I hate Fondant.

I think I really, truly hate it. Which is unfortunate since I'm trying to get a cake decorating company off the ground for myself.


Fondant is fickle.


The first wedding cake I made, I had a two day notice of the wedding, and I had volunteered to make the couple's wedding cake thinking I had a few months to buy my supplies and practice and whatnot. They felt a week was long enough for an engagement (they're Bhutanese refugees, so maybe that's normal for them?) Anyways, my mom gave me money to go out and buy my supplies a day and a half before the wedding, and I just had a go at it. Leah, my sister-in-law who does cakes, gave me a lot of advice via e-mail and gave me recipes and answered my questions. This cake turned out fairly near perfection. I'm really not trying to brag, really. I think God was guiding my hands in that project and it came together pretty well.

I mean, come on! That's pretty good for a first try, right. 


My second wedding cake I was hired for, the bride wanted a LOT of colour and being so cocky and over confident of my skills in the cake arena, I agreed to do it for her. The lucky streak DID NOT last. I made, I think, three practice cakes for her wedding and each involved a lot of *choice* words and throwing of my large roller or whatever happened to be in my hand. At one point, it was fondant. In the end it turned out pretty well, not as well as I would have liked, but...

So, I haven't done much with Fondant since then... I usually end up throwing things. (for those of you wondering, don't worry: it's very late at night when I get to work on cakes, and the kids are asleep. I try not to have my own tantrums in front of them) I did Oliver's birthday cake this year with some Fondant accents, and I thought maybe Fondant and I were making some progress in our relationship. I didn't throw anything at all, and only had to redo one piece...

Each piece I cut fit just about perfectly, and I was super pleased with the results. My friend was at the party, and our kids' birthdays are three days apart, but we were doing our parties on separate weekends, so I asked her if she wanted me to make her son's cake. Big mistake on my part!
The idea seemed simple enough. She wanted a cake with Andy's bed (Andy as in Toy Story) and have the toys on and around the bed. I found some good ideas/samples on Google, and thought, "Oh, this won't take any time at all!"


It's currently 1:35 a.m.


I've been at this since about 9:30 when the cakes were done chilling.


What was the point of this? Oh yes! So, I made a sheet cake for the floor of Andy's room, and cut out individual floor boards and painted them by hand, which took forever, but it looks pretty good, and I am happy with the results. Although, again, Fondant is tricksy. It went pretty well for those, but come time to make the blanket for the bed, I tried for about 30-45 minutes (though it felt longer!) to roll out the stuff, cut it, and transfer it to the bed. I have now tried in every way I can think, but the biggest problems are:
1. It keeps stretching as I transfer it.
2. It keeps sticking to itself as I transfer it. 
3. I could swear it changes sizes between getting rolled and getting on the cake.


Very annoying. 


Well, this was mostly to vent while I cooled off from the last fiasco, but I should probably get back to it since the party is in 15 hours and I haven't slept yet. Not to mention, I only got four hours last night, so tonight is being especially rough. I will post pictures of this cake once I finish it, unless I throw it. :)