Tuesday, April 21, 2009

MM Fondant Recipe

http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm

Sorry about the spaces.. it wont let me take them out.

Here is a MM Fondant Recipe I found.

MM (Marshmallow) Fondant Recipe


16 ounces white mini-marshmallows (use a good quality brand)
2 to 4 tablespoons water (too much water will make it unstable and crumbly)
2 pounds icing sugar (please use C&H Cane Powdered Sugar for the best results)
1/2 cup Crisco shortening (you will be digging into it so place in a very easily accessed bowl)

Optional:

2 tbsp of Gum Paste Powder (if you want Gumpaste/Fondant mixture)

1 tbsp vanilla extract or flavoring (you can use clear if you need a really white fondant)(make sure to use less water)

NOTE: Please be careful, this first stage can get hot.
Melt marshmallows and 2 tablespoons of water in a microwave or double boiler: Put the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds, open microwave and stir, back in microwave for 30 seconds more, open microwave and stir again, and continue doing this until melted. It usually takes about 2 1/2 minutes total. Add flavoring. Place 3/4 of the powdered sugar on the top of the melted marshmallow mix.


Now grease your hands GENEROUSLY (palms, backs, and in between fingers), then heavily grease the counter you will be using and dump the bowl of marshmallow/sugar mixture in the middle. (By the way, this recipe is also good for your hands. When I’m done, they are baby soft.)
Start kneading like you would bread dough. You will immediately see why you have greased your hands. If you have children in the room they will either laugh at you or look at you with a questioning expression. You might even hear a muttered, “What are you doing?”
Keep kneading, this stuff is sticky at this stage! Add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead some more. Re-grease your hands and counter when the fondant starts sticking. If the mix is tearing easily, it is to dry, so add water (about 1/2 tablespoon at a time and then knead it in). It usually takes me about 8 minutes to get a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing when you apply it to the cake.
It is best if you can let it sit, double wrapped, overnight (but you can use it right away if there are no tiny bits of dry powdered sugar). If you do see them, you will need to knead and maybe add a few more drops of water.
Prepare the fondant for storing by coating it with a good layer of Crisco shortening, wrap in a plastic-type wrap product and then put it in a re-sealable or Ziploc bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible.
MM Fondant will hold very well in the refrigerator for weeks. If I know that I have a cake to decorate, I usually make two (2) batches on a free night during the week so it is ready when I need it. Take advantage of the fact that this fondant can be prepared well in advance.
All the labeling is updated. If you want to search for ideas or previous cakes it should be easier now. For example you could search for purse cakes by clicking on the purse label to the right.

Friday, April 17, 2009

cupcakes


Here are some cupcakes I made last week. The first picture is the stuff that she gave me for inspiration. She said that she didn't care if I used gumdrops to decorate for the flowers just like the magazine cover.....pssssshhhhhtt what kind of cake decorator does she think I am??? So, instead I used fondant flowers that looked similar to the gumdrop flowers...humpf I showed her, gumdrop flowers indeed. All kidding aside she went crazy for them, it was a great deal because I traded some horse lessons (for Hailey) for the cupcakes. So, instead of the 1 horse lesson we agreed on before I brought the cupcakes I got 2. Like beth always says, they don't look as good in the pic as they really did but you get the idea.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

30th B-Day











Sorry, these are really bad pics but I LOVED this cake. Rarely am I really, genuinely happy with a cake but I loved this one. The wife that ordered this told me that she wanted a tiered cake and told me that she wanted to incorporate all of his favorite things into the cake. We chose a blue/silver color palate to put it all on. The only think that I would have changed is that I would have made it viewable 360 degrees but I only had 6 things to put on! There were 6 aspects that are in 2-D. 1. Guitar Hero:That guitar was freakin' awesome! It was so tiny and so like the real guitar Hero guitar. The guitar was my favorite part. I stuck it on a toothpick and stuck the toothpick in his leg to get it to stay there. 2. Pitsburg Steelers: He's a huge fan. She wanted the logo on there somewhere but I made the whole helmet instead. I was happy with it. 3. Water skiing: He only skiis on one ski but I thought that would be wierd to just have one ski on there by itself so at the last minute I had the idea to make a pull cable on there and just stuck the ski right on top of it. 4. Weightlifting: I was really worried about how the heak I would incorporate this on the cake but I think it turned out pretty good. I cut out different sized circles and stacked them on top of eachother then cut them in half. I put a toothpick in them and stuck them in the cake. 5. that he's turning 30 of course, hence the big 30 on top of the cake. I made it and the stars out of a fondant/gumpaste mixture. 6. He is a really sucessful computer software salesman for Motorola so we put their logo on there too. It was a lot of random things to put on there but I think it all came together really well. The blue was a really good background color.
Like I said, these are really bad pics. It looked much better in person.

Sports Ball Cake









I found the perfect combonation for making cakes. Its Heather plus Gabby. I think we ROCKED this cake. It turned out soo good. We had so much fun making it. It was for a little boys second birthday party. Everyone loved it and we even got another cake next week from it.


Here is the original design that our friend picked out.

This is what happens when we both turn our backs.

Mustache Men Cake Pops




I made these cake pops for the chili cook off at Daves work. The cook off was to celebrate the end of Mustache March. Everyone loved them. I made them with red velvet cake. It was funny to see everyones reaction as they bit into a squishy red inside. I personally didnt like the cake's taste. Chocolate would have been better.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Bakerella

These are so stinken cute! A cute idea for visiting teaching treat if you have the time. She makes new ones every holiday and whenever the mood strikes. The website also has a link to the right.