So, I'm pretty new to cake decorating, and am really enjoying it. I've seen a technique used quite a lot and would love to know how to do this. I've looked all over, but since I'm really unsure what it's called, I have a hard time finding directions ) It appears that a really stiff wire piece is used to suspend image plaques above the cake top, making them look like their sprouting out of the top. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=56071
Thanks so much for all the help and inspiration you guys have sent my way!

They are simply wires that you would find in the florist section of your local craft store.

A point to consider is that the wire itself is not food safe and should NEVER be inserted directly into the cake. There are many different ways to make them foodsafe however:

*you can coat the wire in melted chocolate (some people have concerns about the chocolate breaking if the wire flexes)
*you can insert a samll drinking straw or coffee stirer into the cake and then place the wire into the straw/stirrer
*you can wrap the wire in fondant (although the wire may still poke through the fondant, depending on how you push it into the cake


Thats all I can think of right now, but I'm sure others will post their thoughts.

.........sure others will post their thoughts........

jillmakescakes covered it well

I agree, I thnk Jill covered it well.

You can also use jewelry wires.

Jewelry wires and coffee stirrers are great (pipe melted chocolate down into the straw and those wires won't go anywhere!) The other thing you can do is make a ball of fondant and let it set up for a couple of days. Then you can insert the wires into that as a base --sort of the same concept as the bases they use to hold down helium balloon bouquets.

I put mine into flower picks secured with fondant inside the pick

Great ideas there guys.. never though of using choc to make it food safe i always use fondant!

I have tried this technique with butterflies, and I had issues with the butterflies staying put on the wire, they just tilted and fell off. I used cut out shapes from fondant. How can I prevent this?

i have used spaghetti noodles painted with luster.

use cloth or paper wrapped wires. Dampen the wire and insert in the fondant. You can use water or gum glue to moisten the wire.

I made a bunch of these things last night. There were four fondant/gumpaste balls on a wire. I dabbed a bit of gumpaste glue at each hole where the wire passed through, then laid them on the table to dry. This morning they seemed quite secure.

Edited to add: I made gumpaste glue by dissolving a little Tylose in water. Really sticky stuff.

Thanks, everyone! This really helps a lot ) Also, for example in this picture, are the stars made from fondant? Gumpaste? 50/50 mixture of the two and then painted with luster? Also, if the stars were white to begin with, would you paint them gold with a mixture of gel coloring and what? Thanks again, guys... You've been sooooo much help!

One tip I learned from someone (sorry, I don't remember who) here on Cake Central is to pipe royal icing into the coffee stirrer, then put the wire into that. I let it dry overnight and it acted like glue, plus I didn't worry that the wire would accidentally poke through.

If you are worried about food safety with wires, dont use the florist ones, use the paper covered wires.
Edna