to ask if I am the only one that is so crap at this?

[carovioletfizz]

Cake decorating.

Bought some fondant ready to roll icing to make a pirate cake for dd.

Made the cake then rolled the white icing out. Stuck it on the cake with jam. Trimmed the sides then stuck bits on to neaten it up where I'd trimmed them too far. By now it's already looking a total mess.

Tried to cut a skull and crossbones out of black ready to roll icing, the black icing got covered in jam and icing sugar that I'd sprinkled to stop it sticking.

Tried to stick crap looking skull and crossbones on with fondant icing which made a mess. Tried to wipe the icing sugar and jam off the black skull which made worse mess. Looks like something from Pinterest Fail. I give up! Other people make it look so effortless...is it just me? I am good at making other things. Just not decorating cakes.

Yanbu.
I can make an awesome chocolate cake with fudge topping but I'm useless at fondant decorating.
I think the last time I attempted to do it I got more icing on myself and the floor
I buy ready made cake toppers and decorations off Ebay now.
I got my ds a fantastic fisherman one with loads of fishy extras for his birthday cake.
It looked brilliant

You have done better than me.

All DC birthday cakes come from the supermarket.

Would have probably been better to use butter icing under the fondant.

You tube is your friend when it comes to tutorials on cake decorating.

I buy supermarket cakes.

I burnt cookies the other day, while stood in the kitchen, in front of the cooker

Luckily I had some pirate candles that I ordered from amazon so I've stuck those on it and sprayed some oreos with dr oetker gold spray to look like gold coins.

So it is a pirate cake.

Just a very very crap one!

Will try to watch a tutorial next time!

I'm a really good baker but for icing if it's a whole cake I'll just put it on plain and sprinkle hundreds and thousands on top, for cupcakes I can do pretty swirly stuff but still not complicated. For that type of baking it's the cake part which is important and the icing is really just "the icing on the cake".

I'd never attempt what you're doing as it's the icing rather than the cake which is important and would just get a shop bought one. The cake inside, whether supermarket or artisan, won't be as nice as a home made one but that's not the point.

Oh go on - post a picture!

I can do all manner of crafts just by watching you tube and having a go but cake decorating completely and utterly breaks me every time!

I might try to post a photo later Patilla....now going to try to make pirate treasure chests for her party,which involve cutting a swiss roll in half and filling it with smarties. Surely can't be too hard!

Gin!
For sticking fondant decorations, to fondant coating.
(Way less messy than jam and better than water as excess evaporates away).

DH
To put base coat on to start with and not trim it too much.

I print images from my computer and stick them on top. You can't eat them but it looks good!

I love baking but I well remember sweating blood over a Peppa Pig fondant icing cake when my eldest was 3. Never again. I do generic chocolate layer cake now, as that's what both girls ask for. It tastes good even if it won't win any beauty contests.

I do remember one tip about stopping the icing from sticking to the rolling pin/work surface though - use a v. thin layer of sunflower oil rather than icing sugar, so the colour stays bright.

I bought some beautiful snow flake cutters this Xmas. I couldn't find ready to roll fondant icing, so bought the stuff you make yourself. Ended up with a sticky mess, and icing sugar everywhere. Gave up and cut out stars in the end. Will try again next Xmas

I've got a problem in that I can decorate a cake pretty well. I really enjoy that part - I just can't make the cake in the first place. They always go horribly wrong!

You need to join forces with someone who loves the baking part, Kafri. You'd be a dream team.

lollilou

Did you know you can buy special printers and edible paper that you can print on for cakes? My friend makes cakes for a living and she bought one of those.

I was when she told me!

That aside, I don't bake - ever. It would be a disaster of the highest proportions. I am terrible in the kitchen full stop and any kind of cooking, to me, is just a chore and not something I enjoy.

Besides which, we have the best bakery two minutes walk from my front door, so no need for baking - win-win!

Jam was the problem. As has already been mentioned, buttercream or clear alcohol is the way to go to stick down the icing. Trex is better for rolling out coloured fondant than icing sugar/cornflour.

Mix icing sugar with a teensy bit of water to make a thick 'glue' to stick fondant to fondant - water alone can give it bubbles in the surface.

I've found via many ruined cakes over the years that if you want to avoid grubby/discoloured icing you need to stop and clean your surfaces and hands (black ready made fondant is an utter bastard for sticking to the miniscule whorls and crevices of your fingertips and then coming out again when you're rollling/kneading/picking up a different colour fondant). after every stage of the process. It's a PITA but the only way.

I love cake decorating but I set aside double the amount of time I think I'll need for it as something inevitably goes wrong...

Lovecat, I have just had a look at your cakse, they are gorgeous. I have some on my profile too, but they are not as good.

Lovecat, your cakes are amazing! And so are yours Mamma....right. Will need to practice.

It's just a case of learning the right technique, most of which is really easy. I'm pretty good at decorating cakes and honestly, I am the MOST cack-handed, clumsy, unartistic person that exists. YouTube, as mentioned earlier, is a great way to learn. Something like covering a square cake in one go is SO easy when you know how to do it but impossible to figure out by yourself.

If you need to tidy up the icing use clear spirits vodka, gin, bicardi on a j cloth. It will clean sticky mess from jam, clean off icing sugar splodge and clear up any colour running.
Also don't use icing sugar for rolling/cutting out fondant, it makes it really sticky! Use a small amount of sieved cornflour.

Caro great idea with the Oeros and gold spray! Also, I've seen chests made from a cake baked in a loaf tin, so you get the domed lid effect, and Haribo rings, edible nechlaces, etc. spilling out!

Ive got a book "50 easy to make kids cakes" or something similar, with step by step pictured instructions. I still couldnt make any thing from it though.

I learnt how to decorate cakes from YouTube and books, and the only way I can get a decent finish with fondant is to under ice the cake first with a shitty looking layer of fondant.

It doesn't matter how patched that layer is, as long as it's fairly smooth. (Use an icing smoother). Also use buttercream to stick that layer to the cake, jam is better for fruit cakes. As previous posters said, try and keep the decks as clear from crumbs as possible.

Leave it to dry, then roll out the second layer of fondant icing really neatly. Then paint water over the under icing and stick the top layer of icing to it. It helps if you can get a smoothing tool which is cheap from amazon, you just use it to smooth over icing like a plasterer!

I have prob made it sound way more complex than it really is, but if you go on YouTube there are loads of good tutorials.

My cakes always look like I have bought a shop one, dropped it on the floor and tried to rearrange it. They never look pretty but apparently they taste lovely.