My First Fondant Cake

Fondant can turn a plain boring cake into an interesting and beautiful one with smooth surface, sharp shape and very neat. I have always been so fascinated with Fondant as fondant is so similar to modelling clay such as FIMO Polymer Clay and any Air Dry clay except fondant is a sweet edible clay. Since I am sort of an expert with FIMO Polymer Clay (my previous profession), Fondant work shouldn't be any more difficult right? No, not really! Just like everything else that is new to you, practice makes perfect. Plus some basic knowledge of handling fondant is very important.

When I first work with fondant, I discovered several issues.....
1. How to get rid of the sweats on the surface of Fondant?
2. How to handle the fondant so that it won't be sticky and damage it's shape before you even place it on the cake?
3. How to store fondant that is already on a cake? Can it be refrigerated? How long can it last?
4. What is the most popular fondant brands preferred by cake decorators?
5. What type of coloring agent that is most suitable for fondant? Is it water based or oil based?
6. What is the difference between using powdered sugar and cornstarch when handling fondant so that it won't stick to the work surface? Which is better and why?
7. Why is it after I place my fondant on the cake, the fondant surface becomes sticky?
8. Do I need air conditioned room to work with fondant? Or a room with ceiling fan is sufficient?
9. How long can I keep Fondant cake in an open room before being consumed?
10. How long before my delivery date should I start making a fondant cake? When is the best times?

I am sure I will discover new set of problems as I work more with Fondant later. But for now, I need to find answers to these 10 questions first.

Below are some of my first Fondant cakes. Not so perfect but they were ok and acceptable.

Inside this Captain America's Shield cake is a Yellow Butter Buttermilk Cake. The whole cake was 2.7kg in weight and the diameter was 10.5 inches.

Fondant work on birthday cupcakes. Simple but very sharp!

How To Catch a Fast Moving Train?

How to catch a fast moving train is just my sentiments on what is happening in my life right now. This is just a metaphor of how I felt so left behind by those who are much pioneer than me and have been baking and doing cake business way before me. I felt so little, so left out and so hard sometimes!

Lately, I literally have to refrain myself from looking at other people's websites or Facebooks because when I see their work on cakes and cupcakes I felt so inferior. A good friend once told me to avoid from comparing myself with some people that we know and already been doing this cake business for years way before me. She said that I should focus on creating my own cakes and recipes and developing my own designs and ideas slowly for my own niche market.

She kind of opened my mind a lot and make me feel better a bit. But being human such as I, so fragile, so insecure and slightly on the verge of nervous breakdown, I couldn't help but wonder; how long will it take me to be as good as I would like to be and be at the same level as those who I look up for? Never seems to be the answer for now.

Whenever I sigh and make an unhappy remark on my Facebook wall, friends often told me that life begins at 40 like it's a fun thing to say. Yes! I know that I just turn 40 this year and as cliche as it sounds, I have to start all over again at the age of 40. And the worse part is, I look the worse now than ever too. Money seems to be the most important factor to get everything in life and since economically I couldn't afford to pay for my membership at Fitness First anymore, so there goes my gym exercises and at the same time since I have to work my ass off to get so little income everyday, I simply don't have the time and too tired to even to make a run at the park.

Now the next question is, how can I catch up with my best friends youthful good looks? They get to go to the gym, eat good food and can afford to wear LaMer and SKII for their skins. Lately, I wouldn't want to even taking pictures with them anymore because I will look like a fat daddy and they look like a single good looking young men.

I think by the time I could afford to live my life like before (if and maybe implies), I would be beyond repair already. No LaMer or SKII or the gym could saves me.

I suppose I would never get to catch that fast moving train anymore. Seems like my world has changed and I have to make do with what I can for now and just let them go past by me. Yes! I do feel so sad with my predicament n I do felt so left behind everything that used to be around me. At times I feel like I just want to pack up my bags and go to some foreign country and start a new life away from my familiar everyday here. But this kind of thing only happens to Julia Roberts in Eat, Pray and Love. Hollywood makes all your dreams come true. But reality sucks the energy out of your souls and every single things that I encounter everyday and every time is a battle, life is a war.

