I admit that my initial reaction was, “Oh shit, I’ve only used fondant once and that was around twenty years ago! I can’t do this. I can’t!”. And then I looked online for inspiration and to get some tips, and I swallowed my doubts and agreed to make the cake. I don’t mind admitting I was crapping myself over the decoration. I’ve always been a perfectionist and I hate handing anything over that I feel isn’t up to my standard, even if the person receiving it thinks it’s incredible. I have to bite my tongue to stop myself pointing out the flaws.
Before I decided to make the panda cake I had to remind myself of all the craft things I’ve done and still do, not least the Fimo modelling I did years ago (anyone for a windswept wizard brooch?!), and the fantastic (if at times frustrating) clay sculpting I did to make various kinds of masks a few years ago. The dragon was by far my favourite. I love clay. LOVE it!!!
So I collected as many online tips as I could find, watched a few videos, and made a note of the potential problems I’d encounter and how to fix them. I went trawling the internet for panda cake designs, then I grabbed a piece of paper and sketched out a few design options.
Then I baked. I filled. I crumb-coated. I refrigerated. I pre-prepared hundreds of tiny cherry blossom flowers. I made a fondant panda. I made the lettering (hand cut). I coated. I refrigerated. And finally I was ready to decorate.
From start to finish it took me around eight hours, and although I could’ve been happier with it (can we say ‘perfectionist’ again?), I was actually impressed with how good it looked. What often used to happen was I’d have an idea of what I wanted to create, but the result was never quite right. It (usually) tasted good, but I rarely saw my vision come to life. Until I made the panda cake. I’m incredibly happy to say that the birthday girl loved it, too. And I didn’t skimp on the substance. I filled and coated the vanilla sponge with raspberry butter icing. And when I say it was raspberry, I don’t mean it was vaguely berry-y. I mean it was fruity, vibrant, get your taste buds dancing raspberry. I could do both style and substance after all, and from then on my mind has been much more open to the possibilities.
After that I made my boss’s 60th birthday cake. The flavour of this one was orange sponge with orange and passion fruit butter icing. It was a completely different design. This time I opted for an elegant, stylish cake with a home-made rose and petals. I didn’t buy a cutter for the rose, instead I decided to entirely hand-craft petals and build the rose myself petal by petal. I have to admit I was pretty chuffed with it, though with a lot of practice I reckon I can get it to look like a proper, real rose instead of a fondant version of a rose!
I had a bit of a break once the new year arrived. I needed to avoid cake for a while (all that taste testing can take its toll on an already too-expanded waistline!), and I was moving house. With that also came the fear of moving into a new place with a crap oven. Yes, it really was one of my main concerns! But eventually I tested the oven with scones, and happiness returned.
Next came an incredibly simple cake that used the #psst logo as its design, but of course keeping it simple meant it had to be as close to perfect as possible because any mistakes would show. As it turned out I was misinformed regarding the amount of orange fondant I would need, so ended up having to add a white border around the bottom and hide the join with ribbon. I'm pretty sure no one noticed! The real shame though was that I intended to use the remaining white to make a little caravan to add to the top, so the cake was even simpler than I'd planned! If you want to know what #psst was all about, take a look here - http://positivelystocktonontees.co.uk
Next on the list was a birthday treat for someone who, based on facebook photos, had already had a glut of cake from his lovely family! So I went for a curveball. Instead of making a cake, I made one giant caramel slice (millionaire’s shortbread). I decorated it with extra sweets; Curly Wurlies, fingers of Fudge and Smarties, and I added some hand-crafted fondant decorations. I made them the night before so they had some time to set, and they were all symbolic of some of the events we’d done over the two years I’ve been with Stockton Town Choir, and one special event that’s still to come. I’d intended to add more than the five that were there, but I broke some of them at the final stages and had no time to replace them.
I really did need to bite my tongue when I handed this over. When I made it I must have overheated the chocolate, and although when it first set it was perfect, when I returned home to collect it for the birthday boy I realised the chocolate had started to bloom, and based on some small shavings from the side of the finished slice the texture of the chocolate was a little compromised; it had a slightly crunchier texture than chocolate normally has and it didn’t have the same mouth-feel as it melted. That said, it tasted exactly as it should. And who knows, perhaps the texture wasn’t as compromised as I thought.
And finally we have my most recent fondant-covered cake. This was for a colleague’s last day at work, and I wanted something a bit more unusual but very fitting for her. This was a woman who rarely ate meals during the day, and instead opted for a drawer full of sweets from which she would graze all day. So it seemed only right to include sweets, and this time I decided to put them inside the cake. I made three sponges, and cut a circle out of the middle layer before sandwiching it all together. I simply filled the hole with Smarties before putting the final layer of sponge on top.
I did spend some time the night before making lots of decorations, but I only used a fraction of them. My plans had to change slightly when something I’d tried didn’t quite work, but I did make a fondant version of her to sit on the edge of the cake that worked out nicely (thankfully!). The first version of my colleague had her standing, and she was supposed to be bursting out of the top of the cake and through the NHS logo, but her arms drooped when I got up the next day, and instead of looking like she was jumping up and celebrating, she looked like she was waiting for her disciples on a hilltop. Yep, the design had to change!
I’m gradually figuring out the limitations of fondant icing, its problems, which brands are more solid and stable to work with, which will sink under their own weight due to their softness, how it responds to my clay modelling tools (yes, don’t worry, they were thoroughly cleaned and sterilised first!), which colours mix well and which cause stability problems with the fondant. It’s all a great learning curve, and at some point I intend to find a course that will push my limits and imagination.
I’ve always loved baking, and seeing and hearing the reactions of people enjoying the flavours of my cakes and other baked goods, but I want to go that bit further. I want to give them as much style as substance. I want them to see a cake and be wowed, and then bite into it and groan with pleasure. I want people to have the best of both, and although I fear I may never, ever think something I’ve created is perfect, I do realise I’m my own worst critic. So I’ll keep learning and practicing, and one day perhaps I will see perfection and I won’t need to bite my tongue anymore. Cuz it hurts, you know. It really hurts!
I already have my next cake planned. I’m not telling, but it’ll be a lot of work, a lot of fun, and if I get this right it will be out of this world!
