Heather Bell of Sweet Escapes Cakery recently created a wonderful cigar box cake; we were so intrigued by the fabulous cigar’s that we asked Heather if she would share a tutorial for them with our readers. Thankfully she agreed! These cigars would make a wonderful addition to a father’s day cake, which is THIS weekend!!

Fondant Cigar Tutorial by Heather Bell

Components:

• Satin Ice Dark Brown Fondant
• Satin Ice Light Brown Fondant (Brown with a little white mixed into it to dilute the color)
• Satin Ice White Fondant
• Dusting pouch (I use cornstarch)
• Rolling Pin
• X-Acto Knife or cutting tool
• Point tool- I use innovative sugar works
• Paint Brush
• Small Circle Cutter (1/2 inch)
• Edible Gold Color (I use Americolor)
• Water or Edible glue

1. First, you want to start with your darker brown fondant. After kneading it, roll it out into a long thin cigar shape and use your knife to cut to your preferred length. I made mine approximately 4.5 inches long since the cake they were going on was going to be 6” wide. After cutting to your desired length, you want to round out one end of your cigar.

2. Use your pointy tool to make indents in the flat end of your cigar. This is your ‘tobacco.’ You can also use your knife to cut tiny slits and make the ends look more realistic.

3. Now that we are done with the base of the cigar, put it aside and pull out your lighter brown fondant. Dust your working surface, and then roll the fondant out as thin as you can get it without tearing. I find that adjusting the fondant often, and sometimes re-dusting allows me to roll it much thinner.

4. Next, use your X-Acto knife or straight edge to cut out a parallelogram shape for your ‘outer leaf.’ I cut strips about 1.5 inches thick and then cut the ends at a 60* angle. From tip to tip, mine was approximately 6.5 inches long.

5. Next, position your leaf on an angle and lightly wet it with your water and paintbrush, or edible glue. You want to place the rounded edge of your cigar at the tip and lightly roll it upwards, making sure it sticks as you go. Add more water as needed.

6. When your entire leaf is attached, make sure all of your seams are touching (so no dark brown shows thru) but don’t blend them. If there are gaps, usually you can just push the fondant together!

7. Now you want to pinch the fondant together over your rounded end. Cigars are not perfect and usually have this pinched end that is removed before smoking. So, you don’t want to blend all of the seams.

8. This is a close up of the finished ends of my cigars. The left is the rounded (mouth) side, and the right is the tobacco side.

* Now that your cigar is finished, these next steps are for the removable wrapper that usually has the cigar company logo. You can use a favorite cigar logo, the recipient’s name or age, or you can skip this part altogether if you’d like!

9. First, you want to dust your mat and roll your white fondant out thin. You can leave this to set for a few minutes to make it easier to cut if you prefer. You want to cut your strips between ½- ¾ of an inch, and about 2-3 inches long depending on the thickness of your cigars. You also will cut out some circles using your circle cutters. Each cigar uses one circle and one strip.

10. In this step, we’re attaching the strips to the cigars. Lightly wet the strip with water or edible glue and position the cigar in the center, about ½ an inch from the rounded end. Then roll the cigar to the left and right, to attach the strip in a straight line.

11. Now, wet your circles with water or edible glue and position them over the seam of the strip.

12. The last step is painting your label. I liked the way the gold looked, but you can use any color. When this dries, you can add other details if you’d like.

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Heather Bell was born and raised in NJ. “I have a beautiful life, married to my best friend, and mom to some pretty amazing kids. I love creating art and beautiful things, ” notes Heather. She started cake decorating seven years ago after attending a Wilton Cake Decorating Class, just for fun. Soon after,  she realized how much she truly loved cake artistry. Heather is a self-taught cake decorator. “Decorating cakes and cookies allow me to explore art in edible form, and share some delicious goodies with my friends and family,” she says.