Baking Project

Tried my hand in making figures again today.. I still think I have a lot to improve. I made a man figure sleeping on his belly. The first step, assemble all the body parts :

I have shaped the hand and legs before gluing the parts together with some water. For the head, you may refer to my earlier post on making a baby. Now for the clothing. Drape a square piece of fondant over the buttock. Wrap around the body.

Then make a slit in the middle of the fondant, join the parts to make a short pant.

With the modelling tool, press to make the curve for his back. Do the same for the soles of his feet.

Flatten a round black fondant and glue it to the head for the hair. I cheated to make the eyes. I just dip the end of a small straw in black gel colour and press to make the sleeping eyes shape.

Hmm..what do I think of this guy ? Well, the butt really looks good . Muscular. The neck should have been a little bit higher.

I don’t know, I leave it to you guys to judge.  Nite nite everyone.

Today I’ll be sharing with you the technique on making a baby’s face using fondant. First, start by making a small ball.

Then roll your index finger over the centre until you get a peanut shape. This will divide the face into the forehead and chin.

Pinch below the chin to make a neck.

Use the end of a small straw to make the eyes and mouth. And make a small hole for the nose socket.

Stick a small ball for the nose. Use the end of a toothpick to make the nostril.

Glue 2 more balls for the ears. Make a dent with the same toothpick.

You can then add the hair and maybe brush some pearl dust (added with corn flour) for the cheeks.

My baby.. sleeping and smiling

Here’s wishing you sweet dreams and a happy week ahead..

Salam,

So many gum types.. actually I bought all three today, from Eazy Bake in Kota Permai, Penang on the way back to KL. (Thanks to Ten who mentioned this shop to me.) I am quite familiar with gum trag, gum arabic but not so with ‘guar gum’. But since I don’t know when I will ever pass the same way again, I bought all three types.

Gum tragacanth is normally used in gumpaste recipes. Gum arabic as I know it, is use to make edible glue. Just mix 1 part of gum arabic powder with 2 parts of water together, and you can keep this glue in a clear small bottle. Use to glue pieces in making your fondant cakes.

Guar gum - for now this gum will have to seat quietly on my kitchen shelf until I find a good use for it. I read from Baking911.com that it can be added in baking gluten-free breads. I hope I’ll find a recipe for the guar gum before it expires in 2009 .

Call me pathetic, the purchase of these gums are the highlight of my trip to Penang.

I baked some cupcakes yesterday and was thinking of different ways to decorate them. Instead of putting a layer of fondant on top, why not wrap the whole cupcake with fondant ? So I decided to make some cactus in pots. Search the internet for some pictures of cactus and I started making these at 7.00 this morning, finished around 10.00 am. Quite time consuming considering I only made 3 pots. Anyway, here’s how I did it.

First, cut the bottom of the cuppies to resemble a pot shape. Then, wrap them with strips of fondant to make the pots.

Once done, cover the top of the cuppies with round green fondant.

Start making the first cactus.

For the white spots and thorns, I piped some buttercream using a round tip.

Coloured the pot using some piping gel to create the glaze effect. (the outline of the flower should have been much thinner).

For the second species of cactus, I made this shape and then poke some holes on it.

Use the same technique to create the thorns. Added two cute flowers. Below are the completed projects.

I don’t think I’ll be eating these cupcakes.. The middle one looks more like Aloe Vera, isn’t it ? It was not supposed to be Aloe vera.

Anyway, hope this lesson has been useful. Take care & bye for now.