beginner in need of a few tips from the wise and experienced people!

Hi Yumkat,

I'm not claiming to be wise, but here are a few quick answers

- buttercream:  Wilton's American buttercream works well and can sit out for a long time.  I use half butter half veg shortening, because I think it gives a better texture and taste. It is nice as you can always just add more sugar to make it thicker or milk/cream to make it thinner.

-yes fondant is to cover cakes.  To make characters, something more like gumpaste is better.  It is easiest to buy it pre-made, to get a feel for what it is like to work with, then you can just add some tylose to your fondant and have virtually the same effect.  I also like to mix-in a little modelling chocolate to my fondant/gumpaste for characters, it is a bit more forgiving (ie you can hide a seam a lot easier).  The severed head cake in my gallery is completely covered in a fondant/modelling chocolate mix to allow me to sculpt for a longer period without the fondant drying out, but most characters I still make with gumpaste, so they will dry quicker and then I can add more details to them.  This is the same  stuff for making bows.

- I think I have heard cornstarch for gumpaste and PSfor fondant, now I just use PS for everything, but I sift it through a fine sieve when I use it.

Good luck,

Jennajane

I use fondant +tylose for all my figures and flowers, although I certainly don't claim to be an expert in that area. It's a lot cheaper than buying gumpaste if you're going for cheap, but doesn't model quite as well. How much tylose to add depends on how fast you want things to dry and how humid the weather is, so just play a bit. I mostly roll a ball, flatten it a bit and then sprinkle tylose over the area. I know that's not very accurate. Pre-made gumpaste is fine for flowers.

I use cornstarch for all my rolling - I find it smoother and less gritty than powdered sugar.

I've had ganache on my benchtop in 35degree heat this week, and it's fine a week later.

YumKat, NEVER use margarine! Real Butter & shortening (like Crisco (solid)- not oil). Margarine has too many other things in it & will often ruin your icing, cake, cookies, etc....

I have left my buttercream cakes out of the fridge (I don't like to eat cold cake), as long as the humidity is under control (65%-70% or lower) than you should not have any trouble with the BC melting or turning (curdling). If it's too humid or hot then it's advisable to keep it cool. Many times a cool dry dark place in your kitchen is good enough for a couple of days.

The Forum section has a lot of helpful tips & ideas. Just go to the "Search" at the top right side of the website & you should be able to find more information than you are looking for. Cake Central people are great folks & very helpful.

Good Luck on your new hobby. It can be frustrating but very fun & rewarding.

It's OK, but unecessary. It keeps pretty well at room temp wrapped up well, or frozen if you want to keep it longer. Fondant on cake in the fridge has its pros and cons, and a lot of people do it.

I roll fondant on a thin, thin, thin film of veg shortening on the counter.  I quit using cs or ps a decade ago.

A silicone mold will give much better, sharper detail than the plastic chocolate mold. If you are just needing a basic shape, though, without a lot of details, the choc. mold could work.

Not sure about chopsticks - they often have rounded ends, which is likely to cause slipping.

If you're aftre cheap - use regular drinking straws. Many people buy bigger straws, but most of my cakes have been done using regular drinking straws, and they work just fine.