As a decorator in the Wilton decorating room, I am always thrilled when I get a sketch that involves fondant animals, people, or any project that uses molded fondant. Fondant is my favorite medium to work with because of its smooth clean look and the countless ways to use and be creative with it.
A lot of people are intimidated by fondant, but believe it or not, with a little practice and a few tricks it is actually easy to work with and will always leave people impressed. There are different degrees of difficulty when molding with fondant, from very simple to more complex.
A good example of a very simple and slightly more difficult molding technique is a baby shower cake I did, Bathtime Buddies from the 2010 yearbook. The ducks around the bottom border are as easy as pressing the fondant into a candy mold and tapping it out. The ducks in between and on top of the cake are made using our globe pillars. They are simply wrapped in fondant and trims are added by cutting out shapes and attaching to make them come to life.
A good way to give each character their own unique personality is in the positioning of the eyes. I have done many characters on cakes using the globe pillars and they all turned out so cute. They include, and aren’t limited to, pirates, a wedding party, babies, spiders, penguins, and bears. There is so much you can do with the globe pillars, use your imagination and see what you can come up with.
Another simple way to mold fondant figures is by using a brownie pop as the base, like the cover cake of the 2011 Yearbook and also the Perfect Attendants from the 2011 yearbook. The characters on the cover have brownie pops covered in fondant for the bodies and a ball of fondant for the heads. By adding facial features and hands/feet these adorable animals and people will be a big hit. The Perfect Attendants project is a little bit more lifelike in that the proportions are more realistic. By sticking a lollipop stick into the pop, it gives a secure base for the upper body and head. To make things easier, by adding a flower you don’t need to worry about making hands (which can be pretty tricky). The faces are drawn on using FoodWriters™. You can brighten them up by adding “blush” using our Orchid Pink Pearl Dust™. You will have so much fun personalizing the characters to your wedding party.
I loved working on the cake Diva’s Debut in the 2011 yearbook. This project may take a little more creativity. Mold the legs by starting with a rectangular shape and cutting a slit. Let dry with lollipop sticks in legs. Once they are dry, just attach the mini doll picks and let the fun and creativity begin. I really enjoyed coming up with the outfits, so use your imagination and have fun. Add some sugars, cake sparkles™, and pearl dust™ to really jazz them up.
My favorite way to mold things out of fondant is freehand, no base, like the parrot on the Birthday on the Bounty Cake on the cover of the 2010 yearbook, and the food on The First Thanksgiving Cake. One of my all time favorite things I have molded, as little as it may seem, is the corn from this project. I really tried to make it realistic looking. Most foods are not one solid color, so by marbleizing different colors of fondant, it gives it more dimension. My favorite tool to add small details is an exacto knife, which is how I created the lines in the corn.
So remember, with some practice and creativity, you will be able to mold all kinds of fondant characters that are sure to impress. With fondant, the possibilities are endless.
Jenny has been a cake decorator in the Wilton decorating room for almost five years. She worked at a bakery while working on her culinary degree. Though she was experienced decorating with buttercream, she hadn’t had much experience with other mediums but was very eager to learn. She has been a quick learner and continues to learn every day at work. Her favorite projects to work on are wedding cakes, anything with fondant, and she always loves a challenge. In her personal time she really enjoys traveling as much as possible with her husband.