I've been asked to do my 11 year old niece's birthday cake next month. Most of the cake is pretty easy and I'm not too worried about it, but it is rather "beachy" and there's a few fondant pieces on it. A few are pretty basic and cut out, a couple are figures that I have to mold and shape.

As a first time user, would I be better off with pre-made? Are there any tips/tricks I should know?

Thanks.

Welcome to Cake Central. If you have never used fondant, a ready to use is probably best. If you want the pieces to be eaten, don't use Wilton. If works beautifully, but it tastes bad. Satin Ice would be good and it is usually easy to find.

Pre-made is more convenient, but stay away from Wilton if the pieces you're making are going to be eaten. I prefer Satin Ice pre-made fondant, though it is really soft and a bit of pain when molding. MMF is pretty easy to make, and it's really cheap too.

You can make MMF from three easy ingredients. Make it ahead of time and let it cool. If the items will be standing up , you want to allow 3-5 days for them to dry.

Go to the recipes here.

I thought I was going to save money and go straight to MMF after reading about it here on CC. Bad idea.

Since I had never used fondant (who am I kidding, I had never seen a fondant-covered cake in person), I had no clue what the consistency needed to be.

I highly suggest you use pre-made fondant for at least your first time. I used the Wilton fondat in my Wilton classes. But when even my young nieces (7 & 10) wouldn't eat it, I ordered Satin Ice. I found it just as easy to use as Wilton, but everyone eats it instead of throwing it away. And since I am footing the bill for the cakes I make (rather than getting paid to make them), I really like to see things I spend money on get eaten rather than thrown away!

Thanks very much for all the help! My niece (who is going to be 11) is hoping to eat the pieces, so it sounds like the Satin Ice will be the way to go. Is there a place online that is good for ordering it?

Are there any threads in the forums that are good for beginners? (I tried browsing through, it's very over whelming!)

I do appreciate all the help!

I agree with everyone on the 'buy it the first time' and NOT Wilton, although my boss didn't mind it. Gross!

Marshmallow fondant is all I make now. Love it! I think Satin Ice you have to buy on line, so it depends on your time line.

Cake Central is overwhelming because there are so many talented people on here! Pull up a chair and start reading!

Hi
I order my Satin Ice from fondantsource. Since you are only doing a few small pieces you could just get some white and color some small balls of fondant with your paste colors. Look up some beach cakes in the gallery for ideas, and maybe pm someone for further instructions on a certain piece.
Good luck!

I buy my Satin Ice from Intotheoven.com. They have fast, reasonable shipping and the lowest prices on Satin Ice that I've seen. Though I've heard us CC'ers get a discount at Jester's (a.k.a fondantsource.com). Not sure though, b/c I've never ordered from them. Becklynn, is the discount thing true?!

I've didn't know about the discount, so I can't confirm that. Maybe during the checkout there is something that I'm missing!! Thanks for the heads up! I order from them because the shipping is super fast.