Hey all!
Im new here. Im actually an incredible novice at baking cakes. The only cakes that I've made with any effort put into them were character cakes for my kids birthdays. I was going to start taking the Wilton classes when my DHs company decided to relocate us from the OKC area to the Denver area. (And since my husband work incredably long hours and I know NOBODY here to give me a hand with my monsters, I have no hope of ever getting to take any now.)

And please forgive me for not searching through the forums for these answers as this is the first break I've had from my sick 2YO since yesterday afternoon and he is already starting to wimper for me....

I am going to use Fathers Day as an excuse to make a cake, and I wanted to give Fondant a try. I bought a Wilton Fondant the otherday, so I could see what the consistancy was and what workign with it is like before I try making MMF (I've already warned DH tho that it probably be something we'll want to peel off before we eat the cake, I've heard it tastes bad).
I know I need to coat the cake in butter creme frosting before I try to put the fondant on, does it need to be a crusting BC? Or does any plain ol BC frosting work??
Whats the best way to color the fondant?

And on a totally different topic can anyone point me out to a good tutorial for how to do a basket weave?? I tried one the other day and messed it up horribly. lol


Thanks everyone!

for coloring the fondant, you may want to use plastic gloves. Otherwise it may dye your hands, which i have had happen many times! you just add some gel coloring and knead in until it is colored. I think that any buttercream with work under the fondant. The crusting bc may work better since it will be less likely to stick or move around under the fondant, but I have never covered a whole cake in it. HTH. GOOD LUCK!

I've used any buttercream under my fondant. No problems with it unless I put too much on. Please DO NOT EAT Wilton fondant. It is the most repulsive thing. MMF is good and it isn't hard to flavor at all.

Good luck with the cake.

Hi and welcome to CC!

You can use any bc recipe you like under fondant.

The wilton fondant is great but you won't gag or anything!

To color fondant put a your color on the fondant and start kneading!

For the basketweave:

http://www.wilton.com/decorating/basic/basketweave.cfm

Once you get the rhythm of the basketweave it can go pretty quickly!

Good luck on your cake and with the sick little one. I have a 2yo so I feel your pain!

d

Here is another really good website for different decorating techniques...

http://www.bakedecoratecelebrate.com/techniques.cfm?cat=9

First of all, WELCOME!! The disclaimer about the site being addictive is TRUE! And, I'm in Colorado too - in FC, north of Denver. If I were closer, I'd offer to sit for the "monsters" as you call them for you to take a class. I enjoyed my Wilton classes so much - hopefully you'll be able to find a way to make it work.

I see that you've already had some answers to your questions - take the advice on the gloves - dyed hands don't look so good when you are out and about. LOL

Again, welcome to CC, and welcome to Colorado - the..... um, I'm not even sure what they call it State.

I'm pretty new too (only been decorating for a year) but have worked w/ fondant. I actually flavor the Wilton fondant with almond extract and it makes it ok to eat w/ BC under it.

If you want to color it w/o gloves and w/o a mess, try a zip lock baggie. A big one. Put the color in your fondant and then in the bag, kneed away until it's blended all the way through.

Keep crisco close by as fondant dries out quickly and as you work with it, you may need to add a little to your hands or to the fondant.

Can't wait to see the final product.

Welcome, welcome, welcome AnjaV! Yes addictive is an understatement! Fondant: I actually use Wilton most of the time or Satin Ice. (I use alot of Wilton 'cause you can get it anywhere Walmart, Michaels etc) You can use it more if you are using it to make things but I don't care for the texture of fondant no matter who makes it so it's already repulsive to me. I have never had anyone care about the fondant but I do explain to them what it is. Depending on the color, I buy mines already colored. But when I do color it, I grease the heck out of the counters with Crisco and wear gloves...blue hands are the worst...you can't explain that away with a rash. LOL. As for basketweave, I learned that at the Wilton course. I had a really great teacher and an even more excellent sub. She got me into really looking at custom cakes as opposed to regular sheet cakes. (but they only taught me the basics....hoping to learn much more here). I saw someone sent you a tutorial...and these are the greatest! You're gonna love it here!! And I understand having little ones...I have 3. There's a lot of mommies here doing cakes and they are indeed doing it WELL. Hope I helped a little, I am no expert but I help with what I know. Welcome again!
oh yeah, too much icing under your fondant can create a problem depending on what you're making.