Happy Bootday!

lWelcome Back fellow crafters!

This post will teach you how to make a cake shaped like a boot! Oh wait! There is no cake involved! This cake is made out of Rice Crispy Treats!

  Here is a little back story on the reasoning for this cake. My "Aunt" Liz is having her birthday this weekend. Liz works for Georgetown law. Now im not 100% clear on what it is she does but it involved construction, architecture, and design. Being the only woman (even the boss lady) she owns and wears a pair of Pink Timberlands to stand out! I thought this would be the perfect cake to make for her but they already had ordered a cake. Mom then told Rose (my "grandma") about my idea and fell in love. They both knew this is something Liz would love to see! So we decided i could do it anyways!

Now i watch Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss, Ultimate Cake-off, and Food Network Challenge so i thought this was plenty of training to get the job done! Id seen cakes carved out of Rice Crispy Treats so i figured why not try it my self! Here in comes the project!

What you will need:
1 Bag (16oz) Rice Crispy Cereal: I used generic because im broke but you can choose whatever brand you would prefer. I dont think it makes a difference because i dont think anyone is gonna be eating this cake since there will be a real one at the party.
1 Bag (16oz) Marshmallows: Once again brand isnt that important but i use Jet-Puff since Great Value (walmart's brand) didnt have a 16 oz bag.
2 tbsp Butter: I use stick butter because its easy to measure out and melts down quicker than a spread.

Depending on the shape of your cake you can use whatever pan you want. Because i knew i was making a boot i wanted to use something that will eliminate half the trouble for me so i cut the top off a 2 liter soda bottle (plus the bottom kinda looks like a heel of a boot) for the tall part of the boot and a round pan to mold the rest.

Step one: On low heat melt down butter. If the pan is too hot it will burn the butter and marshmallows.

Step two: Add marshmallows. Make sure to stir continuous so that the bottom doesn't burn. Stir till all mallows are melted.

Step three: Remove from stove. Add rice crispys! Stir mixture together until its mixed well.

Step four: CAUTION!!! The mixture will be hot so be careful! Coat the pan you are adding the mixture to with vegetable shortening to avoid having trouble getting it out once its harden up.

Let mixture cool for about 2 hours

Use a knife to cut the bottle off. Be careful not to cut your self! It will be slippery from the shortening.

I thought it was to tall so i cut it up. The next few pictures are that process.

Now i have a starting point. This makes the Ankle part and heel part of the boot.

I cut the round next to start on the foot part of the boot.

The next few pieces are free hand cut based on which piece was gonna fit with which.

This piece serves as the bottom of the boot. I used it as a starting point to build up on. It was cut from the middle part of the circle pan.

I then took the rounded edges from the circle pan and lined them up on the base of the boot. I used spare pieces of treats to help mold the pieces together and make it as symmetrical as possible.

 

Here you will notice i added a lip to the top of the boot to serve as a cuff and i carved an arch into the bottom to look like a real boot.

To cover this cake with fondant i covered the rice crispy boot in butter cream frosting. I already had butter cream left over from a cake i made previously so i used that. Its chocolate mocha flavored.

This serves several purposes. First being that it acts as an adhesive for the fondant. Next it acts as a hole filler. Since the treat is holey the butter cream fills in those little gaps so that when you add the fondant it lays smooth. Its important to try and cover it as smooth as possible. Refrigerate until harden and then you can cover it with your fondant.

I made my own fondant to cover it. You can see how to do that  here. For this project i colored my fondant different shades of purple because Purple is Liz's favorite color. Piecing this cake together takes different techniques so do what works best for you. Here is a brief description of how i did it.

Step one: The inside of the boot. I tried to color the fondant black but its hard to get it the fondant that dark so i used the food coloring and water to paint it.

Step two. The cuff of the boot. This will also act as a place to adhere the ankle piece of the boot.

Step three: The foot of the boot. 

Step four: The ankle of the boot. Used water as an aid to adhere this to the cuff and foot of the boot.

Step five: The laces details. I used a marker lid to cut of the circles of the shoe laces and added them to the boot. I also rolled out "shoe string" and laced up the boot. Again using water as an aid to adhere it to the boot.

Step six: The heel details. I rolled out the heel and added it to the bottom of the boot. Again using water as an aid to adhere it to the boot. I used my shell tip fondant/gumpaste tool to indent the grooves in the heel.

Step seven: The stitching detail. I used my quilt roller tip fondant/gumpaste tool to add stitching. This not only lets it look like a real boot, but i used it where i pieced together the different pieces of fondant to hid the imperfections.

And Now you have a Boot!

How to make Marshmellow Fondant!

Hello fellow crafters! I know its been a while since ive blogged but ive been busy with my new hobby:

CAKE DECORATING!!!

In this post i will walk you through how to make your own fondant to cover cakes to decorate on!

I found the recipe on Cakecentral.com and Wilton.com and went from their inspiration.

Ingredients:
1 Bag Marshmallows (16oz): Depending on the size of the mallows the bags come in either small (10oz) and large (16oz) puffs. Both websites recommend using a high quality marshmallow, I used Jet-Puffed Large Marshmallows (16oz)
2lbs Confectioner Sugar: Or for us plain folk: Powder Sugar. Now both the websites i mentioned above say that 2lbs is close to 8 cups. Depending on the process it can take anywhere from 6-9 cups.
2-5 tbsp water: for convection in the microwave
2 tbsp Flavoring: for this i used CLEAR Vanilla extract, if you want your fondant to stay white use clear!
1/2 Cup Vegetable Shortening: Give or take, you could need more or less. This is used to coat your tools to avoid sticking and to package and store.

Directions:
Step one: Coat your bowl with shortening! DONT FORGET THIS!!!! You will need two bowls. One microwave safe and one large enough to knead the mixture in. Coat these thoroughly to avoid problems and sticking.

Step two: Add marshmallows into microwave safe dish (already coated in shortening) and add 2tbsp water into the dish. Heat approx. 60 seconds then stir. Its smart to coat your spoon in shortening as well. After stirring heat for 30 seconds more then stir. The websites recommend this interval until melted which they estimate 2 1/2 minutes. I heated mine till it was smooth and it looked like one giant mallow.

Tip: You can add the vanilla in before you start folding in the powder sugar or you can wait till you need water. Make sure you add 2 tbsps so that the fondant has good flavor!

Step three: Take 1/2 (4 cups) powder sugar and place in your other bowl (already coated in shortening). Add mallow mixture in and fold together. For the next 3-5 cups add one at a time and fold. If you add to much powder sugar at a time it will puff up on you and make a mess! Once the mallow has cooled i just used my hands but its VERY IMPORTANT TO COAT YOUR HANDS WITH SHORTENING!!!!! It wont help 100% but it helps way more than if you dont. Its simpler just to work your way up. The way to tell if your getting close to the right consistency is if it looks like a kneaded loaf.

Tip: If it starts to dry out between cup additions add a half tablespoon of water. I say half because if you add to much at a time it gets to wet!

Step four: Once kneaded and all cups have been added take out and place on a well coated mat or counter top to continue kneading until it looks right and is pliable with out being too dry or tearing when played with.

Step five: You'll notice in the above picture the fondant is really shiny. This is because i coated it with shortening for storing and setting up. Once you coat the outside wrap the loaf in plastic wrap. Make sure you get the most air out as possible. Once wrapped up store in a plastic bag.

Now you have fondant!
Both the above websites suggest that if you only need one color then add the coloring before you mix the mallow and powder sugar. If you want many different colors, color as you work!

For the colors i choose look forward to my next blog!