I am literally at my wits end! The town I live in has NO..I repeat...NO bakeries that deal with fondant! Who am I kidding, the bakeries have all had to shut down due to lack of business and 1 lady does it out of her home but she is so backed up she isn't avail for a year!

I need a cake for my Daughter in laws baby shower. Now I consider myself to be a good baker. I'm trying to convince myself that this is something I can handle.

But I need some beginners advice on a few issues...

1. I have no problem making my own fondant and trying it out a few times before the shower (not until October) but is it best to but some Wilton fondant and play with it first to get the hang of it?

2. What supplies will I need to be working with fondant?

3. I have read that it's best to do a buttercream layer under the fondant? Is that true? Is that how you would get "layers" of circles or stripes to attach to the main layer of fondant?

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Yes..You crumbcoat the cakes in buttercream before you cover in the base color fondant.Then using circle cutters and a strip cutter you make the circles and stripes.You add those over top with a bit of water,simple syrup or piping gel whatever works for you as a glue.

I would work with Wilton first. This will let you get the hang of playing with it and give you a referance point for the texture when you make your own.

Tools: rolling pin, shortening, cornstarch or powdered sugar, non-stick mat for rolling out(helpful, but a clean counter will work)

You definitely need a layer of buttercream under the fondant. The smoother you can ice, the better the base layer for the fondant.

If you cover the cake with fondant, you can use water or a dab of icing to stick on the fondant cut-outs. It is also possible to put fondant cut-outs directly onto a buttercream-iced cake.

You can also look on youtube for videos that show how to cover a cake with fondant there are many on there that will be helpful.

I have been learning by myself to decorate too. Though I haven't posted any photos of fondant here, I have done several.
It is better to put a layer of buttercream under the fondant (ganache is very good too).
About the fondant I think that marshmallow fondant is very easy to make at home and very easy to use too.

Allllrighty let's see.... You'll need a rolling pin , some round cutters for the dots, something to cut the stripes with (I can't tell from the picture, but are some stripes krinklecut? if so, there is a Wilton fondant embosser I bought from Walmart when I did a very similar cake.)

I always put a good layer of buttercream before covering in fondant. The fondant pieces can be stuck onto the cake with a little water. Some people use leftover buttercream as a "glue" to attach fondant pieces to the fondant-covered cake.

You'll also need cake boards and dowel rods in order to stack a structurally sound cake.

I personally wouldn't waste my money on Wilton.... If you're just wanting to play with it, you can make Marshmallow Fondant MUCH cheaper and that way you'll get used to forming the right consistency.

How are you planning on making the blocks? I did a cake very similar to this one this past weekend and the baby booties are not difficult at all!

Happy caking!!

I plan on buying the blocks! lol..NOT that talented yet!

I don't know about others but my Michaels has the fondant cutter sets (circle, hearts, stars, leaves, petal flower and daisy flowers) for $2.97 per set. I'm just adding this in for your future reference. For smaller circles, you could use the wide end of your standard and large piping tips.

A large rolling pin to roll fondant to cover a cake and a fondant roller for rolling out fondant cutouts, a fondant smoother, a small artist paintbrush for applying water to back of pieces and instead of buying the wilton fondant mat go to walmart, a fabric or hardware store and buy the vinyl they sell on a roll that has to be cut. I bought a yard from a fabric /notions store and I asked them if they had any extra cardboard tubes and they rolled my vinyl on it to keep from creasing. I just cut off what I need depending on how much fondant needs to be rolled; I use a 12x12 piiece and I can roll and cut out 3 or 4 different colors and shapes at the same time. I just wipe my counter down with a damp rag and the vinyl stickes, I sprinkle cornstarch down and roll. I use a brand new knee hi stocking to sprinkle my cs so I can control how much cs I use and I have less cs on my fondant pieces.

Practice with mmf it's way cheaper than buying wilton. When rolling out your fondant roll out very thin and let rest for about 5-15 mins. before using cutters (dipped in cs or ps tap of excess). When applying water to stick on cakes, remove excess water off brush and apply on the back close to the edges and swipe across the center (you want enough water on it to see that it's damp/wet not soaked/wet too much water will soften the fondant and bleed on your iced cake). You can make your fondant pieces days in advance. I place mine on a parchment paper wrapped cake board and cover in plastic wrap (tightly) and place in cake box til needed. They're still pliable when I place on cake. HTH

Your doing a baby shower cakes please invest in the FMM funky tappits letters (uppercase set includes numbers, I have upper and lowercase). They are ssooo cute. Great for babies, little kids, girls and women.

In case you didn't know, these are the uppercase funky tappits letters. Also, just to give you an idea on how thin you can get your pieces look closely at her stars and stripped decorations ( alot of people don't eat fondant because they don't like chewing their icing so thin is best).

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1715267.html

Here's the lowercase letters.

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1565593.html

the tylose powder mixed with water to make the glue worked great for the circles that i put on my grandaughters cake