Hey all,

So a long long time ago when I decorated cakes.. I have never heard of fondant..
well now days it seems like that is all you see..
So I know how to make good buttercream.. I'd love to learn fondant now
I bought the stuff to make this:
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/16013/easy-marshmallow-fondant-2
And was going to try today..
Any advise you could give for a first time maker?
I was going to look on YouTube for some instructions on rolling ect.. any links you have on hand to pass along?
Also I'm not to sure how to really decorate.. I was going to do a buttercream border at the bottom.. does that work fine? I don't see many cakes in the gallery with this. Also I have no special tools/cutters.. so I can't cut out any fancy flowers or anything. I do know how to make roses out of gumpaste though, would this work with the fondant? Is fondant really tricky/hard to work with?
I've been searching and searching the gallery for some inspiration.. but just not finding what I'm looking for I guess. I want something simple but pretty.. something not to hard for my first time but still looks nice. Like I said no special tools ect.
if it helps the cake is lemon and butter cream will be lemon as well.
And I'm not really making for Anyone, just sending to work with my dh for the staff to eat. I just want to practice making the fondant so I can my my sons birthday cake

First of all, I like your cake and cupcake posted. Very pretty. Fondant is big fun. You can get a good result without many tools. I will warn you through, you will get hooked and start buying soon. I have seen many fondant on buttercream cakes on CC. Try searching "fondant and buttercream". I learned a lot about how to use fondant from You Tube videos and reading posts on CC. "David Cakes" has many You Tubes videos showing how to make fondant flowers without tools. You also probably have more tools than you think. I have made skinny petal flowers from a biscuit cutter. Many people also use mini/small cookie cutters for cupcake toppers. Keep looking at pictures! There are lots of designs that do not require tools. Good luck.

Dear Tickle,

I was once a buttercream queen! Look out, there's a new kid in town and I think you are going to like that kid!

If you liked making cakes with buttercream, you're going to love making cakes with fondant. It has given me a new spark of creativity and helped me to take my cakes to new places.

Working in fondant is like playing with play doh! You get to make really cool stuff like hermit crabs, mermaids and unicorns for your cake!

Just get in there and give it a whirl!
Many good tutorials on youtube, there are links here for many kinds of tutorials also!

Good Luck, have fun and post photos!

Try the jello fondant recipe I believe Tesso posted. She said it was really easy to work with and the taste was wonderful. I want to try lemon jello fondant that is my next recipe on my to make list. I bet it would taste wonderful with your lemon cake. I use a pizza cutter to cut my fondant. And yes you can use fondant to make flowers. Some of the flowers in my cake pictures are fondant with a little Tylose added.

Forgot to add. Make sure that you let your cake rest for a couple of hours after frosting with buttercream to give the frosting time to release all of the gases or you will endup with bubbles under your fondant. If you get a small bubble just prick with a small pin and smooth. Make sure to dust your surface with a 50% mixture of powdered sugar and cornstarch. Have fun.

I'd use this MMF. It's better.

http://cakecentral.com/recipes/3183/rhondas-ultimate-mmf

thanks all!!!!

So looked up that second recipe. I would need to buy 3 more things to make it.. so probably just not going to happen this time. I just spent $35 at store to buy marshmallows an stuff.. I know right gotta love CAD grocery store prices. like I said not making this for anything really just making to practice.. then give away to dh's work.
So would this first recipe taste fine? and I keep reading 'flavoring mmf' do you HAVE to flavor? I only have really dark vanilla on hand, Mexican vanilla.. and I would think it would turn the fondant brown!
off to look at youtube now before bed.

You spent $35 on marshmallows?! Wow...either you're doing a REALLY big cake, or your store's prices are insane.

Anyway, no, you don't have to add flavorings. Plain MMF just tastes like marshmallows. But I generally add some vanilla to my MMF and it does not turn the fondant brown -- I've never tried for white-white though. I think as with buttercream, using regular brown vanilla will give you an off-white result.

I don't see why you couldn't put BC decorations on a fondant-covered cake -- I've used piped BC centers on fondant flowers, no problem -- but definitely the opposite is much more common! Why not try a fondant border for the bottom of your cake? Forming the fondant into little balls or a rope, using just your hands, is not difficult. Or roll your fondant and use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut a "ribbon" that you can wrap around the base of the cake as a border.

And yes, if you know how to make roses out of gumpaste, you can make roses out of fondant. Fondant is actually easier to work with, though you can't roll it as thin.

How about something like these:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1717401.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1735618.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1602736.html
(You can do cutouts like these circles, stars, etc. with cookie cutters, or just with a knife, maybe tracing around a cardboard template or the rim of a drinking glass or whatever.)

This one is fondant-covered, with fondant roses, and a royal icing border:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1247296.html

This looks like it might be a BC border (also with the fondant flowers on top):
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1532544.html

HTH

The difference between the recipes isn't only taste. You want a fondant that is pliable and easy to use. The second recipe has the ingredients to do that.

If you haven't used fondant before, you want the best recipe you can get so you don't have a lot of trouble working with it. I don't know what ingredients the second one has that you don't have on hand, but it's probably a few dollars worth. Just FYI, I use the lemon juice but not the lemon extract in mine. A bottle of corn syrup is less than $2.

If you make cheapo fondant you're not going to have a good experience. Just a word to the wise.

thanks, do I have to add the lemon juice? or can I just add corn syrup?