cake decorating tips

[rosie77]

There's a great website that I've used before - google cake central (the us one, not the aussie one.) Perhaps try YouTube for how to vids as well?

[Laranna]

Yeah I second You Tube vids...there are heaps showing you how to roll out fondant and decorate with it. It's easy once you know how!

If you're wanting to make little figurines, it's just like making shapes with playdough

A tip for colouring fondant - don't use food colouring, it makes it all sticky. Buy the proper fondant colouring paste. It goes a looong way too. Use a toothpick to dip in the colouring paste and then poke into the fondant, little by little and knead, knead, knead until you get your desired depth of colour. That's the most time consuming part.

[nic]

Jodi, I would love to use fondant too, just don't have the courage with the humidity when it's DD's birthday. I have read there is a recipe to make your own too, that way you can modify it slightly to suit your climate, but I haven't had a look for it yet.

So, since I have never used it myself, I have read a few tips. If you use cornstarch or icing sugar when rolling the fondant out, remember to lay the fondant icing sugar side down on the cake so you don't have white marks all over it IYKWIM?? You could have blue fondant with white icing sugar marks all over it and lay that side out..wouldn't look good.

Youtube like the other girls said. If you go there for a look see, you have to check out Planet Cake. They are down south somewhere? Sydney? But they did Jennifer Hawkins birthday cake. They have 2 videos on youtube, 1 is how to make a bow, the other is how to cover a cake. Pretty cool to watch too.

Also on youtube is the Culinary Institute of America. I love their youtube video of a Cupcake Bouquet..love love love it! It's buttercream, but if you find them, you may find they have some fondant videos??

Cake central like rosie77 suggested is good too.

Did you check the local TAFE for courses? DH's great aunty use to teach them at TAFE years and years ago..

Just checked and Planet Cake is on FaceBook, with a link to their blog

[Asparagus and Lemons]

Are you sure there are no courses you can do? I know there are 2 tafes in victoria that offer weekend cake decorating courses.. Tafe's are good for them.

A really good book well books as there are 2 in the series is "The International school of Sugarcraft" - Nicolas Lodge. It is full of detailed info on how to decorate cakes with fondant and ready roll icing. As a pastry chef I have looked onto these books for quite sometime now They are from america and can be bought online.

[Visitor7]

I phoned the TAFE, actually I phoned them first. They used to offer it here but no longer do.

[Asparagus and Lemons]

That sucks! where do trainees and apprentices go in your area then? thats silly, they should offer something like that!
Well those books are very good anyway

[Snacks]

If you go there for a look see, you have to check out Planet Cake. They are down south somewhere? Sydney?

They are in Balmain. They did our wedding cake and IT ROCKED!