Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Who's Having A Birthday This Week?

Summer time is birthday season in my family.  I like to bake, and so every year I try something new with Drew's birthday cake. 


 Last year was the first time we actually had a birthday party for him.




We rented an inflatable water slide.  It was a blast!




I had been wanting to try making a fondant cake and Drew wanted an animal theme for his party.  So, being the zebra lover I am, I did a zebra stripe fondant cake.  Unfortunately it is virtually impossible to make fondant black. So, after several failed attempts, I went with blue.


It was a big cake, and a huge hit.  The secret to my success was that I made the fondant out of marshmallows instead of the traditional fondant recipe.  I found the recipe and the "how to" online .

It was so easy to make, and tasted really good. No one peeled the fondant off this cake and there were no leftovers.


A couple weeks ago my nephew turned 7.  He is really into our local hockey team and so he had a hockey-themed party.
My sister holding the finished hockey cake

I got the cake-911 call from my sister the day before the party. The cake was crumbling and she needed some moral support and assistance in the assembly of the cake.


I rushed over.

With an extra set of hands and some creativity we were able to put the crumbling cake back together and hold it all in place with the marshmallow fondant.

It turned out really cute.

Saturday we're having Drew's birthday party.  This year we're going to do a good 'ole fashioned pirate party. Complete with pin the tail on the donkey, a treasure hunt, party hats, etc.  He has asked for the the cake to be an ice-cream cake with a skull painted on top.  I pulled out the ice-cream maker this week to get warmed up on making ice cream.  I know I can do it.  I don't think it will be as exciting as my blue zebra cake though :)



I'll have pictures of the party and the cake next week.


If you want to try making MM Fondant here is the recipe.

Recipe for Marshmallow Fondant

16 ounces white mini-marshmallows (use a good quality brand)

2 to 5 tablespoons water

2 pounds icing sugar

1/2 cup Crisco shortening (optional)


Melt marshmallows and 2 tablespoons of water in a microwave. Put the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds, open microwave and stir, back in microwave for 30 seconds more, open microwave and stir again, and continue doing this until melted. It usually takes about 2 1/2 minutes total. Place 3/4 of the powdered sugar on the top of the melted marshmallow mix.

Now grease your hands w/ Crisco OR pour a lot of powdered sugar on the "dough".
Start kneading like you would bread dough. It usually takes me about 8 minutes to get a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing when you apply it to the cake.
It is best if you can let it sit, double wrapped, overnight (but you can use it right away if there are no tiny bits of dry powdered sugar). If you do see them, you will need to knead and maybe add a few more drops of water.  

Prepare the fondant icing for storing by coating it with a good layer of Crisco shortening, wrap in a plastic-type wrap product and then put it in a re-sealable or Ziploc bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible. 

MM Fondant icing will hold very well in the refrigerator for weeks.
 

4 comments:

the gardener's cottage said...

hi julie,

do you know how refreshing it is for me to hear of a mom actually making her own kid's birthday cake. no one does that anymore. i'm not bragging but my kids never had a store bought cake. never. it just never occurred to me. looking back now that the 3 of them are grown, it was such an integral part of their birthdays as we would collaborate for weeks on the design. i wonder if they even remember and treasure the memory like i do?

happy birthday to your little one.

~janet

ps ~ jule, do you make "healing jewelery?"

kayce hughes said...

wow!

the gardener's cottage said...

hi julie,

i just realized that i did not comment on the cake itself. it really is magnificent. my cakes looked nothing like that! the zebra striping is perfect.

~janet

Kim@Chattafabulous said...

Hey Julie, looks like birthdays are so special in your family! Thanks for the recipe, too!