I'm Not Fond of Fondant

Ashley and Elysha's birthday party is coming up on Sunday.  I thought, since I am going to have a lot to do Saturday, that maybe I would make the cake a few days ahead and freeze it. 

It was a good idea. 

My plan was to make a beautiful fondant cake from scratch to show off my crafty-mom skills.  The only problem is, I don't really have those. 

First, I made the cake.  I forgot to adjust the recipe to low altitude and the center fell in.  I made a double layer cake.  As you can see, the center of the top layer is perfectly even with the edges of the bottom layer.  This is the point that I knew this cake would be for Christian.

When I pulled the cake out, I realized my heavily applied Pam wasn't enough to keep the cake from clinging to the pan.  After violently shaking the pan upside down, most of it finally came out.  Hence, the huge hole you can see in this picture. 

Well, I thought, I can just make the fondant and try again on the cake later. 

Another great idea. 

I decided I wanted to make buttercream fondant.  It would taste just like buttercream frosting, so I couldn't see any downside.  I mixed up all the ingredients except for the powdered sugar.  I added the powdered sugar a little at a time.  I was supposed to put 2 lbs of the sugar in, but my the time I got to about a half a pound, I figured it looked about right.  I know a lot about these things, you know.  I tried rolling it out, but it stuck to everything.  So I decided maybe I should put the remaining pound and a half of sugar in. (I now know you are supposed to roll it between two sheets of plastic) I scooped the fondant back into the bosh and added a few cups of sugar. 

After kneading that in, the fondant was so dry that it cracked every time I even looked at it.  I finally decided this would make a perfect topping to my holy cake.  Or maybe I should call it a crumb cake. 

But, something good did come from this!  I used a cookie cutter to make little letters for their (now normal frosted) cake.  I figured that would be a whole lot easier than trying to draw letters with icing. 

Because their names both have the same six letters, I just had to make two of everything, something I am pretty comfortable with.

I just hope the rest of the party plans work out a little more smoothly (no pun intended).

I also hope Christian likes dry fondant and sunken cake.

What? First Steps and Fine Motor Skills.

Ashley and Elysha will be turning one in a few weeks!  I can't believe so much time has gone by so quickly.  They are changing so fast and becoming a little more independent every day.  They learn the same words around the same time.  They know Mama, Dada, yes, what, and Ashley can say Elysha (or something like it).
They have a new game they play in the car to keep themselves busy.  They can't really see each other in the back seat because of their car seats.  On Monday, on the way home from the farm, they were being unusually quiet back there.  Then I heard Elysha yell "Ah!".  Ashley quickly replied "Wha?"  (or What?).  They repeated this over and over for the remainder of the car ride, with some spontaneous giggles here and there. 

Then yesterday we were at home and Ashley was feeding herself some cheerios in her high chair.  I had just read a magazine article about how around 12 months, babies tune their fine motor skills and learn to use each of their fingers individually.  This helps them to pinch, pick up small items, and, unfortunately, pick their noses.  I looked up at Ashley and she had her finger in her mouth.  She slowly moved her finger up until it ended up in an unexpected place. 

The look on her face was priceless.  She was really confused as she explored the new hole in her nose.  How could she have neglected to notice something so important before?  I tried to tell her not to do that without smiling, but for some reason she got the idea I thought it was funny to poke herself in the face.  I'm not complaining, it's better than her thinking it's funny to pick her nose.  So, now she will poke her cheek and forehead and wait for me to laugh at her. 

Elysha took her first step a week or so ago, but she hasn't ever really walked on her own until Monday.  For the first time, she was able to walk from me to Christian by herself!  She was so excited, she was like a wind up toy.  She would stamp her feet and lean forward until we let her go, then she would shoot off, trying to get as many steps in as possible before she fell over again.  Ashley sat and watched her as if she were jealous and trying to figure out how she is walking without anything to hold onto.

I am excited to throw them a fun birthday party and see how much they are going to learn this next year!  Being a mom is more fun and more work than I ever dreamed, and I love every minute of it!