My First Attempt...

I am NOT a baker. Never have been. I have always envied those who can make those beautiful cakes.  I can sit and watch Ace of Cakes or Ultimate Cake Off  for hours on end in amazement.  I have a (not so) secret desire to go to pastry school (or at least take a few cake design classes) and be able to do that.  Well, I got a wild hair and googled fondant recipes Saturday before we headed to the grocery.  I picked up what I needed and was determined to see what I could do with it based on what I learned from the internet.

So, I don't think Charm City Cakes is gonna come calling, offering me a job as a cake decorator.  While my first attempt at making buttercream icing was a sucess, my first attempt at making fondant was, well, pretty sad.  I found an 'easy' fondant recipe online at http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm and thought.."I can do that".  Well, at least I tried.

I baked a cake this morning.  It turned out just fine. Yes, it was from a mix.  Reese said that since I was making the buttercream and fondant from 'scratch' I should at least do the same with the cake.  My reply was "whatever".  Maybe, in time, if I keep at this, I will attempt to make my cakes from scratch.

Then I made buttercream icing (also from a recipe I found on the above mentioned site).  It would have been much easier to make if I had a stand mixer but, alas, I made do with the hand mixer that I have.  {Said stand mixer is officially on my wish list}  :)  The recipe made a TON of icing, so I now have nough for at least another cake  in the fridge.

Finally came my first attempt at making the fondant.  It was super messy at first, just like Peggy said it would be.  Things were moving right along and it was starting to look like the stuff Duff plays with on Ace of Cakes...that is until I kept following the directions and had added the full TWO pounds of confectioner's powdered sugar.  At this point it became just gross.  Maybe I put too much Crisco on my hands and the counter, because by the time I gave up on kneading it, it was practically oozing grease.  (yuck!)  I had read that the fondant needed about 8 minutes of kneading, but I promise I just kept on kneading for nearly 20 minutes before I gave up.

I had high hopes of a nice cake with a teal fondant covering and pink and purple polka-dots...Well, I got the colors right, but my fondant would not roll out to the smooth stuff I wanted it to be.  I ended up putting some of the teal fondant on top of the cake, then went on to cut my dots out of fondant that I had dyed pink and purple and just randomly placed them around the cake.  Go ahead. Laugh. It's pretty funny looking.

                                                   

But, it does taste good, so it was not a complete waste.  In my minds eye, it should have come out something like this...

Really, it's OK if you laugh.  I have been.  :)

So, needless to say, my first attempt wasn't a huge success.  But I learned from it.  I'll let you know how things go next time.