Lesson 11: Three Tier Fondant Cake

I like having the opportunity to cover cakes with fondant because you learn how to correct mistakes like the fondant cracking.  Before, I used Icing Sugar to dust the surface of the table and everytime it got sticky, I added more icing sugar.  Now, fondant is made of icing sugar so the more you put on the table, the more it absorbs and the harder it gets.  So it becomes dry and when you put it over a cake, it may start cracking especially around the edges of the cake where it stretches the most.

I went on the internet to look for some advice and some people suggested adding some glycerine to the fondant which I did try and made a slight difference but the most effective thing to use is shortening.  Use shortening on the work surface and when you put it on the cake and little cracks appear, rub some shortening into the area and use your warm fingers to massage the crack shut.  It works!  Not perfect every time but it works.  The other trick is to be quick with the kneading, the rolling out and putting it on top of the cake.

This lesson was about making a 3 layered fondant cake and we had freedom to design it as we wished with some ideas from pictures of cakes by former students.  I made my cake the in my style which is simple and elegant.  Granted my style is neither cutesy nor is it opulent... it's just me.  Now on the other hand, if I was asked to make a cake for a kid, I would take a different approach. 

Some of my classmates in the replacement class did some pretty cakes especially the one with the picnic theme.  One of the teacher's assistants, her name (I finally found out) is Yun Jung is especially talented with sugar craft.  She can make the most realistic people models, the cutest animals and she's like 12!  Ok maybe 22.  I can learn a lot from this girl but I think being naturally artistic helps in using gum paste.  Here are some shots of the things she made on the cake.  I especially LOVE the dragonfly!

Anyway, here's my cake which was inspired by the colours on my daughter's blanket.  If I had more time I would have added white polka dots to the green ribbon.  I find myself gravitating a lot to butterflies nowadays.  Strange.  They are pretty to look at though.