BUILD-A-BEAR - the bear is gumpaste not fondant. fondant seems to slowly droop somtimes ,and gumpaste dries and hardens.

ZEBRA PRINT: 2 different cakes, back to back babyshowers for the same person.

more cake was needed for the second one so the wheels are a little bigger on the light pink.

Of course my children get to choose there own cake. Payton is a Pokemon fan at the age of 7. Pichau (peek-a-chew) it is. I have a book shaped pan but, this customer wanted a layered cake with a chocolate filling, so I rolled out some marshmallow fondant and shaped it into a bible. I know bruce ... so instead of throwing the scraps away, I added a little coconut pecan filling and rolled the scraps into chocolate cake balls and placed them around the cake. I was later told that peices of this cake were were sliced and hidden.

more fondant and photo picture cakes

Camo baby cake

Cakes with fondant

Icing & fondant

I am so excited to say that I have officially found a fondant recipe that I like and that works with me... lol... because I am up at all hours of the night when I am doing a cakes and I make myself stop and go to sleep, because I do work a full time job during the week.

Icing:
As it goes the best icing to use on cakes is Butter Cream. - it is partial to hot weather and will melt. And for the love of all things that make common sense... please don't tell me you want chocolate icing, but you want the color hot pink..... do you want chocolate or hot pink ...(psst. these two things don't mix.) You also need a good mixer. I was stubborn and was buying the $20 mixers and when you wait until your kids go to bed to start decorating and then discover you blew the motor again..... you end up buying a kitchen aid.. so worth the money! this icing can be your best friend or your worst enemy if you don't get the consistency right. remember:
To stiff - add a tiny bit of milk
To creamy - add more powdered suger

I really don't have a specific , detailed recipe. It was given to me on a scratch peice of paper.
2 sticks soft butter
2 big spoonfuls of shortening
a couple drops of clear vanilla
a couple drops of almond extract
a couple drops of butter extract
and a couple drops of milk. Then blend like there is no tomorrow until the icing is smooth.

Fondant:
You will need: mini marshmallows, shortening, water, & powdered sugar.
You can get this recipe for marshmallow fondant off the internet and they are all pretty much the same.
You put your desired amount of marshmallows in a pot with a small amount of water and crisco unitl they are melted. make sure you stay by the stove and stir, stir, stir or your marshmallows will burn at the bottom, and you will have to start all over. To the side you will have a bowl of powdered suger waiting for the melted marshmallows. pour the melted mixture into the powered sugar and at this point if you want color added, add it now - it's much easier, wear gloves if you are scared about dying your hands and knead the mixture until it becomes like playdough. and I have come to set a slab of shortening on the counter and rub it in as the dough gets sticky and even rub it on your counter where you are kneading it, and it helps the dough and your counter become sticky free..lol i'm sooo serious, you can clean when you are done. The ratio of marshallows and powdered sugar is 1 bag of mini marshallows to a full bag of powdered, and just cut in half or 1/4's.
The only downside to me using fondant - is if I need an entire cake covered??? yeah still working on it.


Other options:
for fondant, you can buy it pre-packaged, pre-colored, and I have used this in the past but for $10. it's not alot of fondant, it gets hard really fast once the package has been opened, and there is only 2 packages to choose from - primary or nude colors. but I have used it and if you don't want the mess of making your own this is another option.
for icing, I love the cool whip icing, don't know how to make it like the bakeries do, but adding cream cheese, coolwhip, pudding or any other addition if okay if thats what you want but, you need to remember that alot of these things require the fridge to store it in. which causes your cakes to dry out. (I dont know why people put thier cake in the fridge??)

e-mail me if you have any questions... I'm not a cake expert, but I have worked really hard and have had many sleepless nights over these 2 topics.