My first time making fondant, and covering a cake

My sister asked me to make a cake for her step son's 13th birthday. I had never even baked a cake.... ever. However, I agreed to making a 3 tier fondant covered cake. To keep the price low, I decided to make my own marshmallow fondant for the first time. About a week before the party, I made a practice batch of fondant (using this recipe/guide) and a 6 inch chocolate cake to cover. I also made chocolate frosting for the first time and boy was it delicious. I'll post the frosting recipe at the bottom of this post.

Let me say that my first fondant making experience was less than joyful. I don't know why, but for some reason, it never quite met the right constancy, it had no stretch to it at all. What was supposed to take maybe 10 minutes, took my an hour or so until I finally said "F**k it" and tried to use what I had. Trying to dye it was very frustrating as well. It just wasn't happening. I was dying it red, which is one of the hardest colors to obtain, and the fondant wasn't making things any easier. I wound up with this peachy/pink color in the photo by the time I gave up.

I managed to roll it out but not without imperfections (seen in the photo). I couldn't get it perfectly smooth, but it wasn't terrible either. I got it onto the cake, and went ahead and made some quick little decorations to put on it. (Honestly, I only decorated the front...)

It wound up being a very long night. By the time I was done it was 2 something AM. I was tired and didn't want to clean right away so I took an internet break. Of course, next thing I knew, it was coming up on 4 something AM. Once everything was cleaned up, it was 5AM. By boyfriend gets up shortly before 6AM for work, so rather than wake him by going to bed, I hung out on the couch a while longer.

Apparently this was all a huge mistake. Jared woke up in a whirlwind of anger. I couldn't believe it. My staying up all night had made him all kindsa pissed off. Besides the fact that he had to sleep alone, I also didn't' have a job... which factored in there somewhere. Once he left for work, I went to sleep and set an alarm to wake me by noon. I had to prove to him that I wasn't going to "sleep till 4 in the afternoon." Needless to say, by the time I woke up, there was already an apology text in my phone.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

I assure you it's delicious

this made enough to cover and fill a two layer 6 by about 4 inch cake

1 cup butter, softened

4 cups confectioners sugar (adjust as needed)

1 1/4 cup baking cocoa (I used 1 cup)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup milk (adjust to reach desired consistency)

1. Cream butter

2. Gradually beat in confectioners sugar, cocoa, and vanilla

3. Add enough milk to reach desired spreading consistency

I wound up using much less milk and cocoa, and probably even confectioners sugar. I basically creamed the butter, poured in a cup of cocoa, a cup of sugar, a couple tbsp's of milk, blended, and then continued to add sugar, by the cup, and milk, by the tbsp, until I reached the desired taste and consistency. Blend well after each addition and then taste. Don't be afraid to experiment. If the cocoa taste is too strong, try adding more sugar. If the chocolate taste isn't strong enough, add a little more cocoa until it's perfect. If it's not smooth enough, add a little more milk.