Fondant Pennant on a Baseball Cake

I just put the finishing touches on a baseball-themed birthday cake for a fan of the San Francisco Giants. I was looking for an alternative to writing in cursive with icing, so I decided to try my hand at making a pennant to convey the birthday message. I had some of my fondant from scratch colored with Wilton White White Icing Color left over from making baseballs, so I rolled out a rectangle about 8" long after dusting the counter with powdered sugar:

I cut out a triangle, using the cutting wheel tool that came with the Wilton Deluxe Gum Paste Tool Set:

I used the quilting wheel (at the other end of the same tool) a couple of millimeters in from the edge:

I nudged the ruler up against the edges, just to make sure they really are straight:

Here's the finished triangle…

…which I laid out to firm up overnight on a wave flower former, covered with a piece of waxed paper dusted with powdered sugar:

I colored a small amount of fondant orange, and cut out a small strip to attach along the edge of the pennant…

…with a water brush. I also cut out 2 smaller strips; I folded them in half at "V" angles and trimmed their ends diagonally. 

I didn't attach these to the pennant until I assembled everything on the cake. I put a small amount of Wilton's Ready-To-Use Decorator Icing underneath the pennant in the places where it touched the cake:

The writing on the pennant, incidentally, was accomplished with Wilton FoodWriter Edible Color Markers, as were the "stitches" on the fondant baseballs, one of which is pictured below (alongside a shaggy mum or "pompom flower"):

Drop strings might have been a peculiar choice for a baseball-themed cake, but I'll take any chance I get to practice them, along with shell borders of various sizes (that mostly served to hide the anchors for the drop strings and as "glue" for the fondant baseballs):

Here's the finished cake (which featured chocolate fudge cake, dark chocolate icing, and my chocolate fondant from scratch). I hope the recipient really did like chocolate!

Shaggy Mums or "Pompom Flowers"

I recently made a baseball-themed birthday cake for a friend's boyfriend (a big SF Giants fan). I wanted to pipe a few flowers on it, but nothing traditional like a rose. The shaggy mum came to mind; it's one of the first flowers you learn in the Wilton Method classes, and looks a lot like a cheerleader's pompom. Even in the book handed out in class, the directions aren't very thorough, so I thought I'd show you how I make them. 

They can be piped directly on a cupcake, but I like to pipe them onto a Nilla Wafer and then place them in a more precise fashion. I like to use the Wilton Ready-To-Use Decorator Icing, because of its stiff consistency. I colored it using AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste Food Color in Orange. The piping bag is loaded with Wilton tip # 233 (which is frequently used for fur, hair, and grass). Start by squeezing out a random blob onto one of the Nilla Wafers:

Smooth it out evenly with an offset spatula. Push it as close to the edge as possible, while allowing yourself some icing-free edge to hold onto. The icing doesn't need to be thick; it just needs to mask the color of the cookie.

Hold the bag perpendicular to the cookie, with the tip just above the surface of the icing. Squeeze firmly, allow the icing to anchor itself, pull upwards while squeezing for about 1/3", then stop pressure and pull the bag away at the same angle. Do this all over the iced surface of the cookie, with each "squeeze" touching its neighbors. 

Here's more or less how it should look when you're finished. Add a few squeezes to the back of the cookie…

…then place it on the cake. Use the edges to gently press it down.

You may need to carefully pipe a few more squeezes around the edges so it doesn't look quite so "placed."

Leave it as is if you want it to look like a cheerleader's pompom, or tuck a tip close to the edge and pipe a few leaves (I used the Wilton tip #352). Obviously, this flower can be made in any imaginable color, and would be ideal for any sporting event. Cheers!

Fondant Baseballs

I just got my first request for a baseball-themed cake! As with the cupcakes for the Super Bowl party, I want to make sure every part of it is edible; I don't want people to choke on tiny plastic sports equipment stuck in the icing. I decided to start relatively easy and make some baseballs out of fondant. To make about a dozen balls, I started with about one-and-a-half golf balls worth of my fondant from scratch. I used clear vanilla and some Wilton White White Icing Color in this batch, just to make sure it's as white as possible: 

I rolled out a log about 1/2" thick on the counter. Don't roll logs between your hands; they won't be as smooth as they are when you roll them out between your fingertips and a flat surface. 

Use a spatula or sharp knife to cut 1/2" pieces (or approximately the length of the width of the log). 

Roll these pieces into balls (you can do this step between your hands) and let them dry on a surface dusted with a 50/50 mixture of powdered sugar and cornstarch. I used the reverse side of my practice board for piping; it has a very good nonstick surface.

To draw the "stitches" the red Wilton FoodWriter Edible Color Marker is perfect. 

It has a very fine tip and is a true red.

I started by making a loose "C" shape of dots…

 …and then turned the ball around and did the same thing opposite it.

 Then I connected these two curved dotted paths with another curved dotted path, and another just like it on the opposite side.

Then I made a column of "V" shapes, with the tip of the "V" on the dot, that went all the way around the ball. Wipe the tip of the pen clean on a paper towel when you're finished.

Here's the final product: a cheap, edible baseball that will look perfect on a cupcake, a cake border; wherever! Watch for more baseball-themed paraphernalia in the coming days; I'm really going to try to make this cake sweet!