Originally Posted by krazigirl79

Hi!
I am attempting to self-teach myself cake decorating in hopes that I will be able to make a cake for my parents' 30th anniversary at the end of next month.

I have a few questions- I hope I don't bother you all too much!

Cake: I heard you can use regular box cake mix to make a tiered cake- I am looking at 2-3 tiers total, nothing too big- more of a showpiece than anything- we will have sheet cake for serving most people. I was wondering what kind of box mix is best for this, and if you have to do anything special to the mix for this specific use?

Fondant: I am going to ATTEMPT to get this sort of feel for the cake: http://www.cakechannel.com/western-wedding-cake-theme.html But will use an ivory fondant instead of the dark brown. With pre-made fondant can you flavor or color it?

Timing: How far in advance should you make the cake itself? How far in advance should the fondant be made- I am assuming the day before is best- am I correct in that assumption?

I also have a picture of my very first attempt at a round tier with fondant- I didn't realize it dried so quickly and ran out of the house on an emergency- so the fondant cracked a little on the edges- but I plan on applying it immediately upon rolling it next time! - I am going to attach it for viewing. I also want to make the fondant thinner- like I said, this was my first attempt so I will need some practice The round is thin because my cake pans are actually packed, so I just used one of my regular pans which was way too wide for the amount of batter I had.

THANK YOU very much for any constructive criticism you may have and all advice- as you can see I'm going to need the help, lol- I have 1 month to learn the process

~Lena

Hi Lena and welcome to CC!

Here's a link that will help you with some of the acronyms we use here on CC:
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-2926.html

As for your questions:

Yes you can use a box of cake mix to make your cake. Which brand you use is a personal preference. I myself like Duncan Hines the best bt also like and have used Betty Crocker - sometimes I just buy what's on sale. I have never used Pillsbury or store brands though so cannot comment on those. You can doctor cake mixes and there are recipes here on CC that you will find in the recipes section. I have recently tried the "original" WASC recipe and it came out beautifully as well as sturdier than just plain cake mix. It actually tasted better the day after I cut it actually. Kakeladi her on CC came up with the recipe and if you do a search for original WASC recipe you should be able to find it or you can PM her and I'm sure she will be more than happy to send it to you.


Fondant: Yes you can colour pre-made fondant or you can purchase it already covered- but just so you know if you are planning to buy Wilton's pre-made fondant it does not taste good. I have bought Satin Ice recently but have not tried it so do not know how it taste but I have made MMF (recipe also found here) and it is tastes way better than Wilton's and is pretty easy to make. I believe there is a video on youtube of someone showing you how to make it. You can also find lots of video's there for cake decorating as well as articles here under the articles tab.


Tutorial on how to apply fondant and colour it (it shows how to do a marble effect but if you keep mixing it you will get a solid colour):
http://atecousa.net/learn/satin-ice-tutorial-i-icing-your-cake.html


Timing: Cake can be frozen - After you bake and cool, cover with layers of saran wrap and then wrap with heavy duty foil to prevent any odours from getting into cake as well as moisture. If you do not want to freeze the cake you (and I've only done this a couple of times just to see if it made any difference in taste - and by the way you cannot tell at all) then after you bake and cool the cake I would suggest you trim/level the cake then fill it and cover with a crumb coat (very thin layer of icing) and let it settle over night. This way if the cake does settle/bulge you can take care of it before you cover with the fondant. Fondant if covered correctly will keep for quite a while. I think Satin Ice said there's lasts for 6 months or something really long like that. I don't know how long MMF lasts but I made some a month ago and it's still fine. What you want to make sure though is that you cover it really well so it does not dry out. What I do with the MMF is put a little bit of vegetable shortening on my hands and rub it on the outside of the MMF before I cover the MMF with Saran wrap. I cover it with several layers of Saran Wrap and then put in an airtight container or ziploc bag.

When you put on your thin crumbcoat make sure that it is as smooth as possible as the fondant will show the imperfections. Also you need to cover the cake with your fondant as soon as you roll it out otherwise it will dry out.

Here's another link for you to check out as well:

http://www.wilton.com/decorating/fondant/


What I would recommend is that you get Sharon Zambito's dvd's (aka Sugarshack here on cc)s for covering cakes with fondant and the stacking dvd. These will help you out a lot and also her buttercream dvd is awesome. She ships super fast and has great customer service if you have any questions at all.

HTH, I know there is more info I can give you but it's going on 3 am and my eyes are closing. I apologize in advance for any spelling/grammer mistakes or if I don't make sense I'm to tired to proof read ! Please feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.

Once again welcome to CC!

Ahhh, your making me blush !

Your very welcome, you'll find most that most of the folks here on CC are more than willing to help out!