It's alive!

This week I made a Halloween cake for a party I'm going to Saturday. I got a new cook book from my in-laws for a birthday present and this Frankenstein cake was in it so I knew I had to try it out.

For this cake I used fondant and frosting to decorate it. I'm not a huge fan of fondant so I thought about using just frosting, but I hadn't made fondant in a while so I thought I would make some to keep my skills from getting rusty.

To make fondant all it is is: 

16 oz mini marshmallows

2 lb powdered sugar

2 Tbsp water 

1/2 cup vegetable shorting.

Either over a double boiler or in a microwave safe dish mix the marshmallows and water together till melted. If you're using the microwave heat it in 30 second increments. 

Clear and sanitize some counter space where you will knead the fondant. Generously coat the counter with some of the vegetable shorting as well.

When the mixture is melted and smooth put about 2/3 of the powdered sugar on top of the mixture and kind of stir it in just a little. Then dump all of the mixture onto your greased surface.

*Grease your hands with shorting before kneading: palms, backs, in between fingers, treat it like a natural moisturizer*

Now you're ready to knead in the powdered sugar. Knead just like bread. Incorporate all of the powdered sugar and re-grease the counter and your hands as needed. If your fondant tares easily add some water to it, only 1/2 Tbsp at a time.

If you want to add color to your fondant you can mix in the food coloring before you knead in the powdered sugar you can can knead in the color, either way works great.

Than Once I had made my fondant I rolled it out and covered my cake.

Than I started to form the monsters face and started piping chocolate frosting for his hair.

It took a lot of frosting to cover the top and 3/4 of the sides so make sure you have enough on hand if you're going to attempt Franken-cake.

The finishing touches are always the best part. I added some stitches and of course the eyebrows to give my creation some character!

Post your own comments about your journeys in fondant making. Also let me know if you attempted your own Franken-cake creation and how it turned out!