We were not meant to be friends

I've never been a fan of fondants. It's like eating a spoonful of sugar in one bite.  I held off trying to make fondants because of that.I just don't really get it. I love sweets but I told myself I draw the line on making cakes with fondants. And to top it off making one is  like a big task I wasn't sure I can handle. There's the humidity and heat factor plus the skill in handling one is so daunting!

Until one day I went to a cake shop and left with one Wilton white cake fondant in the bag. That was the day I told myself I'd give it a try. I guess I just didn't want to limit myself and regret that I never tried making and using fondant. Plus I was inspired by this and wanted to try it with the Toddler.

Last August 8 was a holiday here plus August 9 was Singapore's 48th birthday so it was a perfect excuse to hangout in the kitchen and bake a cake. I used Sweetapolita's recipe and halved it to make a smaller version. I didn't have a big oven and the patience to prepare the pans 3 times so I opted to make a teal ombré cake instead of  the rainbow color. As for the fondant, I wanted to go easy so I used the pre-made white rolled fondant I bought. I told myself that if this was a success, the next fondant cake project will be made from scratch. It was a 2 day project. I baked the cake and made a crumb coat on the first day, and frosted it and finished the cake with fondant on the second day.

The final product was a sad cake. First, when I presented the idea to the Toddler that he can draw on the cake he was so excited. But he had to wait for almost an hour since I had to prepare the fondant, clean up and chill the cake. So when the time came for him to write on the cake his enthusiasm dwindled plus he was hungry and just wanted to eat the cake.

Secondly, I followed the recipe to a T (except the use rainbow colors instead of just green). The vanilla and butter taste were there. But there was an after taste that I don't know where the hell came from. To quote my sister who tasted it, "Is there coconut in the cake?). What?!! I just don't understand what happened to the cake. Could it be the gel coloring? Plus the heartbreaking moment was when the Toddler tasted it he said "Mom I don't like that."

Lastly, the fondant was sweating all the time! I shouldn't have put it in the fridge because the sudden change in temperature caused it to soften and sweat. And the taste. I really tried to like it but I just couldn't force myself to do so. I'm really sorry but fondant and I are not meant to be friends. I really tried but to no avail.

Sigh. But to be fair, it was still edible. My Husband and I were able to eat it (less the fondant). It wasn't just what I was expecting. The frosting which I got from this website was the one good thing I liked about this adventure. It was so yummy I could eat it on its own! At least now I have an additional  successful frosting recipe. I just need to practice more on frosting cakes because it's the end for me and fondant.

*I won't be posting Sweetapolita's recipe for the cake. It would be unfair to her since I might have messed up the recipe.

Vanilla Almond Buttercream frosting
recipe from Sparkle Collective

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) softened not melted. Do not melt the butter in the microwave!
• 3 cups confectioners sugar + 1 additional cup just in case
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 3 tablespoons of heavy cream

Instructions

1. Dump both sticks of butter into your mixing bowl. Starting on low cream the butter with your mixer.
2. Next adding one cup at a time mix the confectioners sugar in with your butter. Mix in between cups to make sure it gets incorporated. Hold off on the 4th cup of sugar for now.
3. Add in 3 tablespoons of heavy cream, salt + the vanilla and almond extracts. Mix well.
4. Add more frosting if necessary.