Miscellaneous Cake Baking and Decorating – Questions and Answers
Peggy Weaver answers your most frequently asked Miscellaneous Cake Baking & Decorating questions and shares many helpful tips and tricks.
QUESTION:
One of the girls in a class asked for help on how to make the Iris from fondant and gum paste. If you have any instructions please pass them to me.
ANSWER:
Your friend will have to pick up a book about flower making. It is to complicated to explain in this letter. I also do not have the time to go into the tools that are needed. I suggest Cakes by Design: The Magical World of Sugar Art by Scott Clark Woolley and Michael G. Farace. He also has a web site that is fantastic. He makes the cutters and the veiners for a very fair price and all of the pieces match together. You can buy the cutter one place, the veiners another place, and most often the sizes do not match so you have wasted time, money and supplies.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing I can advise you is that you DO NOT buy pieces, veiners, and cutters from different vendors when you are starting gum paste work. Once you know what you are doing, you can find ways to make things match the way you want them to. But as a beginner, you will drive yourself NUTS trying to get the lovely results you have imagined.
Also, the longer the flower sits before you color it and use it on a cake it seems they get stronger. Pre-making gum paste flowers by weeks, drying and storing is a real plus for decorators.
QUESTION:
I have never used fondant before but I love the way it looks on cakes and your MM fondant recipe sound easy to make. I like to make filled cakes preferably ice cream filled cakes. Could I use fondant on that style of cake or would there be too much moisture in it? If I could make a filled cake and top it with fondant what would you suggest I use as a filling? Any advice would be great, thank you.
ANSWER:
I am sorry but ice cream and Fondant Icing do not mix. Fondant Icing should never be frozen. When the ice cream starts to melt even the slightest bit, and that is probably before you get the cake into the freezer, the sugar in the fondant will start to dissolve and turn into a sticky gooey mess. Ice cream cakes are great the way they are. This is one time that more is not better
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Peggy Weaver, author of Peggy’s Baking Corner, has generously answered all the above question on cake baking during the last 15 years. Peggy will not be able to continue with the Question and Answer pages in the future. She thanks you for all your interesting questions.
Fondant Icing/Covering:
Fondant Icing Recipe – Marshmallow Fondant – Recipe and tutorial on making and using marshmallow fondant icing.
Making Fondant Icing – Q&As on making fondant icing.
Fondant Recipes – Additional fondant recipes plus Q&As on making other flavors of fondant icing.
Bubbles in the Fondant – What causes bubbles in your fondant icing and how to fix the problem.
Covering Cakes with Fondant Icing – Peggy’s hints and tips for covering your cakes with Fondant Icing.
Decorating Cakes with Fondant Icing – How to add color, how to make fondant flowers, using fondant decorations, repairing tears, and much more.
Marbling Fondant Icing – Learn how to marble fondant icing.
Buttercream Icing/Covering:
Buttercream Icing 101 – Recipe and tutorial on making and using buttercream icing.
Buttercream Recipes – Additional buttercream recipes plus Q&As on making other flavors of buttercream icing.
Decorating with Buttercream – How to use decorations on buttercream icing.
Wedding Cakes:
Assembling Cakes/Wedding Cakes
Cake Fillings – How to use caking fillings with wedding cakes.
Decorating Wedding Cakes – Lots of Q&A’s on decorating wedding cakes.
Other Cake Baking and Decoration Topics:
Recipes & Baking Ingredients – Q&As on different cake baking ingredients.
Peggy’s Cake Decorating Idea Photos – This idea page has photos only and no decorating instructions.
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