I knew that working with fondant for the first time would be a new experience, so I wanted to make the experience as "easy" as possible, which is why I opted out of making my cake from scratch. Yes, I know; a shortcut. But they're called shortcuts for a reason.
I used a Duncan Hines French Vanilla cake mix. Once everything was mixed, I poured the batter into a 9x13'' pan.
After baking, I placed the cake on a rack to cool. After cooling for 10-15 minutes, I cut the cake in half. I did this to place icing in the middle.
While the cake continued to cool, I prepared my butter cream icing. I used non-salted butter and powdered sugar. You can add milk to get the consistency you desire. More milk, more creamy and not as firm. Using less milk will make it firmer.
After icing the cake, I placed it in the freezer to harden and secure the crumbs. I used Wilton's gel colors to tint my fondant. Took a lot of elbow grease; knead and knead until you get the color you want. Once the fondant was finally over the cake, I smoothed the corners and sides as well as the top.
Next, I worked on the fondant bow and ribbons. I actually used a fondant roller cutter to cut the identical strips of fondant for the ribbon and bow. To get my bow to have some dimension, I stuffed saran wrap into the bow and then just pressed the edges together to conceal the saran wrap.
I used regular water and a paint brush to use as "glue" to adhere the fondant ribbon and bow to the cake. Pretty easy. The water also gave the fondant a shiny appearance.
The last thing I added was writing and a seashell boarder along the cake. I'm not very good at writing with icing, so I had to practice on wax paper a few times.
I thought it turned out pretty good for my first time working with fondant! It was pretty sweet, with the homemade butter cream icing and marshmallow fondant. I kind of expected that, but cake is suppose to be sweet, right?!
Everyone loved it! Most of all, my Mom, and that's really all that mattered.
Some things I would have done differently:
1. Added another layer of cake instead of cutting the one layer in half. Possibly could have cut down on the richness.
2. Added a bit more milk to my butter cream icing. As time went on, the icing became harder. So next time I'll make it more creamy to begin with.
Hope you all enjoy!
