Delightful Adventures in Heels: January 2012

I had some extra fondant leftover from the minion project and decided to try and make a real cake covered fondant this time. I thought of making a chocolate cake with a light buttercream frosting. This cake was to be served to my family, specifically my cousins, who sad to say are mostly diabetic. So I made sure to make the cake with minimal amounts of sugar... however for the fondant itself... I could not adjust the amount of sugar I put in as this will affect it texture and consistency. Nevertheless, the cake turned out great. With the exception of the fondant, it was very light and sweet in just the right amount I wanted.

I would definitely make this cake again.

Cross-section of the cake.

As the title of this blog suggests, this is my first try on such a project. I've baked and cooked before but I have never handled fondant. I have never made a dummy cake out of styrofoam. In summation, this is my first attempt to do both.

For my son's first birthday, my husband and I to stick with a budget by deciding to go with homemade cupcakes instead of the usual store bought cakes and pastries. Since we still had our cupcake stand from our wedding, this is what we will use for our cupcake display. For Christmas, I tested several cupcake batters and decided to go with a butter cake flavor. I will discuss that specific adventure on a separate blog.

Our theme for his first birthday party was "Despicable Me" and the main character we chose to play a starring role in the party were the Minions. My first thought was to try and make small minions to top each cupcake. They were pretty easy to do, however I felt that I didn't have enough time to make over 100 of these little guys... I decided to recruit the "practice minions" I made to Christmas duty. They ended up being toppers for my nephews Christmas cupcakes... Another adventure to be discussed in the future.

In the end I decided to tackle the task of making one huge minion cake. And when I was huge... IT WAS HUGE! For my very first time working with fondant, I definitely worked with a lot of it. I wasn't the prettiest nor the smoothest fondant, and I was hoping no one would really notice. Instead of going for the real cake, I decided on making it a dummy one since we would have the cupcakes. Also, I made this about a week before the event and I wasn't sure if the cake underneath would still be good to eat after that time.... plus the fondant was pretty thick (again this was my first time working with fondant)

Below are the pictures of the whole project from start to finish. The party is yet to take place in a few days so I'll post pictures of the whole display --- Dummy Cake Minion together with all the cupcakes.

NOTE: I have to thank my mom for allowing me to do this project using her kitchen and her trusty old microwave. Yes, I promise to get my microwave fixed Mom.