Marshmallow fondant

If, like me and mine, you don't like the regular fondant used to decorate cakes but you like the look of it, there is an alternative: marshmallow fondant. I am not fond of marshmallow, but I must admit I prefer it to regular rolled fondant. To counter the extra sugary taste of marshmallow, I used ganache icing or an icing with a more bitter taste. That way, our teeth don't ache after one bite of cake.

Here's how to make the marshmallow fondant:

16 oz of mini marshmallows (usually comes up to almost a bag, give or take a few mini marshmallows)
2 pounds of icing sugar
Water
Shortening

Grease up a large pyrex bowl with shortening. Put in the marshmallow and add 2 to 5 tablespoons of water. Put in the microwave for about a minute. Stir and put back in the microwave until melted. Make sure you grease everything because it is incredibly sticky. When all the marshmallows are melted, you can either pour it into the icing sugar or you can add the icing sugar in one cup at a time. I prefer the second option. You will have to knead it as some point so it becomes like a dough. Grease your hands and the surface with the shortening. I haven't found a way for it not to stick to the surface or my fingers yet, despite the shortening. When it is kneaded, grease it with the shortening and wrap it well so it won't dry. You can use it after a little period of rest (15 minutes), but I usually leave it for the night. If there is too much icing sugar, it will be friable. If there is not enough, it will be sticky. It needs to be elastic enough so it can be rolled and put onto a cake. Color can be added either when it's made or after.

Here's one of our creation made out of marshmallow fondant, made for our nephew's birthday:

The newest cake

I'm not really good at this blogging thing. I didn't even see the time go by. I log in and so much has been posted on the other blogs I suscribe to.

I have to say I haven't baked that much. I baked about a hundred little pies for my boys at work and my latest creation is my friend's birthday cake.

In the process of making the cake, hubby and I have learned to make gum paste flowers as well. We're not that good yet, but it'll come.

So, here's the cake, made with lots of love and last minute decisions (she loves flip flops! haha).

The first picture is of a gum paste flower we decided not to use after all.

Fail

Here's a fail. I didn't have time to think of the design, the cake crumbled and caved in and I had to find a way to fix it since I didn't have time to make another one. It is not pretty. I wanted to cover it with marshmallow fondant, but since it caved in, I poured ganache on it and filled the hole with glazed fruit. The cake was so uneven that the fruits started to slide down the back, taking the ganache with it.

Actually, it had more success for its taste than most of the cakes I have made so far. Another proof that being pretty isn't everything.

(It looked even worse when we arrived with it at the dinner)

Blank

I dislike being rushed and having to prepare at the last minute. When it comes to baking, advising me at the last minute means that my mind goes completely blank. I usually have loads of idea... but tell me I need to prepare a cake for the next day and I will not know what to do with myself. That is what is happening right now. We have been invited. Everyone expects me to bring the cake, but no one will ask or be disappointed. I'm putting the pressure on myself.

And the result is, I have no cake, no idea for a cake, and no desire to bake since I don't know what I'm baking. That will not be a great cake.

seeing big

My husband loves our decorating projects. In fact, he also has his own.

For Halloween, we were invited to my sister's and we usually bring the cake because of our son's allergies.

He worked harder than I did on this one. I baked the cake. He decorated. It's all his. I followed his directives. He thinks that when I have a bakery, he will be my boss.

Here's the cake:

sharing the knowlegde part 2 - cookies

I can't remember if I've talked about cookies. Eggless cookies, that is.

I was browsing the net for about anything interesting there was out there. Ok, I'm lying, I was looking for a chocolate chip cookie recipe because I'm craving it. Then I remembered what I have used before in my cookies to replace eggs: plain yogurt and cream cheese. The cookies don't become golden brown, but they are so good. There, I'm craving a cookie, again.

I work with men and sometimes, when I want to make them happy, I bake them some cupcakes and cookies. I have never told them they are eggless since my husband thinks they will not eat them if they know they're made with tofu and other healthy things.

