Practice birthday cake...

Lv2Mommy · #1 July 26th, 2011, 03:51 PM

So I decided on a theme for macie's party the other day - Minnie Mouse. After Googling cakes forever, I decided to give these a shot. I've had things not turn out as planned one too many times, so I like to do a practice run. I'm pretty pleased with how it all turned out. We're just having a small family get together, so a smash cake for Mace and cupcakes for everyone else. I need to change a few things, but overall I did alright for my first try at fondant.

noworries · #2 July 26th, 2011, 05:35 PM

Those turned out great. Very cute!

Trish36 · #3 July 26th, 2011, 06:45 PM

oh wow! That turned out really really cute! Love it!!!!! If I saw that at the store I'd buy it. Very cure!!!!! What a great job!

mommydiva · #4 July 27th, 2011, 05:41 AM

Very cute! I am thinking I should do a practice run now seeing all these cute cakes..lol

krislati · #5 July 27th, 2011, 06:30 AM

They came out really cute!

I<3HelloKitty · #6 July 27th, 2011, 11:28 AM

Those turned out awesome! So cute!

Celine · #7 July 27th, 2011, 11:40 AM

OMG- are you kidding? They are absolutely awesome! How did you do that? I have been practicing cupcakes and they look like crap. LOL. Are you girls all professional bakers? How do you get it to look so clean?

momma2princesses · #8 July 27th, 2011, 11:56 AM

Holy cow...that is crazy good! Where the heck are all these closet professional bakers coming from? These are great!!!

Anyone else feeling bad for just planning a plain ol sheet cake with frosting? lol I am so impressed!

sunshyne57 · #9 July 27th, 2011, 12:01 PM

Awesome job Christie!!!! Seriously amazing!

Jeanie915 · #10 July 27th, 2011, 03:02 PM

Awesome job! Super cute!!

mommy_2_ava_1109 · #11 July 28th, 2011, 12:01 PM

Omg! How cute! You're one talented mama!

krsnow · #12 July 28th, 2011, 10:00 PM

They look awesome!

Lv2Mommy · #13 July 30th, 2011, 01:30 PM

lol - thanks girls. I'm a perfectionist hence the whole practice cake. I love to bake and I've been getting better each year. I just have to steal ideas off the internet bc i'm totally not creative. Copy I can do, think it up - not happening.

Celine · #14 July 30th, 2011, 06:40 PM

Can you share the step by step instructions please? I think your cake is super beautiful! And the cupcakes, too. And where did you get the mouse ears, etc. ?

Lv2Mommy · #15 July 31st, 2011, 05:37 AM

I have a small cake pan, which I think makes it easier to decorate. I just use a box mix and regular store frosting. I piped the frosting on the cupcakes, just in a circular design and then lightly smoothed it out. After I baked the cake and let it cool, I did a light coating of frosting, basically a crumb coat just to smooth it out and give the fondant something to adhere to, then I put it in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes while I rolled out the fondant.

I bought just a pound or so package of white fondant at Hobby Lobby, along with come circle cookie cutter shapes (used for the mouse ears & polka dots), gel coloring in pink & black, and a silicon cake decorating mat to roll the fondant on. I've never worked with fondant before, but it was really easy.

To dye it, I just tore off a piece that I felt was big enough for what I needed, put a few drops of coloring on and kneaded it in until the color was right and mixed in well. They also sell it already colored, some individually and some in packs that come with 4 different colors, which is another option as opposed to dying it yourself.

Roll it all out (with a dusting of cornstarch to keep from sticking) and cut my shapes. For the bows, I rolled it, cut strips and then molded the bows. It starts getting super soft when you work it a lot, but it also starts drying out quickly so keep any extra in an airtight container or ziploc bag until you're ready to use it.

I found that it works better if you make the shapes that will be upright, or standing, ahead of time (maybe even a day or two before) and then let them harden so they aren't too soft. The covering for the cake and the white polka dots I rolled while the cake was in the freezer bc you want those to still be somewhat soft.

For the cake, just roll the fondant out like you would a pie crust until it's big enough to cover the whole cake and then lay it over the top and smooth it out, working to cover the cake without any wrinkles or bubbles. Cut the excess right at the bottom edge of the cake and then roll the little balls and put at the base.

It probably took me 3 hours from start to finish, but overall it wasn't very difficult. I think all those years of play dough sessions over the last 12 years are finally coming in handy! lol

If you have a Hobby Lobby near you, they have a whole isle with cake decorating stuff. I could've spent some serious money in there! They also had a few how-to guides that I spent several minutes just reading over. I didn't have enough in the days budget to buy them, so I just gleaned whatever tips I thought might be helpful. That and google helped me figure out what exactly I was doing.