Real Baking with Rose Levy Beranbaum

I am looking for a fake bell shaped
around 8 inches in hieght for the bottom of the gown for a dress barbie doll cake.

Posted by: Geraldine | September 23, 2006 8:05 AM #

what purveyor offers the best prices on fake cakes for purchase?

Posted by: Jae | January 16, 2007 3:07 PM #

IF I MAKE A FAKE WEDDING CAKE IS IT OK TO USE ROYAL ICING. BUT ALSO WILL THE ANTS GET TO IT IF ITS MADE A COUPLE OF MONTHS AHEAD,

Posted by: TERI | May 2, 2007 7:07 PM #

Rose,

It's nice to have you back. This might sound weird but I missed reading your comments and answers to questions while you were away.

I know you are behind with your postings and sick, so you don't have to answer my question right away. My brother is getting married in Sept and he wants me to make his cake. Here is my dilemma.....he is having around 200 guests but the cake they want is from the Martha Stewart Wedding book and it is made up of ten 10" cakes covered in fondant and decorated with royal icing. Needless to say some of them will have to be styrofoam cake bases. I am trying to get a head start with it and was wondering how long the fondant covered dummies will last. I am thinking of doing them sometime during this month. Any advice you can give me will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Rozanne

Posted by: Rozanne | May 3, 2007 9:00 PM #

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. I appreciate it.
Rozanne

Posted by: Rozanne | May 4, 2007 4:31 PM #

I am making a wedding cake with 2 fake layers. Can you cover the styrofoam with a Buttercream frosting? It will only be used for this wedding.
Thanks!

Posted by: Michelle | May 14, 2007 11:02 AM #

I am making a 4 tier fondant cake and transporting it 10 hours and stacking it on arrival. The bottom 18" round will be a fake cake and the others will be mounted on it. Can I coat the dummy cake with buttercream and cover with fondant or will it be better to cover in royal icing? Do I need to insert dowells in the fake cake or will the styrofoam be sturdy enough to hold a 14", 10" and 6" fondant cakes each with a fruit filling and decorated with gumpaste roses. Thanks for any help...also, it is 5 weeks before the wedding. Can I go ahead and prepare the fake cake? The design has piping on top of the fondant. Can I pipe the designs with buttercream or must it be royal icing.

Posted by: Diane | June 25, 2007 11:27 AM #

I am making a 4 ier fondant covered cake, an 18, 14, 10, and 6". The bottom tier (18") will be fake. Should I apply a coating of buttercream or royal icing before the fondant? Should I dowell rod the 18" or is the styrofoam enough to hold the other 3 tiers? The wedding is in 5 weeks. The fake cake has piping over the fondant. Could I use buttercream for this or should I go with royal icing and can I go ahead and finish the fake cake this early. Thanks so much for your time.

Posted by: Diane | June 25, 2007 11:43 AM #

Diane,
Yes you can go ahead and make the fake cake now. Here is what Rose wrote:

"i have kept fondant cakes on styrofoam for years. i even kept one on top of a cake and when i threw it away the inside was green and looked like a new form of penicillin!
the only problem is humidity which would make it sticky. keep it in a dark place so the color doesn't change at least not in direct sunlight.

Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | May 4, 2007 1:50 PM"

Use royal icing for piping on the fondant of the fake cake as the moisture in the buttercream will affect the fondant.

As for the dowels, maybe someone with more experience in wedding cakes can answer that question.

Rozanne

Posted by: Rozanne | June 25, 2007 12:54 PM #

Yes, use royal icing for the piping on the fondant... in addition to the moisture affecting the fondant, the fat in the buttercream can make colors bleed - Yikes! Hope you'll send photos of the finished cake!

