Making Friends with Fondant...

Fondant and I, we've had our moments over the years.  Some good, a few bad, and some just pull-out-your hair frustrating!  You may remember a few of these...the Valentine's cake with its exceedingly wobbly inscription?  Or perhaps the 3-tiered, penguin themed cake that I inadvertently volunteered to make for a cake decorating event? (I had to make every ounce of fondant for that cake from scratch, by the way!)  How about the almost-disaster of a shower cake I made for my sister in 110% humidity?  It's no surprise that fondant is something I've been a little leery of.  It's fun to work with for sure- like a sugary play dough- but often quite labor intensive for something that is only technically edible.  I've always asserted that I'd rather my cake be covered in a really well-made icing or ganache.

This weekend, though, I decided to put my hang-ups aside and give fondant another try.  A baby shower was being thrown for my friends Kathy, Jeremiah, and the soon-to-be Benjamin Brown.  I happily agreed to make the cupcakes.  I wanted them to be delicious, for sure, but I also wanted them to be extra special.  Most of the cupcakes were chocolate on chocolate with a hint of coffee (Beatty's chocolate cake by the Barefoot Contessa).  I figured my pregnant friend would appreciate the flavor combo as she's been missing her daily cup of joe.  The remainder of the cupcakes were iced in a vanilla buttercream and covered in a layer of fondant.  No, I didn't make my own fondant this time- I happily bought the packaged stuff!  To cover each cupcake, I simply rolled the fondant a little thinner than I normally would and used cutters to keep the job easy.  I was really pleased with how they turned out!  Even more so when I saw people happily digging in...maybe there's hope for me and fondant after all!