I made fondant today

I think the title says it all on this one.  I made fondant today.  Yesterday, I bought fondant because Jenn and I wanted to see if bought/homemade fondant tastes any different.  The homemade fondant tastes pretty good, but I am not really certain I can say it tastes any better or any worse than the store bought Wilton brand; this stuff gets pretty bad reviews on line, but we both like it, Jenn and I are also two of those people that actually enjoy eating fondant.  Making fondant is not for the faint of heart or for those of you who don't think its funny to stick to your kitchen floor after.  I have powdered sugar up my nose, in my toaster, and all over my IPad, which I needed to get the recipe from. 


Full directions here: http://thecookduke.com/fondant-recipe/


Fondant

• 1 Tbsp of unflavored gelatin
• 1/4 cup of cold water
• 1 tsp of almond extract - I used vanilla, clear vanilla imitation extract- I had to
• 1/2 cup of light corn syrup (If a corn syrup is not available, you can substitute it with a sugar syrup made with 1-1/4 cups sugar and 1/3 cup water, boiled together until syrupy)
• 1 Tbsp of glycerin (some recipes say it’s optional, believe me, it’s a must)
• 2 lbs confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 tsp of white vegetable shortening

Directions how to make the fondant recipe:

• Sprinkle the gelatin over cold water in a small bowl and let it rest for 2 minutes to soften
• Place the bowl in a microwave for 30 seconds on High, until the gelatin dissolves
• Add the Almond extract
• Add the corn syrup and the glycerin and stir until the mixture is smooth and clear (if the mixture is not turning smooth and clear, microwave it for an additional 15 to 20 seconds on high and stir again)
• Sift 1 1/2 pounds of the sugar into a large bowl
• Make a hole in the sugar and pour the liquid mixture to it

• Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture becomes sticky

• Sift some of the remaining 1/2 pound of sugar onto a smooth work surface and add as much of the remaining sugar as the mixture will take
• Knead the fondant, adding a little more sugar if necessary, to form a smooth, pliable mass

• Rub the vegetable shortening on your thumbs and knead it into the fondant

Wrap the fondant in plastic wrap and place it in a tightly sealed container to prevent it from drying outIf the icing dries out and harden it can often be revived by popping it into a microwave oven for a few seconds and then kneading it back to life.  Enjoy!

-Jenny

The art of the sailboat

Today, Jenn and I spent 5 hours making fondant sailboats and tomorrow we will spend another 2 hours assembling them.  I think I have spent more time this week testing cupcake recipes and practicing rolling fondant than actually looking for a job.  I am also starting to believe that the sugar is starting to get to my head a little bit.

Little tiny boats



I think it is safe to say that after tomorrow, neither Jenn nor I will be itching to make cupcakes anytime soon.  The fondant sailboats, however are a different story.

Fondant is a magical ingredient and one neither one of us has ever tried to play with, though oddly enough, we both love to eat.  So last week, Jenn bought some and we had an afternoon of "Let's see what we can do with this stuff", one of the many new activities that we have liked to do throughout our unemployment.  Turns out working with fondant is awesome.  When you start working it with your hands, it starts to get soft like silly putty and anything is possible to make.  Well, so far boats are possible to make.  And we made them with the pasta machine.  Yup, we rolled it through like, well pasta, since that is exactly what the texture and consistency is like.  We did hit a bit of a snag when we found out the largest setting for the pasta maker still made the fondant too thin to thread a toothpick through, but we quickly realized that just doubling up the shapes made perfect little boats hulls.  So double 'em up we did.

Little tiny boat hulls

Next came the sails, and those were the more challenging part of the project, since we had to freehand the rolling.  Neither one of us is an ace at rolling things to a nice even consistency, but we did our best and then cut out little triangles and stuck a toothpick through them- voila!  Sails.




Little tiny sails

 Tomorrow I will post another picture of the finished cupcakes unless Jenn and I, in a sugar induced haze, just go nuts and start throwing them at each other before we make it to the party.  Keep your fingers crossed.

-Jenny