Homemade Fondant

Homemade fondant tastes so much better than the commercial stuff and is a lot cheaper than buying it. I have had a lot of success with Michelle Foster's recipe. And yes, she is a real person. Here is the link to her recipe.
http://cakecentral.com/recipe/michele-fosters-updated-fondant
A couple of quick notes.
Where the recipe call for cream, I use whatever I have on hand, 1/2 & 1/2, milk, heavy cream, doesn't matter. Also I use white chocolate chips in it as the recipe suggests. Don't leave them out, makes a world of difference.
I buy my glycerin at the health food store, I get a big bottle for about $9.
Humidity in the air makes a difference. On humid days, you will probably use all the powdered sugar in the recipe. On dry days, you definitely won't.
If you need a lot of fondant one color, put the color in with the liquids. If not, when you are kneading it on the table, cut off how ever much you need and color it then. Much easier to do it at this stage then after it has cured overnight.

The handbag pictured above is covered in fondant made with the recipe quoted. It was a dream to work with.

How to Make a Gift Box Cake

     I thought I would share with you a simple way to make a stunning presentation of an edible gift box of cake. Bake a 2 layer cake of your choice in whatever size and shape you want your gift box to be. I find square to be the best but it is really a matter of personal choice. After cooling, torte, fill and frost the cake.
     Now the fondant. I make my own, so delicious, it tastes like a Tootsie Roll. I use Michelle Foster's recipe which is easily found on the web. Cut a piece of white fondant to sit on top of the cake. Then I make panels of colored fondant to go around each side of the cake so it looks like a box with seams.I let a little bit of the fondant stick up past the top of the box, maybe 1/4 inch or less. Then decorate the box with whatever you can come up with. I love black polka dots on a pink background.
     Now the lid. This actually should be done a few days ahead of time so the lid has time to dry. (It can even be made weeks ahead of time.) Use the same pan that you used for the cake and turn it over. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Roll out a piece of gumpaste in the color of your lid and smooth over the bottom and sides of the pan. Trim the sides to even them out, making the sides about 3/4 inch long. Put aside to dry and then carefully remove it from the pan and allow the inside to dry. Now you have a lid to perfectly fit your cake. Embellish with bows or whatever decoration/bling you want. Make some tissue paper for a realistic touch. The tissue paper is made from thin sheets of gumpaste that I scrunched up and left to dry.
     To assemble, place the tissue paper on top, hanging over the edge somewhat and place the lid on top of that. You can use a dab of melted white chocolate to hold everything together. Add a gift tag and you are done.