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Storing a Cake Covered in Fondant


pastryjen

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Wow! She is a lucky woman! I have no experience with fondant, but looks beautiful, and they look like flowers to me -- I particularly like the shaping on the water lily at the top of the cake. But two key questions -- how did it taste, and was she appropriately appreciative?

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  • 2 weeks later...
Wow! She is a lucky woman! I have no experience with fondant, but looks beautiful, and they look like flowers to me -- I particularly like the shaping on the water lily at the top of the cake. But two key questions -- how did it taste, and was she appropriately appreciative?

haha yeah she very much appreciated it. she didn't even want to cut it. I had to do it. As for the taste, I was very pleasantly surprised. I'd never had carrot cake before, so I didn't know what to expect. I was sort of expecting a savory cake, but it wasn't at all. I used a ginger buttercream to crumb coat it, so it was sweet, but not overly so. I'll overnight you a piece of you want haha

I've never eaten a Hot Pocket and thought "I'm glad I ate that."

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The cake looks good...very clean.  No big mistakes or anything...Looks very nice.  Are you in culinary school right now?

I am, the head pastry chef at school graciously took time out of her school schedule to mentor me in the essentials of fondant and such. I'm glad to report me made me do everything though.

I've never eaten a Hot Pocket and thought "I'm glad I ate that."

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That looks like a cake that Barbie would appreciate! How about showing us a slice?

I don't know if I should take offense to that (the barbie thing)... hmm.. haha

I'll see if I have any pictures of it sliced. I think I took some... maybe. haha I'll keep you posted.

I've never eaten a Hot Pocket and thought "I'm glad I ate that."

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Well, in OUR house Barbie is VERY well loved. She rides a custom built LEGO limousine, of course. She adores sea anemones, as well. Being a South Beach bred Barbie. Did you put walnuts in the cake?

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For those that do wedding cakes and work with fondant...can cakes such as chiffons and genoise be covered with fondant. If so, what modifications need to be done to the cakes in order for them to hold up under the fondant.

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You just have to have a decent layer of icing over the sponge/chiffon cake, and be careful as you smooth the fondant to not press too hard. Those who are used to really aggressive back-and-forth motions with a plastic smoother often dent a softer chiffon cake!

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  • 1 year later...

Hi all - a quick question about fondant decorations - I saw on this thread that rolled-fondant leaves etc. tend to dry up and become inflexible if made in advance.

If I make leaves etc. out of gum paste instead, a day in advance, will they still be flexible enough the next day that I can smooth them onto my fondant-covered cake, flush with the surface and following the curvature of the cake?

Thanks!

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Hi all - a quick question about fondant decorations - I saw on this thread that rolled-fondant leaves etc. tend to dry up and become inflexible if made in advance.

If I make leaves etc. out of gum paste instead, a day in advance, will they still be flexible enough the next day that I can smooth them onto my fondant-covered cake, flush with the surface and following the curvature of the cake?

Thanks!

No, if you use gumpaste, your leaves will dry even faster than if you used fondant.

Either way, if you want to have flexible decorations out of fondant or gumpaste, you have to cut them out just as you are about to put them on the cake. No advance "do's" for that unfortunately.

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No, if you use gumpaste, your leaves will dry even faster than if you used fondant.

Either way, if you want to have flexible decorations out of fondant or gumpaste, you have to cut them out just as you are about to put them on the cake. No advance "do's" for that unfortunately.

Thanks!

Another question that this thread brings to mind - so people seem to chill their cakes down pretty thoroughly before covering with fondant, right? Is it just so the cakes are sturdier?

And how thorough is the chill? Like, 2 hours in the fridge? Overnight in the fridge? Frozen hard?

I'm also kind of wondering why there are no issues with condensation on the inside of the fondant...

Thanks!

I was looking at your blog, by the way - it's pretty awesome. =)

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I let my cakes sit overnight in the walk in before I cover with fondant; and I have a humid walk in so once I cover a cake with fondant, I have to put it in a box, then put the box in a giant bun size bag and then refrigerate it. During the summer, the condensation that formed on the fondant covered refrigerated cakes was just awful. (There's no A/C in our kitchen.)

A cold cake is easier to handle, especially for a topsy turvy design or squares when you really need to smooth the fondant against the corners, or the curves. If the cake is too soft, it "gives" too much under the action of smoothing the fondant. If you give the cake an overnight rest once you assemble it, you don't have any issues with bulging filling either.

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  • 2 years later...

My son wants a Jedi temple for a birthday cake.

jedi-temple-1.jpg

Am I insane? I have made 3D cakes, but the boys have banned me from fondant in the past. This year my son says go for it, but I am a bit intimidated by this one.

do you think mmf would work for this? I have made it before for small accents. I was thinking fondant for the sides, paint on the lines, and modeling chocolate for the spires.

