720b: Sister Sister

Most of you know my sis, but if you don't here she is!

Jess, me and Derick @ my totally RAD 80s party!!

Everyone knows that I am domestically challenged so Jess is here to through in a little FLAVA to my blog!! YEA, maybe I will learn a thing or two!!

So, I'm Fallon's sister, a pastry chef and cook. I'm going to be doing a section every once in a while about something food related! :) Hopefully, I will be able to help out anyone who is interested in cooking or baking with some good tips! To let you know a little about myself, I have been a cook and pastry chef for about 12 years. I currently work as a cook while I'm trying my hardest to get a cake business going! Wish me luck! :) This post may be helpful to anyone who likes to decorate cakes. I'm going to give you some tips on fondant.

I love fondant, and do many decorations using it. Even if you hate fondant, and don't want to completely cover a cake in it, you can still make some amazing decorations with it, and kids love it! You want to get a good quality fondant if you can, most likely from an online site. If you just dabble in cake decorating, and don't want to spend a lot of money, you can definitely just get a box from Michaels, it just requires a little more work and care.

If you're using fondant from Michaels, you will want to make sure you knead it, work it with your hands, and get it nice and soft. If you are finding it really dry, you can add a little touch of shortening, and work that in, but sometimes, just the warmth of your hands will be enough to moisten it up. Having a good quality fondant just eliminates some of this aggravation. If your fondant is dry, all of your pieces are going to be cracked. If you are coloring it, you will want to have some powdered sugar handy as it will get very sticky.

Once your fondant is ready, take out the piece your working with, and keep the rest covered. Now, you can roll the fondant out and cut it into some cute decoration, flowers, hearts, butterflies, anything! Or, you can make some awesome 3D pieces. Say you're making a fondant animal. I usually start with the body. I cut a little candy stick (found at Michaels) and put it in the center for support. This will hold the head on and also keep the animal upright. Then, I make the head, arms, and legs. I attach all of the pieces using simple syrup (sugar water) which acts as an edible glue. Then you just take sculpting tools and add details, fingers, toes, any indentations you need to make. Another great thing to have is edible ink markers which allow you to actually draw on the fondant, great for faces!

I am making a cake this weekend, so I will post some step by step instructions and pics of the fondant work I'm doing, which hopefully will give you a better idea. I encourage you all to try out fondant next time you're making a cake for someone special. It's so fun and creative. It's like being a kid and having play-doe! You might find something you love!

I'm throwing in a few pics!