Posted by: Patrincia | June 25, 2007 4:32 PM #

i made my fake cake out of styrofoam and spackling paste. what i did was put the spackle on let dry for a couple days , then sand it smooth. then i took some of the spackle and put in a bowl and added some paint to get the color i need for the trim my daughters color was pearl pink, so i had to mix till i got the color right. then i put that into a cake decorating tube which you can buy cheap any where and did my trim on the cake . then i add my flowers and the staircase with the attendents. the top peice will be real for the cake cutting. if you have a publix near you the will make the top peice you just need to take a picture of the fake cake so they can try to match it for you it was easy and cheap to make and my daughter has a big beautiful wedding cake that she wanted.

Posted by: theresa | June 25, 2007 4:54 PM #

Hi Diane,

I construct a lot of fake cakes for photo shoots, so thought i'd share what I've learned. You don't need any frosting under your fondant (on the fake tier)! Just moisten the styrofoam with a LITTLE bit of water - I brush a bit on with a pastry brush - and the fondant will stick very well. I've saved these dummies for years, and they hold up great. Definitely pipe with royal icing on fondant, and most definitely use dowels! Those upper tiers are going to be heavy, and dowels are an inexpensive & easy insurance policy for you.

You should be able to make this now for a wedding in 5 weeks. Just be aware that fondant colors do fade in sunlight.

Best, Jen N

Posted by: Jen N | June 26, 2007 9:57 AM #

Jen N - that's great info, thanks for passing it on. May I ask how you store your fondant covered dummies?

Posted by: Patrincia | June 26, 2007 10:46 AM #

I saw on a television cake show a technique where they covered a cake with fondant and on the outside of the fondant tier they lined up a stencil on the side of the cake and used an offset spatula to apply royal icing on top of the stencil. They pulled the stencil from the side of the cake leaving only the impression of the royal icing with the design of the stencil. Has anyone used this technique. I have been given a photo by a bride where this technique had to be used to gain the affect on the photo; however, where would you ever optain that exact stencil. I have blown up the photo, copied the pattern onto clear plastic sheets, used an exacto knife to cut out the pattern and plan to use this. Is there an easier way. I have 3 more tiers all with different patterns.

Posted by: Diane | June 26, 2007 11:13 AM #

Diane - I know exactly what you are talking about, and you did it exactly the way I would. I have seen cake stencils for sale for this exact application (for the top AND sides of the cake), but if the bride wants a particular pattern, or you don't think you'll ever do it again, you're probably best sticking with the way you already did it. I can't remember where I saw those stencils, but I'll think about it for a couple of days... maybe I can find them on the internet. If I do, I'll report back.

Posted by: Patrincia | June 26, 2007 4:35 PM #

Over here, Wilton sells a lot of ready-made stencils for this purpose. They are fixed designs though.

Another way is to trace/print the design on wax paper, place paper over the fondant surface, and use a pin to prick the outline. Then remove paper, and pipe in the design. This is also a pretty tedious technique and the outcome will be a bit different (stenciling produces flat designs and you can also graduate the colour).

In any case, this wld definitely be a labour of love for you!

Posted by: Elicia | June 27, 2007 11:31 AM #

Patrincia & all, I store my dummy cakes in plain old clean cardboard boxes in the spare bedroom closet downstairs. I live in Seattle, so it's nice & cool down there year round, and we have minimal bug issues. If I were someplace warmer or more humid, I'd worry more. To reuse the dummies, you can soak the whole thing in water & peel the fondant off. For a buttercream effect, I also do what Theresa suggested & use spackle & sand it down. It's a breeze as long as you allow it to dry sufficiently first. I've heard of people using royal icing, but I think it's really difficult to apply & sand in this application.

Posted by: Jen N | June 28, 2007 10:03 AM #

Hello all,

I've made two cake dummies in school and we rubbed each styrofoam with a little Crisco and rolled the fondant over it.

I'm making a 3 ft tall dummy cake for a competition and I'm having 18", 16", 14", 12" and 10" layers. This is going to VERY expensive with fondant. Any suggestions on a "fake" fondant that will be less expensive? The chef I work for says he used wallpaper paste, but I"m a little worried that I won't get that smooth fondant finish.

