Then the fear sets in that it could actually be extremely hard and I could end up with cake on the ceiling, a slip n' slide of icing on the floor, and a boyfriend that is about 5 minutes away from committing the now crazy, babbling zombie that used to be his somewhat normal girlfriend. This is the story of my first paid cake job.
I was asked to make the cake for my boyfriend's sister's bridal shower... for 60 people. I immediately accepted, excited to finally have an excuse to create a cake that would normally be considered over the top. The biggest challenge was that this was a surprise party. That meant I couldn't ask the bride-to-be ANYTHING. What colors do you want? What flavors? Shape? Design?? It was all left to me, but I was up to the challenge. It terrified me at first, but eventually I let myself trust my own judgement and spent the next 2 weeks obsessively google searching "bridal shower cakes" "cake color schemes" and "best anxiety medications".
I finally decided on a teal (bridesmaid dresses) and peach color scheme and sketched my vision. Armed with hours of youtube tutorials and a childlike wonder, I set out to my favorite cake supplies distributor and tried to stop myself from spending a small fortune.
I decided early on that my golden rule for this project must must must be to not get carried away. I am notorious for overextending myself and letting my imagination run wild. This usually results in me quietly sobbing in a corner somewhere, wondering where I went wrong. I had to keep myself in check or else I risked turning this experience from adventure to nightmare.
TASK #1: covering a cake with fondant.
The first step was to ice the cakes with buttercream. The challenge is that you have to get the top and sides as smooth as possible, as any imperfections will show through the fondant. This takes practice, and can be a maddeningly frustrating process until you get the hang of it. That said, if you're using fondant it doesn't matter if there are crumbs in the icing since you'll just be covering it all in the end! BONUS.
If you have a few little ridges and bumps, don't worry. There's an easy fix! Once the buttercream has crusted after 5-10 minutes (when you touch the icing it won't come off on your finger, it has developed a 'crust'), gently press a piece of parchment paper to the surface and smooth any bumps out with your hand.
Now, lets talk fondant. You can buy it ready made at the store - the most easily accessible is usually Wilton's brand sold at Michael's. Yes, it is very convenient. No, it does not taste good. It's also extremely overpriced ($20 for 5 lbs!). Seeing as how I would need 6 lbs to cover my 2 tiers and wanted my cake to actually taste good, this option didn't seem very appealing.
Instead, I crawled through the world of home baker's forums and found an easy to make, great tasting marshmallow fondant. The best part? It makes 3 lbs for $4!!
To color the fondant, you will need:
- Color gel of your choice
- Shortening to continually grease your hands
- Toothpicks
- Disposable plastic gloves (optional)
- To be ready to get your arms totally jacked because this is a workout
The key to coloring anything, and I can't stress this enough, is to add a little at a time! You can always add more color, but it's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to take it away. Use a toothpick to draw a line or 2 of color gel into the fondant. Generously coat your hands in shortening and knead fondant until the color is fully worked in and there are no streaks. You're done when your arms feel like they're about to fall off. You can use plastic gloves to avoid dying your hands, but I usually only have this issue when working with reds.
To figure out how much fondant you will need to roll out to fully cover a cake requires a very simple equation. Measure, in inches:
Diagonal of Top + (Height of Side x 2) = Total Diameter
Let's say your cake is an 8 in. square and 4 inches high. Measure the top from corner to corner on a diagonal and you get 11 inches. So, 11 (top) + 4 (side) + 4 (side) = 19 inches.
To transfer onto the cake, roll fondant onto your rolling pin (think fruit roll-up) and slowly unroll onto the cake, letting some excess fall on each side. This is the nerve racking part! Don't be afraid to lift the fondant and realign if you need to.
TASK #2: stacking tiers.
We've all seen countless tiered cakes on TV, in magazines, and at weddings.. but how many of us have thought about how they're actually constructed? If you take a second to think about it, without some sort of support the weight of the cake will eventually collapse in on itself ending in a.. wait for it.. caketastrophe! (sorry, had to). Luckily, there is a cheap, easy method to stacking these cakes as high as you can reach.
Using wooden or plastic dowels, measure and cut 9 pieces the height of the bottom tier. Place 1 dowel in the center. Then measure out 8 plots around the center point, using the size of the cake you will be stacking on top as a guide. You don't want to put the dowels outside the perimeter of the top tier or else they won't support the cake. You will also have just created a giant, unnecessary hole in that undoubtedly perfect fondant work you just slaved over.
TASK #3: beautifying.
This part is by far the most fun, and easiest to just show in photos. I made the flowers out of gumpaste a couple nights before to allow them to dry properly. The great thing about these is you can make them weeks in advance and they'll stay just as beautiful as the day they were created!
In the end, the whole process wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. The only problem is now I want to make more!!
Beautiful cake Dani! The idea of what you did is overwhelming to me but I love how you broke it out step by step. Only one question - what was the flavor you went with for the cake?
ReplyDelete3 layer chocolate on the top and 2 layer vanilla on the bottom! I kept it simple to keep my stress level down :)
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