This beautiful cake was created by member Eva Singh. 
Duff Goldman, Ace of Cakes, has a line of assorted flavors of fondant aptly called Duff Fondant and bakeware at Michael's Craft Store! Anyone try the fondant? The buzz is that it tastes great but may be a little tricky to work with. It's also a bit pricey, but you can always wait for Michael's discount coupons or a sale. And shhhhhh! if you didn't know already, Michael's Craft Store accepts A.C. Moore coupons.
Member Ines created this outstanding basket of veggies cake. My favorite is the garlic. It looks so real, I can almost smell them! Grandma's veggies never tasted so good! -Dina
What's your FF (favorite fondant)? Most of us cakers got our chops learning how to cover a cake with Wilton rolled fondant. Cakers in NYC Cake Decorators Meetup have noted that this brand of fondant tends to dry faster and thus, you must work quickly to keep the fondant from cracking.
Satin ice is highly favored by members in meetup. Satin ice is really easy to handle and takes less muscle strength to knead and roll-out than Wilton. Satin ice also seems to give a longer working time and has a better taste than Wilton, but both brands are rather chewy.
Fondarific is not yo' mama's fondant. Fondarific is winning over lots of cakers because of its great workability on real cakes. Fondarific stays pliable for a very long time, giving cakers the ability to fuss over every detail of the cake without the worry of the fondant tearing and cracking. You can also refrigerate and freeze Fondarific without the problem of sweating when brought to room temperature. And Fondarific comes in a variety of flavors that taste great; buttercream and chocolate are top fav's. One caveat is that Fondarific does not handle well in warm environments and has been reported to separate at warm temperatures.
The total weight of the massa is approximately 82 grams. To make the rose base, remove approximately 19 grams of dark chocolate fondant and roll into a ball.
Cup the ball in your left palm and using two fingers on your right hand, roll the ball in your palm while applying pressure on one side of the ball until it resembles a teardrop or cone shape as in the above photo.
Petals: make 9 balls approximately 7 grams each for the chocolate rose petals. Keep the fondant covered with plastic wrap as you work to prevent the fondant from drying out.
Forming petals: Take a chocolate ball in your left hand and using two fingers on your right hand, roll the ball in your palm, while applying pressure to one end of the ball until it resembles a teardrop or cone shape. Now flatten the wide end of the petal with your fingers. Pick up the petal between your thumb and pointer finger, and press the wide edge of the petal as thin as possible. The thinned wide end is the top of the petal and the tapered end is the bottom of the petal.
Center Petal: Prepare the petal as above and wrap the center petal around the rose base. At this point, your rose should look similar to this one.
First Row: Wrap 3 petals around the center petal. Prepare each petal as above. The petals in the first row are positioned slightly higher than the center petal. (Most beginners make the mistake of placing the first row of petals below the center petal).
Each petal thereafter is placed just inside the last petal, so that it slightly overlaps the last petal. When the third petal is placed, you can attach both sides of the third petal to the base.
This is how your rose should look when the first row of 3 petals is completed. See how the wide edge of the petals have been thinned?
Second Row: Wrap 5 petals around the first row. Position the second row of petals slightly lower than the first row. Prepare each petal as before, placing each petal inside the last so it slightly overlaps. When the second row is completed, you can further shape each petal so it looks as life-like as possible. After the petals are shaped, you can take a sharp knife and cut off some of the base if necessary. Since this rose is quite large, I think 5 petals is good enough. However, you can wrap a third row of 7 petals if you like. Place the third row slightly lower than the second row and prepare each petal according to the previous instructions.
Photo courtesy of instructor, Natalie Johnson.
Photo courtesy of instructor, Connie DiTomasso
Photo courtesy of member Silvinia Barboza
Bas Relief is a favorite technique of mine. This particular kissing couple design is from a book by Kate Venter, Sugar Decorating Filigree, Flowers, & Flooding. Venter used a color flow technique, whereas, I decided to try bas relief. For starters, cover an 8" x 10" board with light blue or light green fondant and let dry. Then trace the kissing couple design with a #2 pencil and cut out.
Using your tracing paper cut-out as a guide, cut out the kissing couple in fondant. Affix on the fondant board with water, gum glue, or egg white. Best to color all your fondant now according to the colors you wish to use for the couple. When working on the sugar art, water, gum glue or egg white is used to attach the fondant.
In bas relief, you must remember to complete the parts of the drawing that are behind other parts of the drawing first. Thus the girl is finished in the following order: socks which are inside the shoes are made first, then the shoe in the background, the shoe in the foreground, the dress, the apron, the apron strings, the arm, and then the hand. (Work on the boy next, since the girl's bonnet is the last piece of clothing to be completed).
Close up view of the bas relief kissing couple.
Close up look at how the hands are created. Use a cell stick to open up the wrist of the figure and dampen with water, egg white or gum glue and attach the hand.
Next, work on the boy's clothing. First the left shoe in the background, then the right shoe in the foreground. Take bits of fondant and place on the legs to simulate thigh and calf muscles. Roll out a bit of dark blue fondant for the boy's pants, and using your tracing cut-out as a guide (leaving a little extra around the edges) cut out the pants. Apply carefully over the figure tucking in with your gumpaste tool and discarding excess fondant with a sharp knife.
Complete the boy's shirt using the same technique. Attach a small bit of fondant on the stomach area. Then cut out the shirt, dampen the area with water, egg white, or gum glue and apply carefully. Make the boy's arm. Insert a cell stick inside the wrist to make an opening for the hand. Apply a small amount of water, egg white or gum glue and insert hand. Put a small piece of fiber fill or tissue under the hand until firm. Use an extruder for the boy's shirt collar, tie, and hair. To complete the girl's bonnet, attach small bits of fondant on the edge of the bonnet (the rounded section which cradles the back of the girl's head). Again using your traced cut-out, cut out a piece of fondant slightly larger than the bonnet and attach to the figure. Extrude strings with an extruder.
Closer view of the kissing couple. A small amount of grass was extruded through a clay gun to make grass.
Now comes the dusting. Apply petal dust to form shadows on the figures. You can shine the couple's shoes by dipping an artist's brush in confectioner's glaze and brushing the shoes. This scene is rather plain. Be daring and more creative with your background. After you're done you can protect your art work in a neat little shadow box like the one I purchased at Michael's Craft Store. Enjoy!
Cake designed and decorated by Linda
