I wanted to do something different. When I have left over product I experiment. And sometimes all at once. In this case I had left over buttercream, a little cake batter and a bag of fondant I was at the end of. I am a perfectionist and my hardest critic so it is necessary for me to continue to remind myself, as plans are failing, "This is just practice Jenn so what are you learning?"
Had I known Plan A and Plan B were going to fail I would have done something other than Plan C. I am pleased with the outcome and if I did it again, yes, it would be different.
I wanted to practice paneling a cake with fondant. Paneling is when you roll the fondant in a long strip to cover the sides and another piece for the top, like a lid. Me and fondant are not friends, so this was a great opportunity to get acquainted again.
I learned to not be greedy and use a lot of fondant when rolling it out. More more MORE! GET MORE! I did NOT want to open a fresh box of fondant for this experiment so I was determined to get this little bit to work. After rolling it several times I finally got it the right size.
I wanted to play with rice paper. Rice paper is fun. There is a LOT you can do with it, most stuff I have yet to discover. This was a watercolor technique, easy and fun but be careful not to get carried away. Rice paper gets gooey when too wet. To get the colors you mix gel food colorings of your choice with vodka and dab it, splat it, splish and splash it on your rice paper. Let it dry often in-between to not get soggy. Then I ripped it in little chunks. I adhered it to the fondant with water. I tried vodka because I knew it dried faster than water but it instantly took the color back out of the paper and made a huge mess, so stick with water.
The Belgium chocolate ball is made with a half sphere mold. Just temper, pour and let set. When it’s ready to come out of the mold get a pan heated on the stove, melt both chocolate half spheres edges and stick together. Bam! Chocolate Ball! Dust with gold dust and you got yourself a chocolate gold ball. YUM.
What is really cool about this cake is once it‘s dry you can use your bare hands to pick it up and move it around. A dream come true for someone who's a little rough by nature.
Needless to say, this was a learning experience and that‘s the only way you get better. Be brave! Take risks! Make sure you're ready for a big mess, have patience with yourself, and maybe kick the kids out of the house for a little bit. When I am really trying to learn something I do my best work with OUT my four year old and five year old at home, go figure. Music, Coffee, whatever your JAM is, make it fun and enjoy your YOU time.
Yes I like drip cakes, I like stripe cakes, I like flowers and characters but I really wanted to DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
So 🥂 cheers to different.
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