re: New Baby "Birth" Day Cake

well, it was a rocky relationship in the beginning but we worked through it. it’s still a little touch and go at times.

but here’s how i do it: i
roll out my fondant/gumpaste usually on a different surface than the mat. i usually just use my wilton fondant mat and i use rolling pin guides (the smallest set). when i’m rolling on the fondant mat i use cornstarch.

now, make sure you grease the cricut mat with crisco. it doesn’t have to be globbed on but make sure it’s a decent coating.

transfer the fondant/gumpaste to the cricut mat and make sure all the air bubbles are out. sometimes i have to poke it with a needle. give it a couple of rolls with the rolling pin and make sure to trim so that it is not on the edges where the rollers are.

then stick it in the freezer for about 15 mins. i have multiple cricut mats that i use so i can work a little faster.

while it’s freezing i set up my cuts. i’m using the cricut craftroom to design now, which is free. just go to cricut.com and you have to download it and make you you have a cord that will go from the cricut to your computer. one end would be a regular USB but the other is the square connection usually used with printers. i found one at the dollar store :)

anyway, plan out your cuts and have everything ready before you take the mat out of the freezer. you will only have a few minutes before it is too warm and you will have to freeze again. so once you cut, if you can manage to clean up the little pieces that get taken out before it’s too warm go ahead, otherwise, back to the freezer for a few minutes. i like to get all the little pieces first before lifting the excess around it. the shapes shifts less when you do it that way.

so depending on how warm the fondant got while you were doing this you may need one more trip to the freezer before you take it off the mat. once that is done, run a small metal spatula underneath to release the shapes and transfer to wax paper dusted with cornstarch and let it dry out a bit. it will condensate and sometimes i dust the top with a little cornstarch too.

I know it sound a little complicated but i promise once you get the hang of it you will like it. it’s a whole world of possibilities with this machine.

i hope this helps! happy baking!!!