Posted by: Neikya | June 28, 2007 7:13 PM #

Hi Neikya - why don't you try making your own? Rose has a fabulous recipe in The Cake Bible, and it's not very difficult to make at all.

Posted by: Patrincia | June 28, 2007 7:28 PM #

I am a 20 year veteran of cake deco.
I am making an elaborate wedding cake for my future daughter-in-law and will have so much to do on wedding day morning that I am trying to pre-deco as much as I can on the cake. It will have four large styrofoam cake dummies and four baked cakes. All the cake will be buttercream decorated. Can I pre-deco the dummies with buttercream and freeze to keep the icing white? If I can freeze, when should I take it out of the freezer? I use Crisco and clear butter and clear vanilla in my icing recipe.
Thanks, Mindy

Posted by: Mindy | July 7, 2007 11:07 PM #

Hi all,
I am trying to make a bow with chocolate fondant as a cake topper, however, I find that the loops keep cracking on me every time i try to put another loop on top. Any advice?
Thank you so much
Una

Posted by: Una | July 8, 2007 1:32 AM #

Una,
If you are using the chocolate fondant from the cake bible, Rose developed a different set of instructions for using it (see special effects and decorative techniques). I'm not sure you will be able to make a bow with it as it sounds like it doesn't bend easily.

Posted by: Matthew | July 10, 2007 10:55 AM #

does anyone know where i can get ready-made chocolate brown buttercream? but that does not taste like chocolate.. or how about brown icing color that i can tint my buttercream? i need to do a dbl layer 3 tier sq cake 18" 14" and 10" layers... i know that when i made a sample for my sister to taste and it was a 10" dbl layer it took almost 1.5 small containers of wilton brown gel..?so for this big wedding cake i am not sure what i need anyones help would be greatly appreciated the wedding is in oct.. and the theme for the cake is choc brown and tiffany blue.. thanks in advance..:)

Posted by: russ | August 2, 2007 11:46 PM #

I was just at that store last week - the web address from their catalog is:

www.sweetc.com

Posted by: Patrincia | August 3, 2007 11:11 AM #

I need to make a fake cake out of styrofoam. It needs to be made and ready two weeks before the wedding. Can I use the fondant and styrofaom along with royal icing for the pipiing and decorations? Will all the colors be ok- if I store it in a cool dark closet for the 2 weeks prior? Will any of the icing or fondant crack? Also do i need to put an icing layer between the styrofoam and fondant? (buttercream or royal or non at all?) thanks!!

Posted by: brooke | October 24, 2007 5:25 PM #

Hi Brooke - are you planning on usine "styrofoam dummies"? You can get them in them in 4" and 5" heights.

Yes you can cover styrofoam with fondant and royal icing. Fondant will stick to the styrofoam fine if you lightly mist the foam with water first.

You can glue the tiers together with hot glue. If you need to cut the styrofoam for any reason, use an electric knife, and "sand" smooth with a scrap of styrofoam (do this outside!!!).

You will definitely be able to store the fake cake for at least 2 weeks prior to the wedding (up to several years). Just be careful with the humidity in the air.

PWS - there are "fake" fondant recipes available for display cakes - do a goole search for them. Also, some decorators use spackle in place of buttercream.

Posted by: Patrincia | October 24, 2007 5:54 PM #

thanks patrincia- yes i am planning on using styrofoam dummies. i would like to make four tiers with spaces in between each tier for flowers. do i need to put dowels in the fake cake- or just use the stackers/collums and keep each teir seperate until i get to the wedding site and then set it up there? I'm nervous about using the spackle- will regular royal icing work ok? thanks so much for your help

Posted by: brooke | October 30, 2007 1:22 AM #

Hi Brooke - how much room would you like between each tier? Have you picked out a pillar system yet? Sounds like you might want to get the "plate-pillars-plate" kind of system (the pillars attach to a bottom and top plate for stability). The styrofoam should be sturdy enough that you won't need any dowels (the bottom plate will distribute the weight of the upper tiers). So from the bottom up your cake would be: tier, plate, pillars, plate, tier, plate, pillars, plate, etc.

