First Fondant Covered Cake

Back in November my sister-in-law saw someone post on Facebook that they were looking for someone to do their son's 1st birthday cake.  She knew I enjoyed making cakes and I was also trying to start making a little money with it so she so graciously gave her my name. This was the first cake I made for someone I did not know and that made it a little more stressful.  To top it all off she wanted me to cover the cake in fondant which is something I had never done and usually try not to do because I prefer the buttercream taste over the fondant.  (I did use a marshmallow fondant which I have found to taste the best among other fondants.)  So this cake made me nervous.

The mom sent me some pictures of cakes that she would like and said that I could come up with whatever I would like.  The birthday party was going to be a transportation theme as I like to call it.  So I created a cake with a transportation scene and on top I had one big car made of fondant and gumpaste and an one and stars made just out of gumpaste.  There were a lot of things I was able to learn from this cake but the one most frustrating part was the car on top and getting it to be a red instead of a pink.  It takes so much Wilton red coloring to make something red so I took some advice I got from someone and went and got a color called Super Red made by Americolor.  This color gel is the best to use when trying to get a red and you don't have to use as much.  I had to go all the way to Clayton to get it but it was worth it.  Next time I might just order some online.  I made the car on top about 4 times.  I ended up throwing out a lot of fondant/gumpaste.  The first one I did I took a picture of it and sent it to my husband who told me it looked pink (which I agreed).  But after I finished the 4th car and time had run out, I looked back at the first picture I took and realized the first car (even though it was pink) was the best one I did.  Oh well.

After no further adieu, here is the cake I came up with: