heleen1

Great tip, thanks!! If you want to freeze the undecorated cookie, you could take them out, 'refresh' them in the oven for a few minutes before pouring the fondant, if you're worried about adhesion. ←

Forgot to ask: will the MM fondant behave like I'm used to with regulare fondant? I mean will it dry and harden? Could I make bow loops with it, for instance? Just wondering... I'm considering bow-loopy flowers for the cake decoration.

Thanks Jeanne, however I don't know if I will manage to do that. I was planning on making and freezeing the undecorated cookie, that decorate later. I think I heard freezing fondant is not a good idea? Not really sure though. It will depend on my schedule and how things get along I guess. And on what wedding cake I'll have to make to go with the cookies!

Not Russian, but Dutch! Do you have the same problems as I have, getting ingredients and tools and such? I think that is my biggest problem, getting the things I need ) I will look at the photo section and see if I can figure it out.

Thank you all for your kind help! I think I am going to try both recipes, the MMF/candy combination and the RLB recipe. I really appreciate the pointers and hints, those will definately some in handy! I need the fondant to cover 'thank you' cookies for my parents' 40th wedding anniversary in november, so one final question is if the fondant will keep for a reasonable amount of time. It would be nice if I didn;t have to make everything in the last week. Lena, thanks for posting that picture, I think the cake is lovely. How nice to have a Russion decorator aboard! I'd love to post some pictures of the test cookies I did, but I can't figure out how to attach a picture!

I want to try to make my own fondant, mostly because it is almost impossible to get around here and also because I want to try to make my own to see if it tastes better than the one I bought. I am planning on trying Rose Levy Beranbaum's recipe from the cake bible, does anyone have experience with it or maybe some tips for me? Thanks in advance!

I almost exclusively use whipped cream to cover my cakes with, as we don't care that mauch for buttercream here. I hardly ever use any gelatin at all to stabilize it, I think it makes it ever so slightly grainy in texture. I just whip the cream with added sugar in a cold mixer bowl until stiff, and then frost the cake with it. I keep it in the firdge as much as possible, especially on a hot day. I find it's not much good for piping anything elaborate. Simple borders work, and that's about it. It's just not very stable/firm whatever you do. Once the cake is frosted, I leave it in the fridge until serving time, and then, depending on the temperature in the room, it can be out for 1-2 hours without much of a problem. Direct sunlight should be avoided at all cost ;o)

I have the Fleur the lis pan, my mom has a Kaiser la Forme pan. We love them both. I have a lot of Kaiser springform pans, and to me, they don't get any better (for the home baker). They are a lot more durable than other brands I have used.

Thanks for your suggestions, I'll play around with it this weekend!

I'd never have thought of leaving the shrink wrap on, thanks! I do have eneough out of shape cutters.. I kind of figured I needed something between the flowers and the ganache, but I worry that a dab of chocolate won't adhere to the ganache, thus will end up a sliding mess. Or do I put a dab of chocolate onto the back of the flower, form a 'spike' and then stick it into the cake when it's solid?

Thanks for your input! I hadn't even thought of a 4-petal cutter, but that sounds logical and now that I look at the flowers again, I agree with you. SO you would simply use a dab of melted chocolate to attach, do you think that would just adhere to the ganche?

Unfortunately, I have no advice for you regarding the shop, but I wnted to let you know that your website has been booked as a favorite on my computer for a very long time ). Your work is wonderful!

While browsing for cake ideas on the web, I came across this fabulaous chocolate cake from arizonacakes.com. (I'll try to attach the picture). I was thinking I could make the flowers out of fondant or chocolate plastique, but am wondering how I can attach the petals to eachother so they will keep, and second, how would I attach these flowers to the side of the cake without them sliding off? They are fairly big and I wonder if they will just slide down. I'm thinking of making a two-tier chocolate cake covered with a chocolate glaze (poured ganache). Should I attach toothpicks to the flowers to stick them into the cake? And hod do I attach the toothpicks to the flower itsself? My construction should hold up (decorated and all) in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Any input is greatly appreciated!! Oops, I can't seem to attach the picture, but it is at www.arizonacakes.com, go to cake pictures, then to weddings, it is the second cake on that page.

I do this as well, and here's how: I use a failry stiff pastry cream as a first layer on my cake, then 'press' the sliced/chopped strawberries in the pastry cream a little bit. I top this with a layer of sweetened whipped cream, then add the next cake layer. This way, the fruit is sealed in and keeps well. Of course, you'd have to refridgerate this. I think it works equally well with strawberries and bananas. The bananas won't brown if they're not exposed to air in some way.

'The cakes I make are basically whipped cream only, as that is what people prefer here in the NEtherlands. I say it holds up to simple borders as far as piping goes, but I haven't had much luck in piping much else with it, even not the stabilized cream. But then, I have pretty hot hands and the whole things melts easily. I have succesfully decorated with marzipan figurines and plaques, and as long as you don't put the colored pieces on too long before serving, the colors won't belnd into your whipped cream and look fine. I've also used royal icing flowers and plaques, which are also fine as long as you don't place them on the cake too far in advance (bleeding will occur, esp. because you have to put the cake in the fridge). I don't think buttercream decorations will be a problem, as the fat content of the cream can probably take the buttercream. I just woulnd't try to frost buttercream over whipped cream, I'm pretty sure it won't hold up to that. But piping should be perfectly fine!

Your marhsmallows look beautiful and delicious! I dipped some plain (vanilla) marshmalloows in bittersweet chocolate for a new years party and I loved the contrast the crunchy chocolate gave to the soft interior. also, I think the chocolate balanced the sweetness. I can't wait to make fruit flavored marshmallows, because I found the vanilla ones to 'plain' tasting without the coating )

I think gingerbread is one of my biggest passions ). I've done many houses over the years, just couldn't make it work time-wise this year. I did a few craft shows a couple of years ago, with all handcrafted items, but it became too much to manage so I decided to stick to making them for my own pleasure. Some of my creatins are on my web site: www.cookiecorner.dutchweb.nl

I have succesfully frozen sugar cookies decorated with royal icing. I defrosted in the fridge in closed containers, added fondant flowers and then packaged them and sent them overseas, and they did great. I have no experience on freezing butter cream decorated cookies though.

If you're interested in ideas and lots of pictures, not much into buttercream and aren't really looking for recipes, you'd definately be interested in books by Lindy Smith, Debbie Brown and Carol Deacon. If you want to start a little easier, go with Carol Deacon. She has lots of cute ideas, with instructions in pictures to walk you through it every step of the way. It definately works. I have 'two hour party cakes' and like it a lot. Lindy Smith has cute ideas too, but the queen of fondant is Debbie Brown without a doubt. THe instructions in her books are extended, in pictures, and very detailed and precise, and you can make the most incredible and amazing cakes if you like doing things like that and have patience, because you need to be prepared to be spending hours over a cake that will wow the whole neighborhood ;o). I like her book with the cartoon cakes best, but party cakes is more beginnerish. If you're into modelling figurines and animals and the like, to use on cakes, refer to Maisie Parrish. Again, lots of time and patience needed, but a great resource if you're seriously into modelling.

I've come to love biscotti as well, but found that the knife I use to slice them with after the first bake is a critical factor for how neat they turn out. Long serrated knife that has ridges that aren't too wide (do I make sense at all?) seems to work well. I'd love your recipe :o)

Thanks, I appreciate that! Maybe subbing applesauce for part of the oil would work too. Did you have good results with the milk?

I'd love the recipe as well! I made a sb bread before, but it definately lacked taste, so an alternative would be great!

I didn't make any adjustments at all, just used the spreadable stuff as is. I even got brave and bought reduced fat cream cheese (also spreadable) and I'm going to try that next. I'm in the Netherlands, Europe, and very fond of many american recipes. There's so many ingredienst I haven't been able to find here, that I learned to just go ahead and try out with ingredients that are available to me.

All I can get here is the spreadable Philapdelphia cream cheese as well, and I have made many a cheesecake with it, which has always been enjoyed to the max :o). I'd say just go fot it!

Thanks arbuclo :o) I have often wished I could just quit and stay at home and bake my heart out ;o)