Ok , I finally did it. I made a 4 tier fondant cake. This is only my second fondant cake. My first cake over 2 tiers and the first time I used the ganache under fondant which really helped the stability. It is also my first attempt at flowers.

It was a gift cake, for a friends 40th bday.
I combined everything I learned from my entire sugar shack DVD library. Sharon, I couldn't have done it without you.

What I learned
Ganache is messy but worth it
Fondant is going to take some more practice
A busy cake will hide all sorts of flaws as will dim lighting
$4 a serving for fondant is on the low side...although the cake was a gift at $4 a serving it would have been a $600 cake

What I still don't understand:
How long I'm supposed to knead the fondant until I roll it out. (I'm afraid I'll over work it and it will dry out so my fondant wasn't quite as smooth as I would have liked.)
How I stack fondant tiers without screwing up the bottom edge cakes
How not to panic on delivery
How not to break the monograms on top..that R was repaired

All feedback is appreciated from design to technique.
TFL

Cristy

I thank your cake looks very good and you did good with flowers what are they? keep up the good work!

Thanks Sammie,
The flowers were supposed to be anemonies but they came out more full than I had planned which was fine since I was left to do what I wanted for the design.

Beautiful cake! I can't wait till I get up the nerve to try that

You did awesome! For the stacking I leave the supports up an inch and just put my cake on top of it and get my fingers out of the way. The weight of the cake pushes it down. I hope I answered the question.

I think you did a beautiful job. Congratulations on a job well done!

julz, I am planning on posting to Leah as well because I used the SPS system which I am not sure I can leave them tall and let the weight of the cake push them in because they're pretty sturdy but I may try that on my next cake. It would have made a big difference. I've seen people do that with the dowels and straw method but I'm a big chicken so I stick with SPS.

Donnabug, if you don't have them yet, definately invest in the sugar shack dvds. They were such a big help. And I only stacked the top 2 before I got there. I stacked the entire cake on site mostly because I can't carry that much weight. I'm a big wimp

Beautiful cake! I think you did wonderful!!

sillywabbitz:
I was wondering which dvd or dvd's you purchased of sugarshacks?

Hi Shawna,
I actually have all of them I believe. And honestly I probably pulled something from each but the ones I can't live without especially for this cake was the Perfecting the Art of Buttercream and the Flawless fondant. There is a lot of technique in the BC dvd that applies even when working on a fondant cake. I used the ganache technique from the Topsy Turvy DVD but there is a great thread on here about ganache under fondant. PM me if you can't find it and I'll look up the link. I also have her stacking DVD which I love but I use SPS instead of the straws and dowels. But again, technique is a big chunk of it even if you use a slightly different system.

FYI, I did not buy them all at once (that would be a lot of $) but I have purchased them over time. Can't recommend the BC and Fondant DVDs enough but I love them all. The website is www.sugaredproductions.com

How did you do those swirls? Was it a cutter? Thanks.

Mug-a-bug --- funny you ask that. A few months ago someone posted a pic of those swirls and that was the first thing I did. I PM'd here "where did you get those". They are Patchwork Cutters.

My local cake supply had them. Global sugar art and one of the other online cake supplies carries them as well.

http://www.globalsugarart.com/product.php?id=23359&name=Swirls%20&%20Hearts%20%20by%20Patchwork%20Cutters
They are a set that comes with swirls and swirly hearts which are cute.

FYI, they're a little tough to work with at first. It took me several rounds to get them to work. Actually in the beginning I thought "what a waste of money" but then I got the hang of it. The fondant has to be very very thin. They're similar to tappits. I also used a ton of cornstarch because they like to stick at the end of the swirl. Actually I found if I cornstarched under and on top of the fondant (w a little tylose worked in) and cornstarched the cutter, then it worked ok. Crisco was a disaster...everything just kept sticking to everything else. I let them set up a bit. If you're going over the edge don't let them set up too much or they crack.

I used both the swirl and the middle bit that was left behind because I liked the big dot it left in the middle I love swirls...so I was glad I figured it out eventually. Hope you have fun with them.

Wow, thanks for all the great info!! How did you get all that cornstarch off your black fondant?

SugarShak Sharon is the best, she's the one who taught me all you do is rub down the fondant with crisco For the swirls because they were delicate I used a paint brush and just painted crisco on them...cornstarch gone

Wow, thanks! I'm def going to get that DVD, I love her BC one. Thanks

Your cake is beautiful and imagine this is only your second fondant cake. I also have Sharon's dvds. Both Sharon Zambito and Jennifer Dontz are awesome!
I really love your cake, be proud of yourself and show that baby off.
Thanks for sharing. You inspire me.

Your cake is beautiful and imagine this is only your second fondant cake. I also have Sharon's dvds. Both Sharon Zambito and Jennifer Dontz are awesome!
I really love your cake, be proud of yourself and show that baby off.
Thanks for sharing. You inspire me.