PINK ROSE, PEARLS AND A CAKE

I thought I play around a little. Since my customer ordered my Strawberry Layer Cake, I made an extra batch enough for a small cake. Somehow I am drawn to Pink color roses, not too bright with a cream color base on the cake to contrast the colors and so I end up making one floral, very feminine cake. Not too complicated but yet looks so much like a wedding cake. To make it more like a wedding cake, I added tiny white sugar pearls all the over the cake one by one. I kinda like it actually!

Rainbow Inside My Pink Roses

A customer was having a wedding ceremony last 31st August and she needed a cake for one of her Dowry to exchange with her husband. She said she likes my rainbow cake and she wanted me to make a smaller Rainbow Cake for her wedding. So I made a 1.8 KG Rainbow Cake and follow her pink theme color for the cake decoration. And she absolutely loved it and wished she didn't have to gave away that cake.

Below is the cake I made for her on the 31st August.

Pretty Cupcakes

I always believe that people eat through their eyes first and the taste comes second as an added bonus. Imagine if the food is ugly, nobody wants to eat it unless somebody said that it taste really delicious then only we would try right?

But not in the case of cupcakes, not only they are so pretty dainty little cakes but they taste really delicious too. Thanks so much to the sweet frosting that we piped on each cupcakes and then sprinkled with sweet colorful sugar tiny beads, balls, rice, heart shaped or stars.

I have always love to eat cupcakes. Even when I am already tired of eating every single ones that I stumble upon in every cafe and bakeries in every malls in Kuala Lumpur, I go home and bake more for myself.

Whenever you suddenly strike with a mood to bake and you got all the ingredients in your kitchen, go on and bake some for yourself. Home baking is suppose to be a joy and not a chore. So enjoy yourself and create a pretty one. Below are some of my own cupcakes.

What Is Red Velvet Cake?

Lately I got so much orders for my Red Velvet Cakes and Cupcakes. It is funny how people are so fascinated with Red Velvet. Is it because of the name? Or its color? Or the vague taste of Red Velvet itself which is neither chocolate nor butter? Or simply because of its popularity?

Generally my customers love the texture, the moist factor and the interesting taste of my Red Velvet. The deep red velvety color does play such an important role as when the eyes see it so appertising, the vague sweet taste of the cake with the slight sour taste from the cream cheese frosting really make up for the whole combination. The whole cake really came out like a winner.

The funny thing is whenever my customers, friends or family asked me what is the taste of Red Velvet, I often have to explain what I put in the cake instead. Well I suppose I could say that Red Velvet is a taste combination of chocolate, sweet and a little bit of sour from the cream cheese and also the white vinegar.

Below are some of my Red Velvet Cakes from recent orders.

 These were a special order for a wedding with a theme of peach color. So I decided to decorate the red velvet cupcakes with simple peach fondant daisies.

The Classic Carrot Cake I Love

So finally I bake a carrot cake a few days ago. I can't even remember when was the last time I bake one though. So this time I had to figure out a new recipe for my carrot cake. The original recipe required me to use Pecan nuts but of course this is just an option and since pecan is so darn expensive....like RM 82.90 per KG. I might as well use the nuts that I like better and cheaper like Walnuts which is only RM 48.00 per KG.

And I have been meaning to make some fondant decorative thing for my cake and Carrot Cake is the best opportunity. So I made these miniature carrots from Fondant and it makes the cake looks cute. And this carrot cake recipe is quite good and moist too, although I had to change a few things in the recipe as I find it a bit wrong, such as the flour content was a bit less so I add another 1/2 cup to the recipe and reduce 1/4 cup of sugar. And the cake came out like a winner. I loved it!