Something's Fishy

After much anticipation, Matt and I have tackled another cake in tandem. And we have officially decided that we love this cake making thing! We had been planning to spend this past weekend practicing a new type of cake and mentioned to some of our friends that they were going to have to take the cake off our hands when we finished. Afterall, we can't have a constant supply of cake sitting around the house, or this hobby will cause lots of problems for the waistline! Our willing friend, Sarah, piped in, "My dad's birthday is this weekend. I should have had you make him a cake!" Great, problem solved! We have a taker.

Now, up until this point, we had been planning to make a square cake with a fondant bow on top...much like a gift-wrapped present. But, once we had our male subject lined out, we were thinking that a fancy bow probably wouldn't bowl him over. So Sarah threw out what she thought was a joke, but definitely got the creative wheels turning, "Can you make a trout?" Sarah's dad is an avid fly fisher, so anything with a trout on it is a trophy.

I will confess (now) that I initally panicked. Trout?! We were thinking of a neat, little square with a bow, and now we are going to shoot for a trout?! Yikes. But once Matt and I started brainstorming, we got excited and had LOTS of ideas. So we guarateed Sarah a trout for Sunday delivery. We baked the cakes Friday night (4 - 8 x 8 squares that were pieced together and layered) and then spent the majority of Saturday (and maybe even the early hours of Sunday morning, but don't tell Sarah!) decorating our little trout. Matt and I had a blast, learned a lot, and were really pleased with our end result. I think we may be on to something that will be a long-lasting hobby of ours.

We documented the cake start to finish, so bare with me on all the photos. If you want, you can just skip to the end and see the final result. Hope you enjoy!

We started with four 8x8 square yellow cakes, then leveled them, and attached them all with good layer of chocolate icing.

A little carving to make a fish shape...

Adding the fondant...

Working on all the details...

He's starting to really look like a fish...

Some added color, and tada...he's done!

Here is a large picture of the final result:

Now, off to brainstorm the Fourth of July cake...

Natalie

My First Fondant Cake

So here it is, the real inspiration for starting this blog - my first fondant cake! I've been a big fan of baking for years and have always loved making cakes. For Matt's last birthday, I decided to try my hand at a carved cake in the shape of an acoustic guitar. I loved it, but the buttercream icing was tedious, and I felt like I could have decorated with much more detail had I used fondant. But fondant also seemed...scary.

I started doing research to better understand the do's and don'ts of fondant. Duff makes it look easy on "Ace of Cakes," but I knew better than to believe that. I started pricing out all the tools and gadgets I would need to get started, and it was just too pricey to do off the cuff. So...I made a request for my birthday, and my mom and my brother came through BIG TIME. They stocked me with all the supplies a girl could want...and then my grandmother cleaned out her cupboard to give me all of her old shaped pans. You should have seen my happy dance!

I decided it would be "safe" to try out the first cake for myself. Yes, I made my own birthday cake. Actually...Matt and I made it together. He is very artistic, so he is a big help with the free-handed stuff! We had a blast...made some freshman mistakes...but the sign of a good baker/decorator is the ability to improvise and "fix" those mistakes (so I have learned). I was so thrilled with the final result and am ready to make tons more now! So...with no further ado, here is the first cake...

First, the inspiration - my new birdy necklace that Matt gave me that I adore (I like to call her "fat chick"):

And the cake with a fat chick topper:

I am now searching for any and every excuse to make a cake...so watch out!