First Time Cake Maker - Help!

Decorating By avasmummy Updated 14 Aug 2009 , 2:22pm by woodruffbn

avasmummy Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
avasmummy Posted 12 Aug 2009 , 11:23pm
post #1 of 16

Lol me thinks me has bitten off more than I can chew but hey... gotta start somewhere i guess!

I am going to attempt to make a ferocious beast cake just a single level and he is holding 3 balloons.

I have silicone mat, rolling pin, pam spray and a pearing knife, I have also 2 packs of butter cake and 2 packets of choc instant pudding. I have the makings for buttercream icing. I have ordered and waiting for purchased coloured fondant in red, yellow and white and have a black icing outline tube.

I am planning on baking the double mixture in my large roasting pan and then trimming to shape.

The rest i feel is very daunting!

now my questions are should I try to cover the whole cake with fondant or should i just do the top surface and leave the sides with buttercream?

Your tips you wish you were told when starting out would alos be appreciated.

I have checked out the gallery images for ideas too.

Also is it possible to make the top image on the silicone mat and slide it onto the cake and then trim?

gosh sorry for the messy post icon_smile.gif

15 replies
CakeMommyTX Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
CakeMommyTX Posted 12 Aug 2009 , 11:34pm
post #2 of 16

You might consider a fbct (frozen butter cream transfer), I do them all the time for sheet cakes and they are super easy. There is a tutorial on them on the homepage.
If you do use fondant I would cover the entire cake (sides included) and add on the accents.
When you say ferocious beast do you mean Maggie and the Ferocious beast?
He is so sweet!

avasmummy Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
avasmummy Posted 12 Aug 2009 , 11:47pm
post #3 of 16

lol yeah she just adores him, she calls him Roast Beef icon_smile.gif

Thanks for the tip, I will check out the homepage now.

My plan is to read up as much as possible before starting so with any luck I make less booboos in the practical.

woodruffbn Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
woodruffbn Posted 12 Aug 2009 , 11:48pm
post #4 of 16

I don't really get what you are trying to make... What kind of beast? Anyway, I think you probably did right by ordering your fondant the first time. That way you get the 'feel' of it and can understand the consistancy so that if you want, you can make your own next time. I would say that you will probably need some cornstarch to put down while you are rolling your fondant so that it wont stick. That's all I really can think of...

avasmummy Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
avasmummy Posted 13 Aug 2009 , 12:11am
post #5 of 16

Cool - I take it cornstarch is the same as cornflour?

I decided the cost was too high to try and make my own first time round but have to admit I am quite excited about trying again if this goes well, as the design ideas are endless!

Here is a link to a ferocious beast cake
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo-1432576.html

My DD just loves it, and I get the most peace and quiet during the 20min segment on TV icon_smile.gif

CakeMommyTX Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
CakeMommyTX Posted 13 Aug 2009 , 2:31am
post #6 of 16

Oh ok now I get a better idea of what you want to do.
Here's 2 ways I would do it (might not be the right way but its my way..lol)


First Way-
1. Make trees from fondant (add tylose powder), let dry until hard.
2.Bake torte and fill round cake
3. Crumb coat and place in fridge to chill
4. Ice in colored butter cream, allow to crust and smooth using the Melvira Method- http://cakecentral.com/articles/126/quick-easy-smooth-icing-using-a-roller-melvira-method
5.Cut fondant circle and place on top of cake ( you can use a round cake board as a template).
6. Print out pictures of Maggie and the Beast in the size needed, place on fondant circle and using a sewing pin poke holes along the lines "tracing" (it's the only word I can think of)the picture onto the fondant. Remove paper when done.
7. Using royal icing outline the pictures and fill with color.
8. Add dots and border with butter cream.
9. Attach trees with butter cream.

Here are some examples I have done using this method, the mascots and lettering on both cakes-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/its-a-piece-of-cake/3642065615/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/its-a-piece-of-cake/3309216494/


Second Way,FBCT-
I do mine a little different then in the tutorial, I do a transfer to cover the entire top of the cake that way I have no seams and I use a roller to smooth the icing both before I freeze it and after I apply it to the cake.
To make it so it covers the whole cake just trace the cake pan and arrange your pictures inside the outline. For this cake you would do the orange background, white center and Maggie and The Beast, the border and dots would go on after.
After you apply the fbct let the icing crust over and use the roller to smooth out any ripples and bumps, it also smooths out the pipeing marks.
It will take a little while longer to crust because it has been frozen but it will eventaully crust.

Here are a few fbct I did that cover the whole top of the cake.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/its-a-piece-of-cake/3171853287/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/its-a-piece-of-cake/3171856731/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/its-a-piece-of-cake/3171858521/


Hope that helps a bit.
Sorry about the flickr pics, it's just easier to get to them then it is my CC pics.

xstitcher Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
xstitcher Posted 13 Aug 2009 , 7:30am
post #7 of 16

Hi avasmummy and welcome to CC!

Quick question for you. Are you trying to replicate the cake that you posted or are you trying to make a cake in the shape of the beast?


P.S.
Here's a link that might help you with common acronyms used on CC:
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-2926.html

avasmummy Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
avasmummy Posted 13 Aug 2009 , 9:05am
post #8 of 16

CakeMommyTX - thanks for your wonderful advice!! you truely are inspiration, you do such A M A Z I N G work. I guess I better brace myself for a letdown now, as my first attempt is so not going to compare lol icon_smile.gif

xsticher - yes my plan was to make the cake in the shape of the beast mainly to keep cost of colouring down... having said that, I have just done a dash to the shop to get the available range of colours to have a mock run. I dont need the actual B'day cake till next weekend, but I am feeling too inspired!!

