that's how i roll (fondant)...

yes, in honor of my friend Lillers' bridal shower, i volunteered to make cake (after i unvolunteered myself from the duty of flowers, to which i had originally been assigned. b/c i'm charming like that).

anyway, since i had gone and gotten the cake assignment, i figured i better be bringing a cake that kicked the ass of any other cake. (and knowing that Mel--original cake-bringer--would have brought a pretty nice cake, i had to up the ante even more). so i decided to enter the world of rolled fondant. and what a wonderful world it is! i am now *obsessed* with it and cannot wait for more fondant experiments.

check out my cake and then i'll tell you what i used to make it:

what i used:

Wilton

premade rolled fondant (about 24 oz.)

cornstarch

clear vanilla extract

silicon rolling pin

parchment paper

Wilton

gel concentrated icing colors (rose and pink)

Toothpicks (for adding icing color to fondant)

Cookie cutters

Cardboard cake board

Cake leveler

Strawberry cake

Vanilla buttercream icing

what i did:

i baked a strawberry cake in a contoured pan and then "torted" it  with a cake leveler (something else i had never done prior to this experience!) i wanted to have two layers, for maximal icing exposure so i measured, leveled and, voila!, a two-layer cake is born. i also used strawberry cake so that when the cake was cut, the color palette would remain consistent. i pumped up the batter with a few drops of food coloring to really make it pop!

then i iced the cake with the buttercream, between the layers, the top and sides. once that set a bit, i started kneading flavoring into the fondant and rolling it out on my granite countertop, which i had sprinkled with corn starch. the fondant wasn't nearly as sticky and hard to work with as i had expected, but it was a pain in the ass to get it rolled into a round disk (1/8" thick too). it kept being all crooked and flashed me back to my (clearly) inferior nursery school Play-Doh* days. lack of a perfect circle notwithstanding, i was able to easily drape the fondant over the cake and cut around the cake base for a smooth white finish. (i also used a fondant smoother to get out any bubbles).

then i grabbed the excess fondant i had cut off the cake and added the icing color in the tiniest increments, kneading in between, until it turned a lovely shade of pink:

then i split the ball in (sort of) half and added more coloring to the rest of it to form the above "not so pale" pink shade. then i again, rolled out the fondant. this time i busted out cookie cutters and made a fair amount of large flower shapes and centers too. i figured out a pattern and "glued" them to the cake top by brushing them with water and pressing them on. then, as a finishing touch, i formed, oh, about a *billion* little "pearls" to edge the bottom of the cake. i also used the water/stick-on method for these. then, just in case anyone was also a chocolate fan, i made devil's food cupcakes, which i iced in vanilla and decorated with pink airbrushing and sanding sugar. so cute. (and so delish!)


and here's a peek inside the cake (i was too excited to try it to remember to photograph it before i half-demolished it!):


all in all, the cakes were a success and so was the shower--such a fun time!! (and the flowers, were *way* better than they would have been had i remained on that task). all's well...

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* funnily enough, with my last Play-Doh adventure at Carmine's with a bunch of friends + kids, i also made a similar(ish) pink flower.
my inspiration? who can say! (no, i did not bring my own Play-Doh, i was just lucky enough to steal share some with the kiddies).