Posted by: Patrincia | October 30, 2007 10:38 AM #

To make it easier on yourself, just use a smaller size round of styrofoam between the fondant covered tiers. It's cheaper to use more styro, you can get it in different heights or even from a craft store. It can be hard to push the pillars through a thick layer of styrofoam.

For example, you are using a 14/11/8/5 configuration. Put a 10" round piece of styro between the 14" and 11" tiers. Then put a 7" piece between the 11 and 8; put a 4" piece under the 5" tier and you're all set. If you cut your own, do it outside as Patrincia says. It makes a HUGE mess!!!

Posted by: Jeanne | October 30, 2007 6:24 PM #

Oh yes, smaller styrofoam between the tiers in an even better idea. I definitely wouldn't try to push pillars into styrofoam - it might make the styrofoam break (I meant the pillar-plat-pillar configuration would sit on top of each tier).

Posted by: Patrincia | October 30, 2007 7:50 PM #

I have read all of the posts and am wondering this....does buttercream icing soak into the styrofoam at all? I had used a fluffy form of plaster to texturize my son's bedroom walls. I was thinking of using that, as it was the same consistency as frosting. Has anyone used it and how did it work? I will be making 2 fake bottom layers of a 4 layer cake. The top 2 smaller layers will be real. I will be make 4 sheet cakes to serve to the guests. I think it will work well but I would like to make the fake layers 2 weeks in advance. The cake is a simple design, luckily, but I don't want to have to replace the fake layers with real one at the last minute if the frosting soaks in. Thanks for any advice.

Posted by: Debi | November 4, 2007 8:30 AM #

Can I have a fake cake, say with 2 round styrofoams, and then a real cake to go on top of those? Also would this be strong enough to hold a cake topper?

Posted by: Deanna | November 8, 2007 4:38 PM #

Debi - styrofoam won't absorb anything, but you might get buttercream stuck into the little bubbles.

Deanna - Yes, you can do that. Styrofoam is very strong.

Posted by: Patrincia | November 8, 2007 4:54 PM #

If you use a spackling type of compound you might find that it goes on smooth and looks great for a few days, but will crack eventually, Plus you'd have the issue of edible material with non-edible material (the compound stuff is toxic I would guess). You can buy Perma Ice which is a coating that performs like buttercream (looks like spackle!)and is specific to using on styro. You use specialized coloring gels made for PermaIce but again you can't use it in conjunction with edible stuff.

You're probably better off using royal icing.

Posted by: Jeanne | November 8, 2007 5:17 PM #

The only thing I have about Perma Ice or spackle is that you have to buy different bags, tips, spatula etc. since they will pretty much render your equipment unsafe for food. Since they are waterproof too they are quite difficult to clean off. For a one-time- use fake cake, go with royal icing, and put a piece of wax paper in between so that the buttercream does not seep into the royal.

Posted by: Reeni Espino | November 8, 2007 9:53 PM #

I need to buy styrofoam to decorate a cake, but I want to buy the sizes seperate. Do you know where I can find them?
Jinny

Posted by: Jinny | December 5, 2007 7:14 PM #

Do you mean Styrofoam cake dummies? You can do a google search for them. They are sold by many vendors.

Posted by: Patrincia | December 5, 2007 7:25 PM #

You can buy from The Dummy Place - he will custom make a styro dummy for you in any dimension. He's in Connecticut, at 860-875-1736; you can also buy from the usual places like Pfeil and Holing (www.cakedeco.com) or Country Kitchens, Sweet Celebrations, etc.

Posted by: Jeanne | December 5, 2007 7:27 PM #

hi,making a wedding cake for my daughter in july.the two bottom layers are real & the two top are styrofoam.my question is can i use royal icing on the styro to ice as she wants to save the fake top also what icing would i use on the real cake.i made the roses of rolled fondant and the lillies out of royal icing.thanks for any help.dar

Posted by: darlene | January 12, 2008 7:42 AM #

Darlene:
If you are going to use fondant and royal icing flowers on the "real" cake, I would cover the cake with Fondant as well. The royal icing flowers will probably break down if you put them on buttercream.

