Our cake baker has finally returned one of my messages and now I am officially on my own for my wedding cake. Strangely, I feel relieved. I won’t be stuck with a cake that I haven’t seen before the wedding and I won’t hurt my baker’s feelings if I show up with a backup cake. She’s a friend and having a tough time, so instead of being irritated I have nothing but sympathy for what she is going through.
Anyhow, full speed ahead!
You know what I learned this week? Icing things is hard. Actually, the spreading of the icing on the cake isn’t difficult, but getting it to look professional is really, really hard. The little perfectionist demon on my left shoulder told me that a cake that looked home made would never work. The resident of my right shoulder gave up and moved out a few months after I got engaged, so it was silent.
With a default victory for the demon, I decided to blow some more money on pre-made fondant. Despite my misgivings, it is surprisingly easy to work with and looks amazing with just a little effort. I only hope that it scales up well for the larger layers.
I glued our toppers on with just a little bit of icing.
that is adorable.
i hope all is well with your friend, but really this is a great opportunity for you! how many girls can say they made their wedding cake? and it turned out that cute.
and dont worry about the icing. with those sweet little penguins sitting atop your cake nobody will notice any imperfections in the frosting.
maybe you’ve found your calling 
Are you still doing Rice Krispies ?
This is an awesome cake! Where did you find the premade fondant? Which brand? Thanks.
Just a word of warning–premade fondant tastes nasty. I bought Wilton’s recently and even with added vanilla and almond extract, it was still inedible. I suggest frosting it with buttercream and then lay the fondant on it. This will give you a smoother looking base and it’ll taste better.
The penguins kick @$$ though!!
i love it to death love it. where did you get the penguins? did u make them? whre can i get them?
“The little perfectionist demon on my left shoulder told me that a cake that looked home made would never work. The resident of my right shoulder gave up and moved out a few months after I got engaged, so it was silent.”
Haha…still can’t get over how cute those penguins are!
Sooo cute - simple but elegant and personalized. This vibe is exactly what I’m looking for in my cake! And the veil on the penguin is absolutely adorable!
Yes, fondant is good for looks but can be tricky to work with on a large scale (and hard to smooth!). Getting a frosting spatula and turn table (about 10 dollars at Michaels) can do wonders for regular frosting. If you run the spatula under hot water periodically as you frost, it turns out a lot smoother.
Good luck!
you’re making your own cake? wow…. i love diy and all, but wow…
Good luck Miss Lollipop! It looks amazing!
Personally I don’t think I could ever do a project like that. I received an email from my trusty cooking companion, epicurious.com, this June with tips on making my own wedding cake, and I laughed so hard I nearly cried.
But, for other ladies looking into doing something similar, they do have a great online resource guide: http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/holidays/weddings
The cake looks fantastic! I am so impressed! I can’t wait to see the entire cake.
I’m a huge fan of Alton Brown and he had an episode just on cakes and icing. It was really interesting and he gave some helpful and cheap tips on how to put on icing and make it look professional.
he also put the cake on a record player instead of buying a cake turner, and used interesting tools to create dimension to the sides.
I’m snickering over the same sentences as Jennifer. 
On the plus side, if your cake looks a little lumpy and not perfectly flat, that makes it look more like a snowy iceberg.
the penguins are soooo adorable. they remind me of that youtube video of the otters holding hands. have you seen it? CUTEST THING EVER!!! (and i’m not really a ‘cute’ kind of person. and it still got me. got me good.)
kudos to DIY’ing your cake! it looks delish!
Cute! I love how they look like they are on a glacier
OMG!!!!
tto — that is the most awesomest youtube!! except for another one that’s out there of a baby otter getting toweled off and doing other cute stuff (i think he’s orphaned…awwww…sad).
and, i’m with firesong — if you play up the bumpies, it’ll be less stressful(?) and pretty cool to “landscape.” tho’ i understand the desire to make it totally flat and perfect. i was watching “ace of cakes” last night on food network, and they were trying to make a “traditional” cake with horizontal stripes…it didn’t come out very well (not to the degree you’d think a pro would execute, anyway). made me think they should’ve abandoned the desire for perfect horizontal lines and gone wiggly on purpose. but i guess it was what the client wanted. oh, maybe you could add some shaved coconut as “snow” to cover any imperfections. =)
i’m another who’s making her own cakes (all 30 adult guests are getting individual pineapple upside down cake, kids get cupcakes, we’re cutting a 6 in, 2 layer tropical carrot cake with coconut cream cheese frosting). I can definitely sympathize with you on the frosting part, it IS hard. Are you sure you want to go with fondant? It’s not the easiest thing to work with (and I personally don’t like the way it tastes). If your venue is cool enough, you might want to give a good buttercream a try. It’s easier to work it.