Last year I did splash mountain, Indiana Jones ruin, and chicken dinner.

Chicken dinner cake.jpg

Splash Mountain.jpg

Sheryl Davies

www.breakingbreadblog.com

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Using fondant will give you cleaner lines than if you did this in buttercream; what I've found from people who say "no fondant" is that they've had the fondant from a craft store which is not to their taste. I've never used marshmallow fondant to know how it would compare in terms of ease of handling or taste; the commercial fondant I've used has been really well received by clients (even the "no fondant" clients). You can use Bakels Pettinice or Albert Uster's Massa Grishuna - both of which I've used and like; FondX is made by Cal-Java and a lot of people like that one; some people like Satin Ice but I only use that brand for the precolored fondants, it seems much drier than other brands when I use it.

You could even use modeling chocolate for the entire thing; it might be more of a challenge than fondant depending on how firm the chocolate is, but it can work.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I decided to go for marshmallow fondant given economic tightness. It gave an OK result, but it really sagged with the humidity that day. Overall, it was fun to do. I had intended to be meticulous with cutting straight lines etc. but life was very busy. It was a good lesson on keeping my priorities straight. Instead of straight lines, I spent a bit more time with my one year old. Instead of beautifully tinted fondant, my 9 year old birthday boy got to hand paint it himself - and he couldn't be happier with his work. His friends were thrilled. Kids loved the taste of the fondant and they loved the chocolate lego men. I thought the Anikin from episode 3 was cute, and we also made Mas Windu (forgive my spelling!)

I created a coconut frosting based on a southern custard frosting. It was a bit soft for this application I think, although it tasted good. I think in the future I would do a white chocolate cream cheese base.

Next up in January - Big Thunder Mountain railroad. This one is less intimidating to me, because it is nature - it's supposed to have imperfections!Jedi temple in progress.jpgAnnikin chocolate.jpg

Sheryl Davies

www.breakingbreadblog.com

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  • 6 months later...

This seems like the right thread for this so here goes: I sort of agreed to make a groom's cake for my brother, who is getting married in a couple of weeks. He loves guns and shooting them so his fiancee asked if I could make a cake with a target on it, like this: http://images5.cpcache.com/product_zoom/150321935v16_480x480_Front_padToSquare-true.jpg

I'm concerned about how precise the design is, and smudging between black and white, and how little fondant experience I have. I don't want to make something that looks amateur, but I also don't want to spend hours and hours on it. I would have to do this the night before the wedding, after a long day at work, and am trying to think of something easier to execute well (less precise/high contrast) still along the gun theme. Has anyone done camouflage fondant? I'm thinking piece the splotches together and roll to fuse them? Can I just trace over an outline then cut out gun shapes? Can I make bullets to go around the edge a few days ahead - wrap or let dry?

Any ideas for a great looking manly guns & ammo cake that won't be a huge pain - more than 2 hours after crumb coat - to decorate? :unsure: I've been baking for 15 years but don't do a lot of cakes, mainly plated desserts. Or should I just beg off? I'm already making them 120 hand dipped chocolates and previously told them I would do a cake OR chocolates, but NOT both.

Edited by pastrygirl (log)
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That should actually be quite easy if you invert the colours (it's hellishly difficult to get a nice black in fondant), then roll thin ribbons of dark fondant to form the target and simply cut the numbers out of flat-rolled fondant.

Equally, Camo should be easy enough to do using the method you're suggesting (provided your fondant is warm enough when you do the rolling), and you can absolutely cut gun silhouettes out using an outline - in fact, that's how I make block letters and all sorts of other fun things.

I'd make the bullets in advance and allow them to harden up (ie let 'em dry), then place them right at the time of decoration - less angst that way.

Elizabeth Campbell, baking 10,000 feet up at 1° South latitude.

My eG Food Blog (2011)My eG Foodblog (2012)

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Two possibilities, both of which use a cake that could be a round or square or rectangle - you can finish the cake (e.g., finish coat of buttercream) and then put the design on it.

For the first and most easiest possibility: use an edible image that a supermarket bakery could print out for you and you put it on the cake (if you are local to Boston, PM me and I'll do it for you)

For the second: buy some black fondant from a craft/hobby store, roll it out and use a template to cut the outline. Then use royal icing to make the ovals, numbers and the X. You could do this in advance (a day or two) then dust a piece of parchment or wax paper with a fine dusting of cornstarch and use a spatula to move it onto the paper. You could put this on a rimmed cookie sheet, then cover with plastic. You might even want to make 2, just in case one breaks. :wink:

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You two make it sound do-able, now I just have to decide if I actually want to do it. The target just seems a little stark and boring to me, and like it's my brother in the cross hairs. I could work in a little camouflage ribbon around the bottom and some bullets here and there for color and interest. I'll have to see how my catering schedule ends up that weekend.

Thanks.

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