Storytellers

So this is my first time entering this competition. I've been wanting to do if for years and every year I don't and just browse through the winners and wonder if I could do that. So this year I decided I would try it.

So as a starter I love to bake but I've only worked with fondant once. And that was with my cousin and all I did was cut out circles. So this was waaaaaaaaaaaaay out of my comfort zone.

This might be a long story so I understand if you don't read it. If you do enjoy.

So the first step was to figure out what design I wanted to use. There are so many it was a little overwhelming. But I finally narrowed it down to Storytellers. I had this cute idea of making them individually so I could give them to my friends to eat at the end (this way I wouldn't have to eat them all myself) So what started out as a cute idea in the beginning turned out to be a whole heck of a lot of work.

So I went out to the store and bought everything I needed, fondant, food coloring (the new stuff from Wilton), a fondant smoother and some modeling tools (which I spent 10 minutes at the store having a serious internal debate about what ones to get.) Then when I went to the grocery store I decided that I was just going to buy a cake mix and frosting because this was my first time doing something like this so I didn't wan to spend a lot of money just in case this didn't work. So I baked it in the evening and let it cool over night. That is when things started going down hill.

So the next morning I woke up already to start decorating and what happens when I pick up the cake? It crumbled into 4 pieces. It was to fluffy and just wouldn't work. So what did I do? I had to make another cake from scratch that would stand up to the weight of the fondant on top of it. The thing was I couldn't use the oven that day because my mom was making a big family dinner so the kitchen was off limits. So after being bummbed out for a bit I decided to make some accessories. Such as the tin man's hat, twilight's apple and little red riding hood's basket. Finally after supper and company left I was able to bake my cake and once again let it cool over night.

Next morning all ready to go. Cut the cakes in to 25 2x1 inch pieces. Cut them in half and then filled them with a bit of the frosting I had bought. Then I decided I would make a swiss meringue buttercream. (Mistake number 2) Of course I have never made this recipe before but the lady who makes it, makes it look so easy. So I start making it and all is fine, sugar is boiling, egg whites are whipping, mix them together. All is good.... until I add the butter. BAM! Curdled. So I freak out and google for a good 10 minutes what to do. Read I have to whip the heck out of it some more and it turns all right? I suppose. So I crumb coat some of them and put them in the fridge.

I decided I wanted to deocrate a few at first. So I but the buttercream in the fridge because I didn't know how long it was going to be before I crumb coat another couple. (Third Mistake) So I get the ones I crumb coated all covered in the fondant, which I like to think I did a great job getting the colours right. Then I take the buttercream out of the fridge and it is super hard. So I let it sit and get to room temperature thinking it will be all good.

It wasn't.

It separated and was all soupy. So what do I do? Google again. Thank goodness for Google. I read I just have to mix it again. So I did and it worked out. By the end of the day I had all 25 cakes covered in fondant. Now because I have never covered a cake in fondant. I didn't know where to store my cakes. So once again, Google. I read tons of comments on blogs saying to put them in the fridge, others saying on the counter covered, others saying not covered. So many mixed messages, no direct answer. So I left them on the counter in an airtight container. (Mistake number 4)

Wake up the next morning and what do I see? They all melted!! The fondant got sweaty and stuck to the bottom of the container, because the Swiss meringue buttercream melted under it. All 25 of them! Argh!!! Luckily I had enough cake left over that I hadn't used and was able to cut out enough pieces. This time just using the store frosting I bought to fill and coat. Popped them in the fridge and decided to go one by one. This way if something went wrong it would just be one cake not 25.

So everything past this point went really good. Decorating was a learning curve but I really like the way it turned out. I kept them in the basement fridge so I wouldn't have a repeat of last time.

Now to make 25 little cakes into one big cake. I decided I was going to essentially make a stair case out of rice krispies and set them all up on that. (Mistake number 5) I didn't have enough mixture even after making a double batch that I had to improvise. The I had to get the cakes to room temperature. So it was 5 degrees outside to day so I brought them out slowly warm up but had to cover them all in corn starch to get the excess moisture. Unfortunately some stuck to the bottom of the container. Again. But not as bad.

So I managed to cover a giant slab of rice krispies in fondant and then slowly started to stack my cakes. I had to make individual stands for the cakes. Instead of the steps. You will see it in the pictures. (I must say that though out this whole process I have felt like an archaeologist digging up bones. Why you ask? Because I used cornstarch to keep them dry I had to brush them all off with a little brush) So before I put them on I tried (as hard as I could) to get all the cornstarch off and then brushed a little vodka on so the colour wouldn't be washed out. All good!

Then for the photos... that was another process. At one point I was standing on the counter top with my brother holding a lamp over top so I could control the shadows.

But yeah.... I had a lot of fun. I really did. Would I do it again? Maybe.
I just need more experience.