Fun with Fondant - A Weekend Spent Well!!

Today I am not going to describe any cake recipe or baking tips. It's going to be a colorful post, with lots of bright and beautiful images. Yes, you have guessed it right - it's the fondant decoration for the cakes.

As I have mentioned many times, that I am still learning. Many of you are getting inspired from my blog and started baking for the first time - that is really a great achievement for me. When I started this blog, I never knew - it will be popular and more than that, inspirational - for so many of you. I am so, so happy that at least it is serving a purpose!

So, back to my story! I never had any experience of using fondant in decorating cakes, but I have seen many of the expert bakers are using this technique and they are making so exquisite cakes... just unbelievable! Being a member of the Home Bakers Group Pune (in Facebook), I got the opportunity to see this beautiful art pieces - they are not just cake, but something more than that. In fact, I cannot think of cutting these cakes to serve - they should be kept for display, forever in some museum! That's my idea of using fondant.

Anyway, I was planning to join some course to learn some basic technique of using fondant and I got my chance. One of the best and renowned home-bakers of Pune - Lynette Dias, was conducting this class for 2 days over the weekend. Weekend was the best time for me, so I decided to join the course. I was like - no matter whatever the situation is - I am going to do it! And I took the right decision. It was such a great experience to learn so many new things and moreover it was fun to spend a weekend out of the daily chores of work-cook-sleep. It was a real stress buster for me. We were 4 ladies in the group - and all of us felt like we have gone back to our childhood days to play with colorful play-doughs.

Making a Tiger

Yes, the process of creating these beautiful, cute, little figurines using the colored fondants are exactly same as playing with play-doughs. If you have done that in your childhood time, then you are going to be a pro in some time. But obviously you have to rack your brains, to get all these unique themes of decorating cakes.

The Tiger and The Lion

We did few figurines on wild animals and then we moved to our project cakes. Our teacher, Lynette - gave us few options for the project cakes and among that I selected the mermaid cake. Actually the day before, I was thinking that if there is an option then I'll go for a mermaid cake or a family cake  - showing a couple and two daughters. However, the family theme could have been more difficult, because preparing the mermaid was almost a 2 hours job. By the end of the first day, we were ready with most of the figurines.

A Teddy Bear and A Cute Doggy

The Mermaid

The second day was kept for icing the cake with ganache, covering with fondant and placing the figurines. Basically the total assembling of the cake was done in the second day. In second day, I had prepared few more aquatic items like octopus, a big fish and sea weeds. Ultimately the cake was assembled and it was really looking so gorgeous. Everyone's cakes were looking brilliant and gorgeous. Without Lynette's guidance, it was completely impossible. Thank you so much, Lynette!

My Mermaid Cake

Octopus and The Big Fish

I brought my project cake back home and my family-members could not believe that I made that cake. I had to cut that cake, but I made sure to remove these cute-little figurines first. These are still lying in my refrigerator and I don't think, I'll ever be able to throw them up in kitchen garbage-bin... I'll store them as long as I can... :)