My 2nd wedding cake and my first fondant cake. Here's what happened:
The bride loved my homemade Wilton recipe fondant (she didn't like the MMF), so I agreed to make it (26 batches of it!). I learned pretty quickly that I could use my KA, but then, the week I started to work on the cake, it broke!!! Actually stopped working. I did not panic though. I called KA, and they agreed to send me a new one -- in 2 weeks. Too late for the wedding. So I went to Cosco and bought a new one to try out. It didn't work right! So then I went to Macy's and bought an even bigger on -- the 600, and it worked great, but at nearly $500 that went back after the wedding. I figured out what I did wrong originally though -- I tried to make the fondant using a speed other than 2. I swear I will never move off speed 2 again when making the fondant!
As for the heat issues: Well, I learned a valuable lesson about hand rolled fondant pearls -- DO NOT PUT THEM IN A PLASTIC BAGGIE TO TRANSPORT TO THE SITE! Oh, I could have had a heart attack when I went to take them out ALL 700 OF THEM -- only to find that they had lost their shape and nearly molded back into one giant ball. I did a really stupid thing then -- I put the balls in corn starch thinking-- oh, that will dry them out quickly. Yeah, it dried them out -- to the point of cracking! Thank God for my friend who was there to unpeel them and reshape them as I applied them to the cake.
THe Heat was also the culprit in melting the chocolate bars I had brought to make the chocolate shavings. Luckily, we had some ice bags to cool that down.
As for the 30 MPH wind that was at the reception site -- it was ugly. The shavings I made literally blew off the groom's cake -- I had to make smaller ones and press them into the cake.
I could almos thear this year's American Idol theme song "So You Had a Bad Day" playing in the background. Everything worked out well in the end, but I've never experienced such stress!
Hi Tara,
Yes, they're posted. Under square wedding cakes and groom's cakes. The wedding cake is the 5 tier plain w/ pearls and Wilton Pearl Pillars. The groom's cake is the chocolate box-like creation with the couple's photo on it.
Thanks for the encouragement! 
Sarah
Hi Sonoma!
I looked at your cakes. That is A LOT OF WEDDING CAKE BAKIN', GIRL!
I feel your pain...we have weather like that here in the summer, too. Just ADD HUMIDITY!
I remember one wedding I did--they wanted PILLARS between EVERY layer of the cake. (It was small--thank everything good...) But the wind was like yours, it was on top of Ole' Smoky--about 87 degrees, high humidity...and...yeah...BUTTERCREAM for all the mountain dust to blow right through!
I swear--the only thing that poor lil' bride didn't have for added effect was a fountain, so the water could blow off into the cakes, too!
Anyway, your cake was great! You held up under suffocating stress.
Good Job! 
--Knox--
Do I understand correctly--that you used a $500 KA to make 26 batches of fondant and then RETURNED it to Macy's 
Rae
Hi Rae,
I didn't explain the entire issue with the KA's because it would have taken up too much space, but I was really upset by your post. So here goes...
After my little 350 watt KA broke, and the one from Cosco didn't work right, I went to Macy's and found all 3 models -- the little one that I had that had broken, the one from Cosco that didn't work right, and the bigger 600 watt one. At the time, I didn't know what had happened with my little one, and I sure didn't want to go with the model I had bought from Cosco because it hadn't worked right. So that left the bigger and more expensive one. I bought it with this in mind....if it works better than the others and fits my needs, I'll keep it. That meant that I would give it a try first, of course. I even told the sales gal at Macy's what I was doing, and she said it was fine, that they had a 90 day return policy for just this reason. Try it out and see what you think. I got it home, and it was a monster. It barely fit under my cabinets, and I came to really hate the "bowl lift" style. I really like the Artisan flip top that my little one had. While I did like the capacity of it (14 cups of flour), the bowl lift, and the size just weren't worth the hassle for the price. My husband tried to talk me into keeping it because he thought it looked neat and because of it's power. But, in the end, I just couldn't go with that style. So now I have my nice little flip top with the 5 quart capacity and the much nicer handle.
I can see where it might have seemed that I bought it only to use it and return it, but that's not what happened. Had it proved to be the better model for me, I would have kept it.
I was pretty shocked all the thumbs down guys you left me, but then I guess the way I explained everything wasn't the best.
Sarah
Hi Rae,
I didn't explain the entire issue with the KA's because it would have taken up too much space, but I was really upset by your post. So here goes...
After my little 350 watt KA broke, and the one from Cosco didn't work right, I went to Macy's and found all 3 models -- the little one that I had that had broken, the one from Cosco that didn't work right, and the bigger 600 watt one. At the time, I didn't know what had happened with my little one, and I sure didn't want to go with the model I had bought from Cosco because it hadn't worked right. So that left the bigger and more expensive one. I bought it with this in mind....if it works better than the others and fits my needs, I'll keep it. That meant that I would give it a try first, of course. I even told the sales gal at Macy's what I was doing, and she said it was fine, that they had a 90 day return policy for just this reason. Try it out and see what you think. I got it home, and it was a monster. It barely fit under my cabinets, and I came to really hate the "bowl lift" style. I really like the Artisan flip top that my little one had. While I did like the capacity of it (14 cups of flour), the bowl lift, and the size just weren't worth the hassle for the price. My husband tried to talk me into keeping it because he thought it looked neat and because of it's power. But, in the end, I just couldn't go with that style. So now I have my nice little flip top with the 5 quart capacity and the much nicer handle.
I can see where it might have seemed that I bought it only to use it and return it, but that's not what happened. Had it proved to be the better model for me, I would have kept it.
I was pretty shocked all the thumbs down guys you left me, but then I guess the way I explained everything wasn't the best.
Sarah
Must also apologize for my flippant comment about the pricing in my original post. I realize how this sounded, and hope that this explanation clears up where my mind was at with the Macy's KA. I have definitely learned a lesson here!
Just came back from a trip to look at the 6qt pro KA and I must say that I agree with you on several of the features. I liked the huge bowl, but the bowl attachments didn't look all that secure and I definitely missed the tilt head... So I guess I'll be making numerous batches of frosting, etc. in my little 18 year old 4.5 qt. ultra power.
And you really did have one heck of a day with your wedding cake - what perserverance!
Hope you were able to go home and put your feet up with a tall cool drink after that day...
Word of warning, even though several people will tell you they use their KA to make fondant and it is "OK" to do so, plus I think it is even on one of the tutorials in the Articles section, don't do it. It will wear down your KA's motor over time. There are numerous posts on here of people burning out their KA's over fondant.
You can make the stuff by hand just as easy and just as fast.
I'm pretty wary about using my KA from now on, but at the time I had to make 26 batches, so I chose to risk it instead of letting my arms fall off. The bigger one worked fine, but I worry about the little one. THe KA people said that as long as you don't go over the flour (p. sug in this case) requirements and NEVER EVER TAKE IT OFF SPEED 2 that it should be fine. We'll see. The KA people were great with a warranty. They actually asked me for the recipe I used and when I explained it to them, they said that they would send me a new one. So, we'll see....but thanks for the warning!
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