If you have followed me much at all, you know that I have a love for fondant cakes. I love their gorgeous, smooth appearance. I love the decorating possibilities that a fondant covering allows. I love the ease of creating color, without the use of tons of food coloring. Most of all, I love the challenge of creating a perfectly smooth, sharp edged fondant cake.
So when I have a client that comes to me requesting a multiple-tiered fondant cake, I am in my true element. Don’t get me wrong, I love a delicious, amazing smelling, smooth buttercream cake just like the rest of you, but fondant and I have found a special place together in my kitchen.
When this sweet lady sent me a photo of a gorgeous hot air balloon cake by the amazingly talented Smash Cakery and asked me to recreate it, I may have started to hyperventilate with excitement just a bit. Fondant. Pink. Pastels. Buntings. Ruffles. Fluffy white clouds. Oh my.
I created the hot air balloon base and balloon out of Rice Krispies Treats. I masked them with chocolate ganache and covered them with fondant. Boy, that last two sentences made it sound way easier than it actually was! Luckily, I expected this to be the case and finished it early in the week. Hardest part: done. For a special touch, I created the lace look around the top and bottom of the balloon basket by using a clearance craft puncher (that I had picked up a couple of weeks before) on wafer paper. Simple and beautiful! You may notice that I even used some of the leftover cutouts as detail on the balloon.
For the ruffles on the bottom tier, I cut out 1″ strips of fondant and then used my scalpel to cut wavy lines off the top of each strip. I then attached the strips with piping gel. Easy peasy!
If you thought this order couldn’t have gotten any more fun, my client requested coordinating cookies as well!
In future posts on this blog, I hope to provide some tutorials on the details of my cakes. I love talking cake!
But for now, enjoy the photos of this cheerful set and let them take you away!
