If you have worked with fondant, some questions.

LittleMissParis

I am thinking about using fondant icing for DD's birthday cake but I am wondering if it's something I can pull off and have it look nice.  I have some questions for you below and please let me know anything else I may need to know if I undertake this challenge.

1. Is it relatively easy to work with for a beginner?

2. Did you buy or make your own fondant? Which is better to work with? If you purchased it, where did you get it from? If you made it, do you still have the recipe?

3. How far before DD's birthday would I want to have the cake completed? Can I freeze it with the fondant on it so I can have it done in advance?

 TIA

Mrs.Teddy

I've only doen it once and I was surprised how easy it was, however I did petite fours, not a full cake. I bought it but saw a recipe on here that looked pretty easy. I don't think I would freeze it. I think I would bake it 2 days before & do a crumb coat (regular icing and then put it in the fridge overnight so all the crumbs are contained and not in the fondant layer) then decorate the day before.

mrsp07

Fondant can be easy, depending on how big of a cake you are making and the shape of the cake. I find circular cakes to be hard myself. I bought my fondant from Michaels. I bought Wiltons brand, and it comes it two different sized boxes. There is a marshmallow fondant recipe that is supposed to be super easy to work with though and tastes better then regualar fondant. I would start making the cake 2 days before the party. If the party is on Saturday, make the cakes on Thursday, decorate on Friday. You can't freeze fondant, it will sweat when you take it out. You can freeze the cakes though ahead of time. Hope this helps! Good luck with making the cake!

JungleJulia

LittleMissParis:

1. Is it relatively easy to work with for a beginner? I think it is. It's kind of like playdough.

2. Did you buy or make your own fondant? Which is better to work with? If you purchased it, where did you get it from? If you made it, do you still have the recipe?

I've done both. If I'm not decorating a huge cake, or just need a little, I'll buy it...but it doesn't nearly taste as good as the home made stuff.

3. How far before DD's birthday would I want to have the cake completed? Can I freeze it with the fondant on it so I can have it done in advance?

 NO! do not freeze. Fondant gets really hard after a few hours so i would decorate the cake as close to the party as possible. That is why it's a PITA to work with. My cousin had her cake done by a woman who bakes at home and I swear the cake must have been decorated 5 days before because it was impossible to cut into. Yuck! So much for being "fresh".  You can freeze the cake and dirty frosting beforehand, then roll out the fondant the night before and decorate it but you will also run the risk of having a sweaty cake. I wouldn't do it any sooner than one day before.