Dora Birthday Cake

Well, there was no avoiding it anymore! My sister, Cori, asked me to make a Birthday cake for her girls who were turning 4 & 2 and absolutely adore Dora the Explorer. Cori found a picture of a cake she wanted and asked me to make some changes which I was happy to do. After looking at the cake I realized there is no way that I could do this cake properly with only buttercream, I had to try Fondant again.

I've tried Fondant 2 times before and had no success. I was sincerely hoping that the third time would work. I figured if it all went pear shaped that I could always get an ice-cream cake. I did lots of research both at the library & online and I think I finally figured it out. I must have been rolling out the Fondant too thin. Everytime I used it in the past it either cracked like crazy or simply broke apart into these little pieces. I kept visualizing the guys from "Cake Boss" and Duff Goldman from Charm City Cakes and I couldn't understand what I was missing. Then I read in a book that the Fondant had to be at least 1/8-1/4" thick and I knew that had to be where I was going wrong!

So I figured out how much Fondant I would need and all the colours and off I went to the Bulk Barn and then to Michaels. I had some stuff already but I found the coolest Fondant roller with a spacer to let me know when I was at the right thickness. So off I went & it worked! I couldnt' believe it, I showed Ryan & I seriously coudn't stop smiling! I know it seems so silly but it was something that I had been struggling with for so long and I finally mastered it, it was all simply too thin~who knew??

Once I got the red all over both layers, there was a tiny bit of small cracks appearing which I started to get concerned about. Ryan ran downstairs and "googled" it and then told me that all I had to do was rub a tiny bit of shortning in the crack & surrounding area & voila!! When it came time to decorate it was so fun, I added stripes, stars, and then I added some balls of Fondant and it was done. I was so excited that it was done & so proud of myself at the same time, I persevered and I succeeded.

My sister & her girls loved the cake & that is the best kind of payment anyone could ever ask for.