New And Self Teaching So A Few Questions
Decorating By Synfuldelite Updated 2 Jun 2007 , 3:21am by Synfuldelite
I am self teaching myself the art of Fondant and Gumpaste as think it is wonderful. I recently purchased the Course book and the supplies so am gonna give it a whirl at it. I have a few questions though..any suggestions would be great also!!! And before I start to any comment that I should take a Class.. yes I know but due to my situation I cant. I am a single stay at home mom of 3 children and also home care giver to my 2 ill parents. So I do not have the baby sitter (as all classes in my area are in the evenng) to attend class. Trust me have tried 
So on to my questions.......
1. How long will fondant decorations store for? I know Gumpaste is awhile...is it the same with fondant?
2. I can not get a perfectly smooth iced cake with BC (am gonna try Viva and upsde down method) but will fondant suffer if coat of BC is not smooth perfectly smooth?
3. Are ther other ways to put a coat of Something to adhere your fondant? I did get a repsonse on another topic that I could use pinapple marmalade instaed of crushed pinapple in a recipe? Wll that work on all cakes?
and last but not least..
4. Can you cover all cakes in fondant? I have seen some topics for making a cake dense for fondant. I have a wonderful recipe for a mandarin orange cake but it is a very moist cake and have a hard tme even torting it as it will fall apart as it is SOOOO moist. Would love to fondant it though. I have included recipe incase i have to change it suggestions would be great
1 box whte cake mx
1/4 cup oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 cans mandarin oranges with 1 can reserved juice.....
Combine all and bake at 350 until done..usually toped with a Coolwhip/pudding mix /pinapple frosting but would change that for marmalde glaze and orange or pinapple flavored fondant!!!
Thanks again in advance!!!!!!
I can't answer much about the fondant and such since I'm kinda new to it myself. Fondant stays a long time just keeps getting harder atleast mine does. As for the smoothing the Melvira roller method on CC works good. I use the parchment paper for smoothing but with the new crisco I was getting to many air bubbles so I went to a High Ratio shortening and that helped. Hope someone else pops in the give better advice. Good luck, can't wait to see some new cakes from you!!!!!! Oh I use the MMF recipe from CC it works good.
Gonna try the MMF sounds yummy 
..oh almost forgot another question lol..how far in advance should i make decorations. Say I have a cake for Sunday....how many days in advance to allow decorations to dry? I know this will vary depending thicknes but overall? Thanks
Hi! You should be able to find out everything you need to know here!!
I can help with a couple of your questions.
You don't need to have perfectly smooth BC to get a good fondant coverage. As long as you have a fondant smoother you'll be right. I did my first cake using BC under the fondant last week, and wasn't sure how it would go, as I can't get smooth BC, but it turned out fine!
I've mostly used egg white to adhere fondant to my cakes, although mostly they've been fruit cakes. Strained apricot jam is also common.
As for your mandarin orange cake, it might be best for you to trial it and see if the cake will stand up to the weight of the fondant. I have put fondant on a very light chocolate cake before and it worked ok.
I'd allow at least 2-3 days for decorations to dry, depending on what they are.
Hope this is some help to you!
I am pretty much self taught......other than all the help from here!!
Fondant and sugarpaste can be stored in airtight containers away from moisture for months!! I put kittylitter covered in a piece of paper towel in the bottom ofmy storage containers to stop moisture.
I only use a thin layer of buttercream under my fondant. I use either MMF or Pettinice fondant. I have also just used an apricot glaze....you need to make sure your cake is really smooth though.
Cakes covered with fondant need to be dense to hold the weight. Maybe you could use the WASC cake (in recipe on CC) and play with it to convert it into your mandrin recipe (which sounds yummy)
As for your decorations for the weekend, I would start now if you need them to be hard/firm!!!
my best advice keep asking heaps of questions and have fun 
I am self-taught as well and have never taken a class. If you don't have any Wilton yearbooks you should get one. They always have a how-to section in the center that's full of tons of great information. That's all I started with and used it constantly for awhile. You may not want to buy their fondant though, since I seen lots of CC posts describing it's taste as not so good. Most CC folks use the MMF (Marshmallow Fondant). I haven't tried it yet, but have heard lots of good things about it.