Thanks for the reference page, very helpful icon_smile.gif

ziggytarheel Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
ziggytarheel Posted 13 Aug 2009 , 10:29am
post #9 of 16

I'm a little concerned about the size of your "large roaster". Could you give us the dimensions? How deep a cake are you planning to make in this pan?

minicuppie Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
minicuppie Posted 13 Aug 2009 , 1:15pm
post #10 of 16

Ditto on the roaster. If you need a ginormus cake use 2 pans and piece together...after everything is on you cannot tell. Bakeries do this all the time for their chocolate/vanilla sheet cakes.

avasmummy Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
avasmummy Posted 13 Aug 2009 , 7:37pm
post #11 of 16

lol last nights effort was a dismal failure - everything went wrong, so very glad i gave it a test run icon_smile.gif

The cake mix was too dry and crumbly so will try another better known brand cake mix and omit the pudding mix.

I also couldn't get my butter cream icing to spread on the cake because a. it kept falling apart beneath the knife and b. the icing was too thick despite my efforts to water it down and a huge amount of beating.

I did have fun playing with colours though.

Yeah I scrapped the roaster idea too and went for my round pan instead, after I read I would need heat cores or flower nails either of which I dont have yet.

Is banana cake a good one to use for decorating? Mine always come out real dense so might try it next lol.

xstitcher Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
xstitcher Posted 14 Aug 2009 , 12:21am
post #12 of 16

How do you feel about your carving skills? If you are still wanting to shape the cake into the beast and are not sure how to go about it I would find a picture (ie colouring book, kids book etc) and photocopy it to the size you need and then use that as a guide for your carving. Just place your template on the cake and carve away (also you definitely will want a dense cake for carving and may want to freeze it first, a lot of folks find it is easier to carve a partially frozen cake).

If you make this 2D cake you could either cover it with yellow fondant or bc and then use red fondant to cut out his spots, white for his eye and horns and you could either use black icing or a edible marker for the black markings.


Or you could go with a round cake and ice it in whatever colour you want and do a FBCT or even take a picture to a bakery that has an edible image printer and have the picture printed out and put it on top of your cake.

Just a few ideas for you. If you need any help to do any of these or even something different I'd be more than happy to help.

avasmummy Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
avasmummy Posted 14 Aug 2009 , 2:39am
post #13 of 16

thanks xstitcher icon_smile.gif I have an image already printed, and IF i can get the icing mixture right I think I am going to have a go at the FBCT, which in theory shouldn't be too difficult as Its only 3 colours.

At this point I wont cry as I have successfully made a beast figurine out of fondant and I have to say it actually looks like the beast!!

So If my next attempts at cakes are a bust then I'll buy a cake and ice it and chuck him on top lol.

My carving skills shouldn't be too bad, its my cooking thats letting me down.

I am going to have a crack at a buttercream recipe recommended by a NZ supplier, which an addaptation of the buttercream recipe but with more readily available ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
4 cups icing sugar (sifted)

1 tsp vanilla essence
2 Tbsp milk

Cream your softened butter in the mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add the sifted icing sugar in one cup at a time. Make sure you scape down the sides as you go to make sure everything is evenly combined. Add milk then beat until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth when not using.

I am hoping this will work better, the shortening and I just didn't get along at all icon_smile.gif

I really appreciate all the help and support too!

xstitcher Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
xstitcher Posted 14 Aug 2009 , 4:55am
post #14 of 16

I've done a RI stamp before and then painted my bc onto my cake. I haven't done a FBCT yet but the tutorial in the articles section recommends that you use atleast half butter/shortening to do the FBCT. What you could do is use the recipe you have for icing the cake but do the transfer with the recommended icing. Like I said, I haven't personally done it and someone else who has done it with an all butter recipe might chime in and let you know. Here's the recipe recommended on the tutorial.
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-1602-ButterCream_Icing_for_Frozen_Transfers.html
and the tutorial (can't remember if someone posted the link or not):
http://cakecentral.com/articles/73/how-to-create-a-frozen-buttercream-transfer

minicuppie Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
minicuppie Posted 14 Aug 2009 , 11:13am
post #15 of 16

Just a suggestion...have you looked thru the recipe section on this site? The really good ones are starred and you have the option of PM'ing a member with questions. One other thing...a good pound cake recipe (one with sour cream or cream cheese) will almost always be sturdy and moist. Again I would refer you to the recipes on this site.

woodruffbn Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
woodruffbn Posted 14 Aug 2009 , 2:22pm
post #16 of 16

I know you said that you have problems with shortening, but I really recomend Indydebi's BC. I use it all of the time and it is super yummy. I have never had a problem with it. Here's the link

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-6992-0-Indydebis-Crisco-Based-Buttercream-Icing.html

xstitcher said that you need a butter and shortening BC recipe. If you need a basic version of that, check out Wilton's website. They have a simple one. IT tastes pretty good. It was the first one I ever tried.

Also, the WASC cake is very yummy. It's a boxed cake mixed based recipe. You just add a few other things. Here's the link.

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-7445-4-The-Original-WASC-cake-recipe.html

HTH!!!

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%