It's edible playdoh!

As I took the fondant out of the package and started kneading it, Ryan says, "Why didn't you just get playdoh to play with?" to which I replied, "I could've...but you can't EAT playdoh!!" [Insert blog post title here.] To give more background information about my random idea to start making and decorating baked goods, I attribute all of the fault to CutestFood.com. Well, part of the fault is also due to the fact that I don't have my creative/random gardening outlet any longer because of my new living situation. Either way, I was intrigued and excited about trying something new. We'll see how things turn out and if I end up any good to keep it up for a while. It'll be fun, I know for a fact!

Baking tip #1: Research fondant. What is it? How is it made? Is it easy to use? Does it taste good? Is it expensive? Buy it premade or make it yourself? etc., etc. After having watched about a million YouTube videos, searched websites and bugged my coworkers, I found that the Wilton brand fondant (pictured above) would suffice for now. Some websites suggested the "Satin Ice" brand, it even sounds expensive, doesn't it?, but I wasn't ready to spend a lot of money on something I had no idea how to use. I settled for the Wilton brand from the baking isle in Michaels and couldn't wait to open it up and use it!

So, now comes the baking part. Since I can make a somewhat decent cupcake, (out of the box, OF COURSE!), I decided to start there. I'm not about to start decorating whole cakes with fondant, just making small objects and placing them on top of frosting. Easy peasy...right?

WRONG!! Fondant is so fun, but a little hard to get used to. First of all, it's sticky. I went through so much powdered sugar, it basically coated my entire kitchen floor. That stuff is difficult to keep in a neat and clean area. Second of all, it dries out quickly. It got to the point where I had plastic wrap on stand-by so that I could stuff the fondant in as quickly as possible to avoid cracks. Third/last of all, my fingers hurt by the end of the molding process. I guess I don't use those fondant rolling-mushing-ball rolling-smashing-poking muscles in my hands too often.  Overall, it was a great learning experience and it's going to be so fun to learn to make different shapes and objects. What if one day I can cover an entire cake with fondant?! *GASP* Oh the possibilities!

In my next post, you'll find pictures of my first attempt fondant objects pics. They're pretty neat if I do say so myself!

Until later,
Baker in Training