So I don't tell them and let them enjoy.

slacking off

I'm terrible with time managing. Ask any of my friends, I am always late. In fact, at one point, they decided the time they would give me would give me for the events and gatherings I was to attend would be half an hour before they started. Didn't work. I figured it out.
With cakes, having no time managing skills is quite an issue. I found that out on my son's last birthday. I had big projects. I wanted to make a skyscraper from which Spiderman would hang and jump. I don't like fondant, I didn't have chocolate clay, so I used chocolate buttercream. I started at 11 pm the night before. Needless to say it looked rushed, which it was, and frankly terrible.
Too bad I didn't take a picture.

judging the others

Yesterday was a holiday. We were taking it easy, lounging in bed and watching TV later than we usually do. That's how we got to watch a show we hadn't seen in a while, even if it's one of our favorite, Cake Boss on TLC. We, and I can speak for myself and hubby here, are amazed at what this team of cake makers can do. We've learn so much from that show on techniques and materials. I have to go research chocolate fondant now as I didn't know it existed and they mentioned it last night.
But I have to admit, the final result is not always pretty. They put so much work into something that doesn't look good, in my opinion, in the end. Of course, everybody marvels at the result because the technique is flawless and there is an incredible amount of work and time involved in the process.
In the meanwhile, my husband and I are gaping at the TV, having a hard time believing the brides would love their cakes, keeping in mind that they were a complete surprise to them since these cakes are custom-made and they are only shown a sketch of the final result.
I'm too picky I guess.

of dragons and cakes

I'm slacking off during the week and now, I'm back for seconds on the weekend... I spent about an hour on the How to Train your Dragon IMDb and I just had to come back. I know my son's birthday is months away, but he lives HTTYD right now and I've been spending a lot of time thinking of the dragon cake I will be making for him.

I will be trying my hand on the main dragon: Toothless. I've discussed my plans with my husband and he is definitely on board. He loves to work on the details of my cakes. Of course, you have to take my word for it, but I have made progress in the cake making department. They are much more elaborate.

Anyway... I digress. What I'm looking for right now is the material to make the wings. Fondant is too soft, marshmallow fondant does dry a bit, but is still soft, chocolate clay is hard to work with and a little heavy... gum paste? We'll have to try. It will take a lot of coloring though.

Good thing we still have time...

it all started with Gerard Butler

The TV was on one day, playing Lara Croft, the second one. I was watching distractingly until Terry Sheridan appeared on screen. I had seen that face before, a few times, but never actually wondered who that was. He was entertaining and devilishly sexy. So I wandered on the guy's IMDb board. That's where I met Le*. Being this great caring and giving person, she sent us quite a few gifts, including some cake decorating supplies and molds. One of them was of Lightning McQueen, my little one's favorite movie character. No need to tell you he was ecstatic.




That's all it took to get me hooked.

*not her actual name, but she knows who she is :)

shaky debuts

One of first attempts. Not pretty, but yummy. No worries, it gets better.

sharing the knowledge

Well... it's starting off quite well. I skipped a day and didn't even realize it.

Apparently, there are many ways to replace eggs in recipe. Here's what I experimented in cakes:

Apple sauce - gives the cake a different yet delicate taste. Works better on mix than made from scratch. However, the texture of the cake is different. The cake crumbles easily and is hard to decorate. Doesn't work in cookie or pastries that require a large amount of eggs (éclairs, for example)

Egg replacer (sold in most health food stores) - this is a cheap way to replace eggs. A box is the equivalent of 100 eggs, but for the price of a dozen. The cake is not as tasty though. I haven't tried it in other pastries, but it works with crepes.

Silk tofu - when beaten well before to incorporate, this is the greatest in cakes and muffins, especially if the recipe requires several eggs, like lemon cake. They come out light and fluffy, and since the tofu takes the taste of whatever it's in, so delicious. I wonder how it took me almost 3 years to finally use tofu in my cake recipes.

I haven't tried other substitutes, but I'm still looking.

sweet child of mine

When my son was 10 months old, we decided to introduce him to eggs. As soon as he put them in his mouth, he started rubbing his eyes. We thought he was tired, until he started swelling and throwing up. We rushed to the hospital to be told he was allergic.

The positive point of our trip to the hospital was that we found a paediatrician that day when we had been looking for a while.

When his birthday came, we looked everywhere for eggless cake that we could purchase, but despite the fact that more kids are allergic to about everything, we couldn't find any.

We researched the internet to find various alternatives to eggs. I stopped at the apple sauce. With a cake mix and apple sauce, we finally had our birthday cake, very dense, but oh! so yummy and with a delicate taste.

I became the official cake maker.

Jumping feet first

Well, here is my first post. I will try and keep it short and simple... which will be a challenge for someone as wordy as I am.
I loved cake, I loved pastries, I just didn't know how much I would love to bake them until my son was diagnosed with several food allergies. It wasn't an issue until I tried to find an eggless birthday cake. I decided to bake one myself and discovered it was fun, but not only fun, very calming as well.
Now, I bake when I'm stressed out, I bake for everyone and I spread the joy.

Conquering the world one lil' piece of heaven at the time.