Cake Baking 101: Fondant Disaster!

One of my close friends is getting married in June.

I am one of the bridesmaids in her wedding. We have been furiously planning the shower and bachelorette party, to come come in the next few weeks.

She asked me to bake the bridal shower cake, enough to serve 40-50 people.

:: cue freak out ::

For the past couple of years I've been attempting to make cool looking cakes, two and three tiers I must look like a cake master.

Soooooo not the case.

I usually did it half-assed, even using boxed cake mix to save time.

GASP!

Anyway, obviously for this occasion I want to do it right. I decided to contract MIL for cake baking expertise (she owned a bakery).

Because E, my friend, wanted a Topsy-Turvy style cake for her Mad Hatter bridal shower I  knew we needed a trial run, neither MIL nor I had ventured on something so extreme in cake baking.

Here is what I pictured it would look like:

(cue angelic music)

What actually happened was MUCH more...um....interesting?


Everything started ok...

 (cutting straws for supports)

(stacking two layers, I'll do three for the real one)

Then,

Wait for it.....



Wait for it.....



Wait for it.....


OH MY GOD!!!

 (Fondant)

WTF!?! 

Um....ya....

Me thinks no.

:: regains composure ::

In order to get that swell angle we stacked cake pieces, cut diagonally placed them on the edge and then proceeded to ruin everything with fondant.

I decided that I might need to start out a little bit slower. As much as I would love to give her a fabulous fondant, smooth as a baby's ass cake. I think that might have to wait until I'm a little more skilled.

Instead I started researching and found that there are actually techniques that create the illusion of fondant with a normal butter cream frosting.

I was supposed to take the cake home and share with the neighbors. Instead I decided to keep it in the fridge and fuck with it. Test more stuff and see if I could improve it.

I dismantled it, even the funky angled pieces, then I re-frosted it. The end result was less than spectacular, but it was a shitload better than the first attempt. I ended up adding some decor for fun, but really this is nothing what it will look like. I also didn't get a great picture. I basically just tried my faux-fondant technique.

(It is pinkish because the red fondant I had on the bottom tier stained the white crumb coat and it is all lopsided because I had to massacre it by cutting off the chunks we stuck on to create the tilty effects)

So basically it still turned out kind of crap looking. But whatevs. I can only cross my fingers and hope for the best on my next attempt. Which is the real thing. Which is next weekend.

I'll post an update on how that goes.....

.......unless the bride murders me for ruining her shower.......

School Update: Volunteering

I have been volunteering at a local non-profit boutique thrift store for the past few weeks. The goal was to complete 33 hours of community service for my LAST university unit.

(In theory will have my actual degree within a month or so)

I have been working all day the past few Sundays, and every. single. day. after work for at least 2 hours.

This store has great potential. It is a little run down looking, but it has character. I've inadvertently committed to working here for longer than my required hours, because I actually feel like I might be able to help them.
The lady that started and runs the place is totally scatter-brained. She needs some major help. Luckily my specialty happens to be organization, which is desperately needed.

This week's project has been a full office clean up. I don't even know how she can find anything, ever. It is such a mess.

She keeps all of her phone numbers in a day planner...

from two years ago...

She remembers how to find people based on which month they started.

For example, I started in April, so to find me she flips to her April section.

Who does that!?

I'm trying to improve her life....

one Rolodex card at a time....

Fucking Marriage Dude

You know, marriage is interesting. 

Have you ever thought about being younger and spending time with your best friends?

How sometimes you got BFF overload and had to go a couple weeks without seeing them?

So, I say marriage is interesting, because it is pretty amazing how you can spend such a significant amount of your waking time with the same person.

EVERY

SINGLE

DAY

Am I right?

I would hope, for most people, the majority of that time is spent happy. 

Though, we all know, that sometimes it is just hard. 

Really hard.

Right now I'm dealing with the treacherous pet peeve factor.

Damn, that shit gets annoying.

He has all these pet peeves with me, and I with him.

People always say marriage takes a lot of work.

You're damn fucking right, it does!

Geez.... it's like having a second job sometimes. So tiring. So emotional. So irrational.

Maybe this is why people take separate vacations sometimes? 

Distance makes the heart grow fonder or just plain, OMG get out of my face AHHHHH I'll smack you!!!!

I guess though, when it comes down to it. If it is worth it, you just have to stick with it. Deal with the pet peeves, laugh over the stupid stuff, cry over the hard stuff, then move on to the next crazy drama.

C - (not sure if you actually read this anymore) but I'll just throw it out there, sorry I can be annoying and psycho sometimes. But I'm sure it's worth it.....

most of the time.....

right??! 

<3

Calorie Counting Take 1 and other stuff

Weight: 163.5

Sweeeeeeeeeeet!

I see a change! Rock on!

I'd say that was successful, total 2.5lbs down!

Oh I meant to take a before picture. I'll do that and measurements! Must get moving on this stuff!

There has also been a lot going on lately that I haven't posted about...because I suck.

Here are a few pictures to recap the past month:

St. Patrick's Day:

 Hiking!

 Lake Tahoe trip: