101 Dalmatians Puppy Birthday cake!!

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Source: Disney Cakes and Sweets Magazine Issue 1: Titled Patch’s Dalmatian Paw Print Cake
*DISCLAIMER: I did not feed this cake to my dog. It was consumed by humans, no dogs! Also, no puppies were harmed by Cruella De Vil in the making of this cake and blog post. Thank you!*
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Hello, again readers!! I am back!! I know its been about a month and a half since my last post but the month of March was busy for me. With working a full-time job and teaching classes on the side. March was the last month I could teach classes through Wilton and I had the most responses than I have had since I started teaching again last September. So between you and I this will be my “post for March” okay lol.

The month of March was the birthday month of my little “Fur Baby” Gracie Mae. We don’t know the exact day of her birthday so we just “celebrated” it towards the end of the month. Not sure about you but I consider my pets a HUGE part of the family so why not celebrate their birthdays as well! Well, in this case, the Birthday Month!!
One of my classes I taught during the month of March was a Basics of decorating with fondant. I had seen a 101 Dalmatians inspired cake in one of my many Disney cookbooks. So I just combined teaching the basics of fondant with making my dog her “Birthday Celebration” cake.
Usually, when I have a class it’s on a day that I worked my full-time job so I don’t have too much time to prepare especially for classes that I have to bring a cake or cupcakes. So like anyone who doesn’t have much time but need a cake I turn to cake mix. My go-to brand though is Duncan Hines. I use it for two reasons first is because they recommend it in the Wilton Classes lol so I stand by it. But also because I get a consistent product every time and I can trust I’m getting a good tasting cake. For this cake, I just used a Yellow cake mix for this recipe.
Now for the fondant. Now, your probably thinking either I used the store bought fondant and “Eww Fondant tastes gross!” Now to answer the second thought first. Yes, not many people like the taste of fondant but for me, it depends on the kind of fondant. Now to answer the first thought before I finish answering the second, I use Marshmallow fondant EVERYTIME. When I know I’m going to use fondant I take the time to make the Marshmallow fondant. It may be messy and take a while but to me, it’s so worth it. I love the taste of this fondant. I mean how can you not like it its pure sugar pretty much haha. Some people don’t like fondant in general and still peel it off. I have this happen all the time so don’t worry.
Here is the recipe for the Wilton Marshmallow Fondant.
The things you will need:
  • 1 bag (16 oz.) white mini-marshmallows (use a good quality brand. I always use Jet Puff but let me know if you find a better brand)
  • 2 to 5 tablespoons water (just depends on how the fondant is turning out if its too dry add more water)
  • 2 pounds of powdered sugar (I always use C&H brand)
  • Crisco Shortening (you will be digging into it so place in a very easily accessed bowl)
Directions:
I will simplify the recipe because its pretty easy
  1. Melt the marshmallows and 2 tablespoons of water in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds and mix, then microwave again for 30 seconds, mixing between then microwave until the marshmallows are completely melted.  It usually takes about 2 1/2 minutes.
  2. Add 3/4 of the powdered sugar on top of the melted marshmallow mix. Now is the fun part. GENEROUSLY grease your hands and the counter you will be working on. Now dump the marshmallow/ powdered sugar mixture onto the counter.
  3. Start kneading like you would bread. You will notice why you needed to grease your hands generously because the fondant will be very sticky at this point. Add the rest of the powdered sugar and grease your hands again and counter. If the mix starts to tare you will need to add the additional water. (About 1/2 tablespoon at a time.) It usually takes about 8 minutes of kneading to get a firm smooth elastic ball to where it will stretch without tearing when putting it on the cake.It works better if you let it sit double wrapped overnight. (but you can use it right away if there are no tiny bits of dry powdered sugar). If you do see them you will need to knead and maybe add a few more drops of water.
  4. Prepare the fondant for storing by coating it with a good layer of Crisco shortening, wrap in a plastic wrap and then put it in a re-sealable Ziploc bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible.MM fondant will hold very well in the refrigerator for weeks. This fondant can be prepared well in advance to take advantage of it when making a cake.

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Now for the decorating:
  1. Once the cakes are cooled you will want to ice the cakes. If you haven’t worked with fondant you will want to make sure the icing is as smooth as it can be. Any imperfections will show through the fondant when you put it on the cake. (maybe I can make a later post about covering a cake with fondant. What do you all think?)
  2. Rule of thumb when you’re using fondant: to cover a cake you want the diameter to be larger than the cake. For example, if you’re using an 8 inch X 2-inch cake you will want to add up the height and the length. So 8+2+2= 12. I try to go a bit bigger just in case. I have a nice rolling mat that has measuring guides which I LOVE! You want to roll out the fondant to about 1/4 inch thick. I use powdered sugar to keep the fondant from sticking to the mat.
  3. Smoothing out and laying out the fondant on the cake takes a bit of practice. Just remember to lift and smooth on the sides. Smooth the top first. then lift and smooth the sides to prevent the “draping curtain” effect.
  4. With the leftover fondant I colored it blue, black and yellow.
  5. The paw prints I just used a small and medium cookie cutter to make circles with the black fondant. Then I did the same thing for the dog tag and yellow fondant.
  6. With the blue fondant, I made a 9-inch long strip. I used a bit of water to attach all the decorations to the cake. Then I used the water to brush off the powdered sugar from the decorations to make it look shiny.
It was a very simple cake to decorate and so much fun to make too!
Overall I thought the cake turned out really cute and my family did enjoy the cake as well. Well, My readers, I did say this was going to be a shorter post than last time. I am running out of things to say haha. Stay tuned for my next blog posts and I promise they won’t be too far behind. Anyway Happy Baking Bakers!! Happy Birthday, month Gracie!!!
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