When my nephew was born, my sister decided that I could be the chief cake maker for her son as well. As my sister loves turtles, I wanted to create a baby turtle cake to celebrate Cameron's first birthday. This time though, I wanted to have a play with fondant. My usual icing of choice is Betty Crocker's frosting, so this was going to be an adventure (or a disaster waiting to happen)!! Here's the finished product...
I don't know why I thought I could bake and decorate a cake with fondant in the space of only 5 hours, but I managed it...with the help of hubby of course. Last Friday night was my usual crop night, so I didn't get to bed until 1am. Andrew had promised to bake the cakes for me, but that went awry because we didn't have any vegetable oil. So, 6am he went to the shops and picked some up (what a good hubby!). I could hear him starting to bake, so I got up too (6.30am!!) to make the fondant figures. Thankfully, the girl at Delaney's hooked me up with everything I needed. I had absolutely no idea...one cupcake decorating course and I was an expert in fondant...not!
I set about making the turtle, mini cake, lettering, lilypads and flowers, then set them aside on a plate to dry. The turtle was a little chubbier than I had planned, and he looked like he was sinking a bit (maybe I played with the fondant too much and it heated up?). Once the cakes were cooled, I stacked and "dirty iced" them with a little frosting. Thank you Buddy the Cake Boss for adding that term to my daughter's vocabulary. The time had come to roll out the blue fondant to cover the cakes. Thank goodness for Satin Ice, so I didn't have to colour the blue or green...my hands were already yellow from the dye used on the lettering.
Just as I finished rolling out the blue fondant, I accidently tipped a glass of water ALL OVER MY BENCH! The water went all through the plate that was holding the turtle etc, and across part of the fondant. I started to cry! I couldn't believe it!! Andrew came to my rescue and got all of the pieces out of the plate and onto a rack so they could dry. The blue fondant was only wet in one corner, so I quickly rolled it up onto the rolling pin and placed it onto the cake. It tore and looked like crap, but there was no way I was letting that cake defeat me!
Meanwhile, Andrew had to pop out to pick up a special cake I had ordered for his parents' 40th anniversary, and by the time he came back, it was done...and it looked awesome!! IMHO. I cut away the excess, smoothed it out as best I could and made some grass out of green fondant to cover up the bad edge and some holes. The rest of the holes were covered with frangipanis (thankfully I had made extra). The other pieces were placed on top, and I remade the lettering. There was so much water on there, it literally looked like the lilypads were floating. They say that oil and water don't mix...the same goes for fondant and water!
Cameron's party was an hour's drive away, so I had to nurse the cake in the car...with all of its imperfections staring back at me. I needn't have worried though...Beth loved it and it was delicious! Go team Andrew and Lisa!! I love these photos my Dad captured. Little Cameron was very taken with the lit candle, and decided to grab it...hence why Beth and Edi are holding him so tight! lol.
So there you have it, crisis averted. Next time I decorate with fondant, I'll know to allow myself a few days. Eme's birthday is next month and she's requested a teapot, cup and saucer...Lord help me.
Do you make special cakes for your kids too? Please tell me you find it as stressful as I do...