Love the penguins!
The clay penguins are great!
I use fondant on cakes when I have parties (ok, so I’m a little crazy) and here are some tips, if you want them (You may already know.)
-You have to put a crumb coat on the cake first– cover the cake in icing to seal in the crumbs.
-Throw that in the fridge and let it firm up, about 10 mins. Once done, roll out the frosting. I wouldn’t put any flavorings or colorings of a liquid nature because it will mess with the fondant. It can be done, but I wouldn’t since you’re not used to working with it.
-You obviously know to roll it out using powdered sugar as you would flour, so it overlaps the cake to prevent ripples on the bottom.
-Once on the cake, You can use one of those plastic fondant smoothers, but clean, dry hands that move fast (read: don’t let them heat up) can smooth really well. Then, trim the bottom.
Plain white shows the most imperfections because there’s nothing else for your eye to look at, so if you feel like the plain fondant isn’t looking the way you like maybe try a textured rolling pin. A brick pattern would look like an igloo– not sure you want that much of a theme though.
Good luck! Looks great!
My fiance is making our cake (bless his heart!) and we’ve done tons of cake tests in preparation. We tried the Wilton fondant and it tasted terrible. Through some web scouring, he found a recipe for marshmallow fondant on the Wilton.com boards. The marshmallow fondant tastes MUCH better and you can even add chocolate to give it a chocolate flavor. Another option is rolled buttercream, which is what we ended up deciding on. The taste is fabulous and it’s just as easy to work with as fondant.
I think your cake looks fab! Love the penguins. This probably isn’t appropriate for your wedding cake, but I believe Williams Sonoma had a igloo-shaped cake pan last winter. If you ever wanted to “recreate” your wedding cake.
My mom made our wedding cake, a three tiered cheesecake with an apricot glaze from Martha Stewart’s “Weddings” book. Not only did it look great and taste amazing, it was wonderful knowing that this was a cake specially made with love for us. To hold up the heavy tiers and the topper, she put wooden dowels through the cake, this is a common trick of professional bakers. If you’re worried that your penguins are heavy and might start to sink into the cake, you could use plastic drinking straws underneath them to provide support.
Good luck!
i have a perfectionist sitting on my left shoulder as well..but sometimes it gets booted by my need to sleep.
i think the cake looks great! i love the penguins!!
PENGUINS!
I love the penguins My someday I’m gonna be a weddingbee name is already picked out to be Ms. Penguin! (Unless that’s already been used, I’m still pretty new here!)
Great job on the cake!
Another alternative for pre-made fondant is a brand called Satin Ice. It tastes MUCH better than Wilton brand. You can get a peak at their stuff at:
http://www.satinfinefoods.com/
So adorable! I love the penguins. Make me some!!
This cake is really pretty! And the penguins are so adorable! Did you make them out of fondant as well? When ever I try to create fondant sculptures, the fondant is a little too ‘droopy’– as least, it doesn’t seem to hold up so well. I use a homemade marshmallow fondant, which may be the issue. Anyway, I was wondering if you could get me any pointers for creating fondant critters like your adorable penguins!
Thanks,
Kelsie (kelsie.cakes@gmail.com)
Mrs. Lollipop, Pittsburgh
Age and Occupation: 26, Computational Linguist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Project Manager
Engagement Date: August 2, 2006
Wedding Date: September 2, 2007
Blogging Since: July 17, 2007
Venue: The PPG Aquarium at the Pittsburgh Zoo
About Me: I'm a Pittsburgh transplant who grew up in the deep south. I have a weakness for exotic alphabets, DIY projects, mobster movies and international travel. My fiance and I are both non-native Japanese speakers and we have a bullfrog named Skinny.
Miss Lollipop - that looks awesome! It’s so cute, i love it!