I've always loved to cook, but I had never been much of a baker. My interest in baking peaked when I discovered how much I loved to watch episodes of Cupcake Wars, Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss! All of these shows not only inspired me to make my first ever fondant covered cake, but gave me the confidence too. Thanks guys!
When one of the bridesmaid's, who was to be in our daughter's wedding, told me she was going to pay $150 for a 'bridal shower' cake, I have to admit I was stunned! Obviously, I had no idea how expensive cakes had become (I was from the old school). So I decided for a quarter of the price I could make the cake myself. She had absolutely no problem with me volunteering my time and so excepted the offer.
I had seen the shows and watched enough videos on YouTube, I honestly thought using gum paste and creating sugar flowers, and fondant would be a breeze. It was a bit more of a daunting task (LOL on me) than I expected...but I did it!Considering it was my daughter's bridal shower and to be on public display, it may not have been the best time to experiment with cake baking. The thought crossed my mind...what if I had couldn't pull it off? But as always, I have tendency to prove my capabilities when I'm told a task is too big or out of my realm! Not to mention, I thought well, if I botch the cake, I could ALWAYS order one!
So how hard could it be?
Cake Boss wasn't on the phone singing praises or offering me a position, but for my first ever, completely edible, sugar adorned cake, I really did a pretty bang up job! I found it wasn't quite as difficult as it first appeared, though it was VERY time consuming as a beginner. I believe it took about 5 days of practice to make this cake happen. The cake balls were somewhat time consuming as well, but after a couple of hundred, one does get the hang of things. They were a HUGE hit too!Though I'm still a far cry from starring on my own television show, I believe I can only get better! Creating artwork is what I love doing the most. I paint and I'm an ametuer photographer, so creating flowers from sugar and piping icing was nothing short of great fun!
The cake was an Italian Cream Cake with a cream cheese buttercream icing. The fondant was a *Marshmallow Fondant that turned out to be so easy to work with and the most wonderful thing about this fondant is the taste! Much to my satisfaction, everyone loved it. Many had tasted fondant before and said it had a rather unpleasant flavor. I personally have never tasted 'regular' fondant, so I decided to take their advice as experience and looked for other options. I recieved rave reviews on this fondant! Many of the women ate it and didn't even know that it was fondant! So this is my go to fondant on ALL fondant covered cakes.So my journey began, with cake balls and a shower cake! I've been baking ever since!
Below are photos from the wedding...I did create the centerpiece (non cake part :o) of the wedding cake. My daughter Erin wanted it lit up, so I included LED lights inside the blue glass bead center. I strung Swarvoski crystals around the outside...it was really lovely in person with all of the candlelight flickering around it!
The incredibly beautiful bride and her husband...Mr. and Mrs. Johnson!
Seth and Erin, I love you both!
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