Making cakes from home is a great way to make extra money and I encourage you to practice and go for it!
if you use Duff's buttercream or another Meringue-style BC - French, Italian, whatever on your orange cake and chill it before applying the fondant the butter in the frosting will firm up the cake. I'd give it a trial run to see how it holds up.
I am completely self taugh as well, get a few books and through trial and error you'll get it.
I always use Duff's BC under my fondant, I used to do a pretty thick coat for taste, but now I just do thicker filling layers and a thinner coat on the top. Same amount of icing to cake ratio, less icing to try to smooth out. I also try to chill the cakes before coating to firm them up a bit. DEFINTILY get 2 fondant smoothers, huge difference.
Also, opinions vary here, but I like to wear gloves when I fondant - no fingerprints, no sticking, no colors on my hands when kneading color in. I find the gloves make a huge difference for me as well.
But it is definitly something you can teach yourself - I have been working with it for a few years now, but never took a class and I can manage just fine.
When in doubt, give it a try, if it doesn't work, then try something else. 
I feel your pain! Im a mother of 3 also, two are under age 3. Ive been doing cakes for a year out of my house to try to earn extra money. I dont have a babysitter either and just having my husband watch them for an hour at night so I can walk (once a week I might add) is like pulling teeth. So I hear ya!
Your best bet is to get as much information as you can. I like buying DVDs because its like taking a class in your home. You can watch it when you are not watching cartoons, and be able to learn a lot from them. Also, a lot of the suppliers you can find on line also have parts of their sites where you can learn things. And ofcourse you learn a lot in the forums here. Some good places to go to for supplies, etc. are www.earlenescakes.com, www.globalsugarart.com, www.creativecutters.com, and www.sugarcraft.com.
Also, I like American Cake Magazine. Not only do they have cakes and how to make them, they have links to suppliers and pictures of other cakes, etc. Great magazine!
I also recommend buying your fondant. I dont have much time to do stuff and I have never had a recipe of fondant or gumpaste for that matter work for me. I buy the Satin Ice brand and its always works wonderful. Dont buy the Wilton brand because it taste gross and very hard to work with. I will use it in a pinch to cover cake boards but thats about it!
Well Good Luck!
Silk Ice brand? i that close to the recipe for Slk fondant on the forum? I will most lkely make fondant to begin with because I am the happiest when I make stuff. LOL my escape from the real world i quess. Been making candy now for years along with cookies so time for a new venture!! I do hae a few books and I wll say my roses went from flat follwing the little books drections to OMG those look real followng the wlton Fondant and Gumpast Course book! Would post picture but for some reason the white is blurred when I take picture and you cant tell what it is lol will keep trying!!!!!
I used to make MMF, but after a rotator cuff injury and 2 broken mixers (a KA and a DeLonghi) I just buy it now. I just don't have the time to make it, and I love working with the premade stuff, really worth it to me. Been using Pettinice, but thinking of switching to SatinIce for a bit, or even something else if I can get my pricing to work out for the extra cost. I like the Pettinice, but I've heard good things about the others as well - really have to do a comparison of them.
Also going to work on my flowers, I have boys and do a lot of sculpted cakes that do not call for flowers, so I am REALLLY lacking in that dept.
Satin Ice is the brand not silk. Ive tried other brands but like the Satin ice the best. Yah, i can hear you about escaping. Seems like I do my best gumpaste work when the kids are acting up and Im molding gumpaste instead of their butts!!!! But Good luck making your own. I havent been able to get it to work yet.
OK so much for the cake on Sunday.....my daughter ending up coming home today..and they called last night to let me know..I threw together my first attempt cake! LOL It came out ok think I may have overdone it with decorations though. As soon as I upload the pics I will post here.
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