Posted by: Bill | January 12, 2008 8:03 AM #

Bill,so i should use fondant on both real & fake layers.Won't the fondant be hard to cut when they slice the wedding cake at reception?

Posted by: darlene | January 12, 2008 8:19 AM #

Fondant is used all the time as a cake icing...be sure you are using fondant and not gumpaste...which is similar, but dries hard and used for decorations that are not to be eaten. Fondant has the consistency of a soft candy when it is set and used to cover wedding cakes all the time. It is very pretty. I don't much care for the taste-it is more about sweet than anything else....but it looks great! Do you have a copy of Rose's "The Cake Bible". If you do, and if you are planning on making the fondant yourself, be aware that the "new" crisco doesn't work in the recipe. You need the crisco that is NOT without transfat. They don't make it anymore. If you can't find the old crisco, you can use Horizon Shortening (available in health food stores and gourmet supermarkets such as Whole Foods). it seems to be performing well. You can also Buy fondant already made and roll it out to cover the cake.

Posted by: Bill | January 12, 2008 8:42 AM #

Darlene:
I don't know how long you can keep the fondant...so if you are wanting to save the "fake" layers for years and years...royal icing would be better...but it won't look exactly the same as the fake cake.

Another idea is to ice the cakes to be eaten with royal icing as well. In the book "The Well Decorated Cake" by Toba Garret, there is a recipe for royal icing that doesn't dry quite so hard so you can ice the cake with it...I don't think it tastes too good but that is another option.

Posted by: Bill | January 12, 2008 8:46 AM #

Happy New Year -we are very nearly a year older -spent New Year's Eve at a wedding in NYC! Send me a non-public e-mail. Hello to hubby -wish you the best for the year to come.....rifka deaux

Posted by: rhea denker | January 12, 2008 12:05 PM #

Whoever you are that has decided I have e-mailed too many times -how is twice in a year too many -reconsider your concept of too much. Please ask Roe to forward her private e-mail, since I don't bake. Rifka Deaux

Posted by: rhea denker | January 12, 2008 12:08 PM #

Darlene:

OOPS I GOOFED...THE SHORTENING IS CALLED SPECTRUM! NOT HORIZON...I HOPE I HAVEN'T SENT YOU ON A WILD GOOSE CHASE!

Posted by: Bill | January 13, 2008 7:56 AM #

I would recommend covering the styro and the real cake in fondant; you can cover the styro as far in advance as you like - store it somewhere that is not exposed to light (it would fade) and a moderate temp (no wide temp swings so probably not an attic or basement!). But I would do it a month or two weeks before the wedding; it will firm up nicely and you can use royal icing to attach the flowers. The fondant will provide a uniform look to the entire cake so no one can tell which is styro and which is cake.

Posted by: Jeanne | January 13, 2008 9:19 AM #

Hi!
I'm in love with the fake cake idea. I'd like to make my own, but I don't know the sizes and what looks like it will actually feed my 250 guests. I think 3 tiers would be cute, but I don't know how many inch difference between them and how thick they should be. Any ideas?

Posted by: Laura | January 27, 2008 5:13 PM #

If you want the cake to look like it will feed 250 people...I would use a 6", 9", 12" and 15"

Good Luck!

Posted by: Bill | January 29, 2008 2:15 PM #

im really new at the computer. HTML TAGS is greek to me. Another thing to learn. Cakes are not greek to me as I have been doing them for 48yrs in the wilds of Alaska. right now I am the only decorator (minus two grocery stores) in my area that has many fillings and flavors and designs and delivers to other parts of the Alaska wild. I am discontinuing making cakes at the age of 63 and taking two years off to build sell our home and help build the next handicapped-friendly home just in case. I will probably get back into cakes a little and thought the artificial cake with a real topper and slice for the couple, and a few sheets cakes in the kitchen might be better on my wrists and knees. Thank you for the ideas on making the artificial cakes. I could use a recipe for "artificial"fondant, tho. Thanks, Karen Otter, cake creator

Posted by: karen otter | February 19, 2008 10:26 PM #

If anyone is looking to purchase an artificial fake cake, here is one place to start. www.zimmermanmarketplace.com

Posted by: Nate | May 7, 2008 2:43 PM #

Thanks for the link -- very interesting & informative!

