When you hear people talk about "fondant" in cake decorating, you might not realize that there are multiple types of fondant.Some are for covering cakes, and some are for pouring over desserts like petit fours.What are the two basic types of fondant, and what makes them different?What is rolled fondant?Rolled fondant is the traditional type of fondant that's used to cover a cake tier. It's made ..read more

Silver wedding cakes are tricky because it's hard to get a really metallic silver with food-grade materials. A lot of silver luster dust has aluminum in it, so you can't always get a silver that's shiny.Using grey is one solution, and using metallic elements in smaller areas on the cake can also work.This cake was one of those that had to have some compromising as far as the metallics were ..read more

These are some of the wedding cakes that I made that had ruffles on them. Ruffles can be made from fondant, gumpaste, wafer paper, or a combination of fondant and candy clay.Each material will give you a different look, and will make cutting the cake more or less difficult!This wedding cake had a Bible verse piped on it plus lace and a bottom tier covered with little fondant ruffles. The topper ..read more

This wedding cake had gumpaste orchids and scrollwork on buttercream. I put some silk white luster dust on the fondant ribbons at the base of the tiers to give them some shine.This wedding cake had orange orchids and turquoise bands at the base of the tiers. Very simple arrangement, but it shows that color can be the focal point and you don't have to go crazy with piping etc. The bride was ..read more

This cake was buttercream with piped lace designs, and fresh flowers that were provided by the florist. When using fresh flowers, make sure that the stems aren't inserted directly into the cake. These were prepared and had wrapped stems, and the topper was in an arrangement in a plastic holder.Piped lace on buttercreamThis cake had a piped lace pattern and a topper made from fresh flowers.A ..read more

These wedding cakes all featured gumpaste flowers as a focal point.This wedding cake is a good example of how a cake doesn't have to be huge to be pretty. For this intimate reception the bride wanted something simple, so I did a traditional dot pattern on the tiers and kept the decoration to a minimum. The gumpaste gardenia was the focal point and the leaves were the only color on the cake.This ..read more

When you're making any type of meringue buttercream, you need to equalize the temperatures between the hot sugar syrup and the cold butter.If you have too much of a difference between them, the heat can melt the butter, or the cold butter can break into small pieces and create what looks like cottage cheese.That will keep the icing from emulsifying, which is where the water and the oil in it are ..read more

I have a couple of recipes that ALWAYS overflow over the sides of the cake pans. Red velvet is the worst offender, but depending on how full I fill the pans it can happen to any type of cake. (Click here to read about red velvet cake and what makes it what it is.) I recently switched the recipe that I use to make vanilla cakes, and I think that it's also an overflower. I don't want to change the ..read more

Look Ma, three racks! These are the 5 tools that I use all the time and wouldn't want to give up, in no particular order. (I'm not including things like spatulas and measuring cups, those are too obvious.) 1. The Agbay cake leveler. Once you use this you'll wonder why it took you so long to buy one.This is an adjustable cake leveler that's sturdy and isn't a joke. You have to be careful with ..read more

Fruit reductions are great for flavoring icings and cakes, but they're a pain to make. I personally don't enjoy being trapped stirring a pot so that things don't burn. Cooking in the pot. I had a bag of frozen raspberries that I had been planning on boiling until they were pulp, but then I came across the crock pot method. This is obviously not something that you can do quickly, but if you're ..read more