Make it Monday! Vanilla Pound Cake and marshmallow fondant!

As you may know I am a box cake baker....

For cupcakes(which I have never made from scratch... maybe someday), regular birthday cakes, or for everyday I feel the need to bake a cake (you have those days to right...... right...), I make boxed cake! But for special cakes, like a certain little girls "toodles" birthday cake, my Best Friends stack of books cake (both seen here) and also for this beast of a cake!

This is the cake I made for my Best Friends Wedding Shower!

I call it a beast because it took me a few hours to get the cake and fondant made and then I cursed on it for about another hour because I couldn't get the fondant to lay right..... (perfectionist much...)

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures while making the cake or while putting the fondant on it as I was a little busy cursing under my breath at it to take a picture....

So... back to the cake...

This is the pound cake recipe that I have used for about a year now and it has been flawless everytime!

3 Cups Flour

3/4 Tsp Baking Powder

1/4 Tsp Salt

1 1/2 cups Butter

2 2/3 Cups Sugar

5 Eggs

1 Cup Milk

1 Tsp vanilla

****** DO NOT PRE-HEAT YOUR OVEN!******

grease or spray your pan... tube or other (to make the bride cake I used a bunt pan)

Mix in a seperate bowl your flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl cream your butter and sugar for 5-10 mins. Add your eggs one at a time mixing well before the next addition then add your vanilla.

Next add in alternate additions your milk and your flour mix. (kind of like a muffin recipe) 

Pour into prepared pan and place in the oven at 350

Bake until a cake tester comes out clean. (it will vary depending on what type and size of pan you use!)

Allow to cook in pan for 1 hour before removing. 

Cool completely before icing.

As for the Fondant I used this recipe for Marshmallow Fondant from Show Tell Share!

Marshmallow Fondant

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 (16 ounce) package miniature marshmallows
• 4 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 pounds confectioners' sugar, divided

Directions

1. Place the butter in a shallow bowl, and set aside.
2. Place the marshmallows in a large microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on High for 30 seconds to 1 minute to start melting the marshmallows. Carefully stir the water and vanilla extract into the hot marshmallows, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Slowly beat in the confectioners' sugar, a cup at a time, until you have a sticky dough. Reserve 1 cup of powdered sugar for kneading. The dough will be very stiff.
3. Rub your hands thoroughly with butter, and begin kneading the sticky dough. As you knead, the dough will become workable and pliable. Turn the dough out onto a working surface dusted with confectioners' sugar and continue kneading until the fondant is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch, 5 to 10 minutes.
4. Form the fondant into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. To use, allow the fondant to come to room temperature, and roll it out onto a flat surface dusted with confectioners' sugar. 

I really like this recipe as it was so easy to prepare and I found that it made soooo much fondant! It was way more cost effective (and yummier) than any fondant I've ever purchased pre-made! (Robyn even said that it was better than what was on our wedding cake... and he was right!)

I got lots of compliments on it too Everyone loved the cake and my Best Friend actually asked me... "why doesn't your fondant suck?" which if you knew us was a huge compliment!

When I actually got down to putting the cake together I carved down the edges of the bunt cake to make sure it was actually rounded the way I liked it, then I did a "crumb coat" of my butter cream icing (recipe found here) and let it sit for a few minutes while I rolled out the fondant to the thickness I liked. Then I laid the fondant over the cake and smoothed it out with a few small folds at the bottom to make it look like the skirt. Then I covered the doll body to make the bodice of the dress mannequin/ form and put it in place on the cake... this is when the cursing began... I had to find a way to prop the doll part up which turned out to be a toothpick container filled with extra fondant and then covered by another layer of fondant on the top... I then piped little dots onto the top layer of fondant to make it look like it was beaded and to take away from the crease in the fondant where I had to cut it to make it fit just right.... you can see it in the pictures but no one commented on it or said anything really about it!

Either way the Bride to Be and her Mom and everyone loved it! I was told by no less than 10 people that I should turn this whole party planning/cake making hobby into a career... Ahhh maybe someday... maybe.

Have you made any great cakes lately? or are you planning on making your first fondant cake? I'd love to hear about it... either way I hope your next cake endeavor doesn't involve as much cursing on the project as mine did!

PS more about the shower, including decorations, games and such tomorrow!