So now that I was able to sort of conquer my fear of the piping bag with my decorating class that I took last month - or better yet, last year. I now have move on to tackle Fondant.

My class for this took place at the beginning of the week. To say that I was excited to take this course is in understatement. I was giddy. I mean come on it’s fondant and as any baker slick their salt knows, you need to know how to work with this medium. This way you can make pretty cakes that will ohh and ahh people.

The class was pretty much the same as the piping class, except this time it was only 10 of us. Apparently you need a lot of arm space to work with fondant.

The goal here was to cover a cake with a crumb coat of buttercream, then covered it with marbleized white fondant - in this case we use the color blue and then make an elaborate bow on top. All this would yield a cake looking like a nicely wrapped present.

Want to take a peek at my end product? Here you go:

Not bad for my first try right? As you can see mistake abound here. The fondant cracked in a couple of places, and taking the tissue off the loops that make the bow almost did me in, since some of the tissued stuck to the still not fully dry fondant and when pulling them off, some of my loop came with it.

But, I’m happy with the whole thing. At the end, it was informative, it was fun and who could resist playing with something that would take you back to being 5 years old and getting your hand in play dough?

Lesson learned:

Corn starch is your friend, so that fondant does not become a sticky mess. And shortening is your friend to your hands so the it flows better around your hand.
You need to work fondant A LOT to get it to the right consistency.
Fondant is fickle and if you leave it expose, it will rewards you by becoming one dry mess and nothing you can do will make it bounce back except the trash.
The Wilton stuff is YUCKY, so stay away from it. While you can buy good fondant, most bakers have their own recipe to make it from scratch… I keep hearing that Marshmallow fondant is a good choice.
When using bright colors like red or electric blue, cover your work area and have a pair of gloves for your hands. You do not want to look like a Lobster or Smurf after your project.
Decorating and wine go well together.

Next up more piping and flower making!