Thursday, September 11, 2008

Poured fondant? And getting ready for the big day!

Hello, my friends! 23 days to go. And things are cooking right along, pardon the pun.

Last week I was in Amelia Island, Florida attending a conference for work when my team surprised me with a cake! Actually, it wasn't just for me, it was also for 2 other ladies in our department with big "life events" this fall - they are both expecting babies. But I took a pic of it anyway to share with you because a) I am kinda obsessed with cake lately, and b) I'm still trying to figure out exactly how they did it. Here are a couple of pics:






Due to how shiny the cake appeared, I wondered if the frosting and decorations were modeling chocolate. But when we cut into the cake, it was actually fondant. So help me out here: is that what they call "poured fondant"? If not, how did they get the fondant so shiny? And how did they do it without leaving fingerprints? Some sort of gloss product? Even the little balls and accents had the same shine to them. It surprised me because I'm used to the standard matte finish. Either way, the fondant was definitely homemade. The marshmellow flavor was fresh and fluffy and actually quite tasty - not dry and packaged like the stuff you get in the craft store. Very interesting!

In other news, I decorated my cupcake tree for the reception last night and am very pleased with how it turned out! Over the course of planning the reception, I've been focusing on the fall theme (as you know) and have somewhat unintentionally slid into a burgundy base color for the decor, with other fall colors like pumpkin and chocolate and gold as accents. This happened mostly as a result of the color of the chairs in the reception hall as well as the choices of napkin colors for the tables. So burgundy (though not my favorite color) it has become.

The cupcake tree I bought is a series of 5 cardboard disks with rectangular pieces that fit together to make the support structure for each tier. Using a roll of cake foil I got here, I traced each circle and cut it out with scissors, then affixed it to the tier using double sided tape.









I then measured out some satin burgundy ribbon, hot glued it to the edge of each tier, and stacked the finished tiers together. Voila!



I debated whether or not to cover the support pieces with foil as well, but I think when you get the cupcakes in front of them you won't be able to see the supports at all. I'm hoping that when this is all over I'll be able to take the ribbon and foil off and reuse the cupcake tree, since the website where I purchased it seems to be no longer in business. Glad I got it when I did!

I'm supposed to make cupcakes for a birthday party this weekend. Off to that project!

Keep counting down with me!
Love, CaraCakes

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