The Fondant Feat

Watching too much Food Network gave me the idea that I wanted, nay, needed to decorate a cake with fondant. I've had the goal for years without going beyond half-hearted attempts: for my birthday last year, my parents gave me a certificate for a lesson with a baker who promptly closed down and never refunded the money; I've circled baking classes at crafts stores without actually registering. When I saw a box of fondant at one of those crafts stores, I decided I'd give it a go on my own. I purchased the box and kept it in the cabinet for a few months.

I might have been a little put off that the "serving suggestion" was measured out in balls:


Friday, I decided it was time to mark this off my list.

I took the block of fondant (why did they called it "rolled"?) and kept most of it white, but used food coloring to make smaller chunks green and blue. I was envisioning a two-layer white cake with green and blue polka dots scattered all over.

It took awhile to work the dye into the fondant so it'd be solid instead of marbled.
The instructions warned that the cake had to be flawless, because any imperfection would show through the fondant. Um… I've never baked a flawless cake. There are always peaks and valleys in the batter and frosting, and this time was no exception. The edges of one layer got stuck to the pan, despite coating it with half a can of spray before baking, so I cut it into a smaller circle to be on top.

When I kneaded the fondant and rolled it out, I used powdered sugar instead of flour to keep it from sticking. It gave the fondant a sweeter taste (because it kind of has none), but it also took away some of the shine. For some reason, I liked how almost plastic-y the cakes on Food Network look, and was a little disappointed mine was dull in comparison.


I rolled out the fondant a little thicker than it should be, thinking it would hide all the imperfections. Since the layers weren't the same size anymore, I decided to cover them one by one, and stack them with more chocolate frosting in between.

I promise a cake's hiding under there!


There it is!


Looking prim and proper.
After icing the bottom of the smaller top layer, I flipped it onto the fondant-covered bottom layer… just slightly off-center. Of course. When I covered the top layer, there was a little pucker where the fondant wouldn't stick to the chocolate icing, so I rolled out the blue fondant and cut it into strips to be a border, which turned into... a hat ribbon?


Not what I was originally envisioning, but I could make it work... right?

I know, fondant cake, I'm scared too.
I punched out my polka dots and stuck them on with dabs of water. Not sure if that's the way to do it, but since the dots were covered in powdered sugar, they would slide off the cake instead of staying in place.

I didn't intend to make an off-centered, dull hat cake when I started out; I kind of wondered if I might be a secret fondant-decorating expert, and a new baking career would be revealed to me! ...I don't have to wonder any more.
     Everyone said the cake was good, but the fondant has a strange texture, and it tasted incredibly sweet to me - no doubt the powdered sugar I was rolling it in all afternoon.


On the plus side, I've been storing the leftover slice in the fridge, and the bites I sneak are absolutely delicious! Cold seems to be the best way to enjoy fondant-covered cake.