A couple of questions

[fangmudgestorm]

 Hi! I'm 16 and just started an account on here to hopefully get a couple of my questions answered, for I am kind of confused./img/vbsmilies/smilies/confused.gif  I have been decorating simple cakes for a year now and want to move onto sculpting cakes, however, i cannot find a recipe for a firm enough cake to carve.  I am looking for chocolate for a project i have to complete in the next few weeks.  I also need some tips for working with fondant. So far i have only been able to create very light pastel colors. How could i get darker colors without making the fondant stickier? I'm also looking for a way to make a gold coloring. How could i do this?

Thx for taking the time to read this and answer my questions./img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

-Fang/img/vbsmilies/smilies/peace.gif

 

[bughut]

Hey fang,
Sorry its taken so long to get back to you, The site's in the processof an overhaul, and understandably there are gremlins in the works. I'm standing in as a temp moderator. And as such, I'd like to welcome you to the forum. Thank you for introducing yourself.There will be someone here able to help you im sure .

 

[charron]

I don't know much about cake recipes beyond basic ones.  As for the fondant, my sister works with it quite a bit.   She built a giant nori sushi cake for my birthday, and even more recently a replica of the AmsOil sponsored off-road racer for my dad's birthday. (The car is silver and black)

She says knead the poop out of the fondant until it warms up, then add the colourant.  She uses Wilton gel colour (as do I for buttercream and royal icings).  Beware liquid colour; it will most certainly make your fondant gooey and useless.  Once the gel colour is added keep kneading the fondant.  The more you work it, the smoother it will get and the richer the colour.  For darker colours be sure to wear gloves to protect your hands.  Smaller batches will be easier, but if you require a large batch, colour-matched, you will need to knead smaller batches together until they are well blended.  It's nothing if not a vigorous workout /img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif

P.S.  For the gold colouring I suspect it would be easier to airbrush the colour on.  Chefpeon recently mentioned a product called 'luster dust' that has a few different golds.

 

[xashley717x]

Same here /img/vbsmilies/smilies/rolleyes.gif  I'm 15 and I've worked a few times with fondant, but I defientely prefer buttercream.  I feel like it definetely tastes better, is easier to color and flavor, and you can do pretty much anything with it.

Charron ^ said something about luster dust.  I adore this dust! Its gorgous.  I use pink/white/silver to add a little pizzazz to my gumpaste flowers, and its just beautiful.  However, you cant mix this into fondant. You can certainly take a small paintbrush and "paint" it on (its not liquid - its like a powder).  Or, probably airbrush it, I would suppose?  You can probably make the fondant a dark mustardy yellow, then put a nice coat of this luster dust (aka pearl dust) with  a paintbruhs and some water, and have a shimmery goldish color.

Pound cakes work best for carving.  Just be sure to freeze or at least refrigerate any cakes before carver, it makes it a lot easier and less of a mess.  Sponge cakes are okay.  I use packaged pound cake mix from betty crocker or duncan hines usually (shh!) but I'm sure any reicpe would work just fine.  Also, the cake used to make coffee cakes works AMAZING! I love it.  Follow a crumb cake recipe and just leave out the cinnamon if you dont want it to be cinnamony. 

Good luck.

 

[dillonsmimi]

Try the Hershey's site for a good chocolate pound cake recipe. Cool, wrap it well in plastic and freeze. The nite before you plan to use remove from freezer, loosen wrap and defrost. By it's nature, fondant wants to be a pastel color. Americolor has a nice "neon" line that will color a bit darker. If it is too "bright" add a tiny drop of brown and knead well (preparing the fondant a few days prior will help with the color also).Of course you could always buy the pre-colored fondant and add your own touches to make it a bit more custom.  I use a gold airbrush color and paint on with food safe brush, sometimes mixing in some dust to make it shimmer. If you just want the dust, mix well with clear vanilla extract or cheap vodka and paint as above.