Posted by: Barbara A. | May 7, 2008 4:59 PM #

Love "The Cake Bible" but have moved haven't unearthed it yet. I have an OUTSIDE wedding in middle of June in south Texas. HEAT+HUMIDITY to the MAX!! I persuded the bride to do a fake cake for decoration and serve sheet cakes from the cool kitchen. But the design that she wants me to do has indented criss cross treliss type of pattern on the entire side with icing dots at the intersections. I had planned to use royal icing but I am concerned that I will not be able to make it indent like buttercream would (which I have done for many weddings). Would it be better to do fondant or something else? will Fondant once dried be able to stand up to Texas Heat? It has been YEARS since I have done royal icing. All I remember is that it is difficult to press against the foam because it is so light. Any ideas on how to secure the foam to a turn table during icing and then remove it without distroying the work? Many thanks! Patti

Posted by: Patti | May 15, 2008 5:34 PM #

Love "The Cake Bible" but have moved haven't unearthed it yet. I have an OUTSIDE wedding in middle of June in south Texas. HEAT+HUMIDITY to the MAX!! I persuded the bride to do a fake cake for decoration and serve sheet cakes from the cool kitchen. But the design that she wants me to do has indented criss cross treliss type of pattern on the entire side with icing dots at the intersections. I had planned to use royal icing but I am concerned that I will not be able to make it indent like buttercream would (which I have done for many weddings). Would it be better to do fondant or something else? will Fondant once dried be able to stand up to Texas Heat? It has been YEARS since I have done royal icing. All I remember is that it is difficult to press against the foam because it is so light. Any ideas on how to secure the foam to a turn table during icing and then remove it without distroying the work? Many thanks! Patti

Posted by: Patti | May 15, 2008 5:36 PM #

How about double stick tape???

Posted by: Patrincia | May 15, 2008 7:03 PM #

I would use fondant and then quilt it; quilting is what lattice would look like when it is embossed into the fondant. The other alternative is to cut strips of fondant and apply them in the criss-cross design you want. But, this is harder and more time consuming than quilting. Colette Peters' books has excellent descriptions of how to do quilting on round and square cakes.

Fondant when dry will stand up to Texas heat.

You need to do the quilting just after you apply the fondant. You use a round wheel tool that has teeth on it to get the quilting lines. It reminds me a little of the tool we used to mark the lines on fabric where the seam was supposed to go when we were first learning to sew.

You could use toothpicks to secure the fondant covered dummy to another piece of styro, use Patrincia's suggestion of doublesided tape to secure it, do the quilting and then move the fondant and plain dummy off to the side to dry for a few days. Then stack them all and away you go. You can apply the royal icing dots after the fondant is dry or whenever it works for you. I'd rather wait until the cake is stacked, less chance of losing one while stacking it!

Good luck!

Posted by: Jeanne | May 15, 2008 7:29 PM #

I always feel guilty to put all that food on top of the dummy cake, that will then not be eaten.

I do recognize the need of dummies, and generally people leave the fondant on their plates anyways, uneaten. But covering a dummy with silk meringue or with fruit mousseline buttercream will break my heart to see it wasted. I have been known to save buttercream scraps when I do the cake cutting myself!

Posted by: Hector | May 16, 2008 2:07 PM #

Thank you SO-O-O very much for your help! I have "quilted" before, that is a GREAT idea! I am glad to hear the fondant will stand up to the heat. And thanks for the tape tips too! Many thanks, again!

Posted by: Patti | May 16, 2008 10:13 PM #