cream. Or if you want to buy it, you can use Satin Ice. but NOT Wilton.

Great cake for your first time! Try looking at other people's bows. I find that it's the bow that gets the WOW!