We did character cakes including cutting the cakes into shape. We decided to do Jollibee's beloved character the bee. For those of you who don't live in the Philippines, Jollibee is the competitor to McDonald's.
Well our bee turned out to be pretty cute. Again, we all took turns on how to pipe star designs to create that raised look. It was quite fun and like I always say...seemed pretty easy. As Allan says, it really is all in the pressure of the piped icing. Yeah right! Again, everything he did made it look so easy that when it was my turn, I had some high stars and low stars, no uniformity at all. Yeah, better luck next time.
Next, we moved onto fondant. Again, I was surprisingly surprised at how easy it is to make fondant cakes. Actually, if I had to choose one, I do believe the fondant is the easiest one in terms of cake icings. Why? Because if you mess up, it's quite easy to fix the icing. Unlike boiled icing, once you pipe and you mess up, it'll be harder to fix, if not permanent.
Fondant is used in most wedding cakes for that flawless, clean and elegant look. Apparently, fondant is very typical in Europe, but only has become popular in the US recently. Fondant can even be purchased ready made in a specialty cake store. All you have to do is roll it out and apply it to your cake.
The recipe we used to make fondant (sugar paste) is:
Yield: Enough to make a 10x4 high cake
Ingredients:
Well our bee turned out to be pretty cute. Again, we all took turns on how to pipe star designs to create that raised look. It was quite fun and like I always say...seemed pretty easy. As Allan says, it really is all in the pressure of the piped icing. Yeah right! Again, everything he did made it look so easy that when it was my turn, I had some high stars and low stars, no uniformity at all. Yeah, better luck next time.
Next, we moved onto fondant. Again, I was surprisingly surprised at how easy it is to make fondant cakes. Actually, if I had to choose one, I do believe the fondant is the easiest one in terms of cake icings. Why? Because if you mess up, it's quite easy to fix the icing. Unlike boiled icing, once you pipe and you mess up, it'll be harder to fix, if not permanent.
Fondant is used in most wedding cakes for that flawless, clean and elegant look. Apparently, fondant is very typical in Europe, but only has become popular in the US recently. Fondant can even be purchased ready made in a specialty cake store. All you have to do is roll it out and apply it to your cake.
The recipe we used to make fondant (sugar paste) is:
Yield: Enough to make a 10x4 high cake
Ingredients:
1 tbsp (1 sachet) - unflavored gelatin (ferna or other)
1/4 cup - cold water
1/2 cup - glucose (ferna or peotraco)
1 tbsp - glycerin
2 tbsp - solid vegetable shortening
2 lbs - confectioners sugar (in batches of 2)
Procedure:
You can use the fondant immediately or store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. When you are ready to use it again, bring it to room temperature and knead again until soft.
Rolling it out. Have two plastics ready and place the fondant in between. Make sure you dust some confectioners sugar to the top and bottom of the fondant to keep it sticking to the plastic. Roll out with fondant roller or use a regular wooden roller with dusted sugar on it. Roll it out to about 1/8 cm thick, just like you would pizza or pastry dough. Then place it on top of your cake that is already layered with some boiled icing or type of jam. This is to adhere the fondant to the cake. Tapper the sides and use cornflour to smooth out the fondant. Decorate as necessary.
1/4 cup - cold water
1/2 cup - glucose (ferna or peotraco)
1 tbsp - glycerin
2 tbsp - solid vegetable shortening
2 lbs - confectioners sugar (in batches of 2)
Procedure:
- Combine gelatine and cold water
- Place gelatin mixture in double boiler until dissolved and slightly clear
- Add glucose and glycerin. Mix it well.
- Stir in shortening
- Remove from heat. You can add flavoring and color (if you want your whole cake using this one color) at this point.
- Place 1 batch of confectioners sugar in a bowl and make a well.
- Pour the warm gelatin mixure in the the well and mix.
- Add the rest of the confectioners sugar. Again, just put enough sugar until the stickiness disappears and knead well.
You can use the fondant immediately or store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. When you are ready to use it again, bring it to room temperature and knead again until soft.
Rolling it out. Have two plastics ready and place the fondant in between. Make sure you dust some confectioners sugar to the top and bottom of the fondant to keep it sticking to the plastic. Roll out with fondant roller or use a regular wooden roller with dusted sugar on it. Roll it out to about 1/8 cm thick, just like you would pizza or pastry dough. Then place it on top of your cake that is already layered with some boiled icing or type of jam. This is to adhere the fondant to the cake. Tapper the sides and use cornflour to smooth out the fondant. Decorate as necessary.
