How to make a fondant sheep

Isn't he cute?

I recently took a class to learn how to make some animals from fondant for decorating cakes. It's actually pretty straightforward once you know how!

The main thing you need to know is that all animals/people models are made from three basic shapes - the cone, the ball and the sausage. Once you've made these three basic shapes, you can build up pretty much anything. If you look at the picture above, you can probably break it down in your mind and work out which piece is which shape. Once you bear in mind that the sheep is made out of several pieces, it looks a lot more manageable!

We actually used regular fondant for these animals - I was a little surprised we weren't using Mexican paste or modelling paste but it seemed to work out OK (though several weeks on, the odd tail/ leg did fall off my creations!)

We began by making a cone from white fondant and several little balls - too many to count! Then we made sausage shapes from brown fondant which would form the arms and legs. See, it's easy!

Stick the body cone onto two of the legs and flatten the legs slightly so it sits straight

We used this modelling tool- I don't know what it's called - to make an indentation on the feet. They do look like sheep hooves, don't they?
I also stuck on the arms

Next take all the little white balls and use a dab of water on a paintbrush to stick them all over the sheep's body. It would never have occured to me to make the sheep's wool this way, but I think it looks really good!

I made another brown cone and flattened it slightly in the middle to form the head.Break a cocktail stick in half and use it to secure the head onto the body. Continue covering with 'wool'.

I used another modelling tool with a curved edge to make an indentation for a smile, and also poked small holes for eyes. The ears were small balls of brown fondant flattened then stuck on with a dab of water. I think he looks like a proper sheep, and pretty cute too! Stay tuned for a forthcoming post to see the cake I used this on.....