I want to do a cake topper with a gumpaste Rugged cross with a purple drape across the arms for an Easter Celebration. I am planning on surrounding the foot of cross and lower tier with Easter Lillies. Any suggestions on the cross....

Do you think Gumpaste will work? I want it to stand up.

I am going to try to form it and then carve away at it for the rugged part. Think that will work?

Also what would you color it with?

Thanks!

Oh Yeah-- I couldn't find any examples on here but if you know of one that would be great most of the crosses on here are too pretty!

hmmm....sounds like a great cake. I can't help you, but saw the post title and had to see what a post called "old rugged cross" was about!

roll out gumpaste extra thick..say 1/2 inch or more (depending upon size of cross.)

lay on a template of basic shape of cross.

cut out as one piece

hack it up to make rugged.

let dry several days so sure it is dry to the core.

paint w/ thinned icing colors.

hint: do first coat in brown. then do over glaze in black wiping off black immediately after applying allowing it to only settle in the little gouges.

of course, could color the gumpaste a brown too then overglaze

what would you thin the color with? vanilla?

any clear flavoring should work. might even try water depending upon ingredients in coloring.

Thank you so much

This cake sounds like it will be beautiful!!! Please let me know when you post pics!!!!

Okay so I am working on a first version of the cross. I am hoping the shininess will go as it dries. We will see. I put a few Easter lillies at the bottom cause that is what I am planning to cover the top of the cake with. (These are left overs from Wilton 3 course)

Please let me know honestly what you think...Only be a tiny bit kind this is my first stab at it!

Looks great to me! Very nice job!

consider making the two parts of the cross separately and allowing each to harden and dry.

then glue together w/ royal -- this way will avoid the droop of the cross beam as it lays on top of the upright.

It's looking great so far.

The wood on the cross looks beautiful!! I would definitely try what Doug said though...either do the cross in one piece and then score it to look like two or do seperate pieces and allow to dry before you put them together. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE FINAL PRODUCT!!!! I KNOW IT WILL BE AWE INSPIRING!!!!

Okay I am soo Excited! I just draped purple over the crosses arms! I am so excited to put it on the cake! I can't do it till tomorrow cause my cake is in the fridge but I had to tell you how excited I am!!!! No one in my family understands!! Right now it is sitting in a safe place stuck in styrofoam to let the drape dry naturally! It looks so good!!!! Oh my gosh that sounds terrible!

Hi there!! Take a look at my cake, I used fondant and then used a toothpick to make it look "rugged". I used brown fondant then covered it with a perar luster dust. I used the same dust for the purple drape as well. HTH

Okay thanks to everyone for help and encouragement! I have posted a pic in my photos now!! I was very happy with the final cake! I wish And it tasted good too! I wish I had made more lillies and I realized I need to practice a bead border a lot more!

Your cake turned out beautiful! The perfect cake for the celebration of Easter=) Jen

How I made the cross- (by request)-

I added gumpaste powder to the wilton fondant and colored it brown. It was about the color of milk chocolate.

Then I rolled it thick (about 1/2 - 3/4 inches).

I used a sharp knife to cut the upright and arm pieces.

I notched out the front of the vertical and a the back of the arms (kind of like lincoln logs but only one side pf each piece).

I put some vanilla and 2 shortened toothpicks on/in the back piece then pressed them together.

I used two folded pieces of foil just fat enough to support the arms to keep them from sagging. Make sure they go under the whole length of each side.

After it had set up just a short time (30 min?) I used a very sharp parring knife to cut notches in the corners/ edges and some of the lines. on the back too!

When I was satisfied with the rugged-ness of the cross I again let it set up awhile and then painted the cracks with real vanilla mixed with brown paste.

Finally, I painted over the whole thing with a thinner brown. After the front set up really good, a few days, I Carefully turned it over and painted the back (it didn't look as good but I wanted it to look rugged too- but I was afraid of messing up the front. ) When you lay it down upside-down it needs to be supported along the length at top and bottom.

I started the cross a full 2 & 1/2 weeks before Easter to make sure it was dry.

I didnt' put the drape on until Sat. before Easter. I didn't want any extra weight until necessary. Also I didn't stand the cross up until I was putting on the drape! Oh yeah- I put two toothpicks in the bottom to support the cross in the cake but I would use longer skewers next time. I forgot about it until the cross had been made for a week and a half and it was pretty solid! I was just praying I could get the toothpicks in without it cracking!

Thanks

Your cake turned out beautifully! I am saving these directions because I want to try this next year. You did a beautiful job.

If I were to do this cake again next year what should I charge? It was an 8" torted into 3 layers with Apricot BC filling and BC frosting. It stood about 3" high.

You did an excellent job Marthajo1!!! Perhaps I will give it a try next Easter too!

Thanks for sharing the instructions.

Gorgeous! Thank you for sharing how you made the cross. I've saved your instructions to try sometime.

Your cake is just BEAUTIFUL, and I think more lillies would have been over-kill..... it is perfect just the way it is !

I love the cross and your lillies are beautiful.

save

I was looking for this so I could give the instructions for the cross..... Please feel free to use this idea if you need to make a cross cake for Easter this year!

Praise be to His name~ For HE is RISEN!

You rock martha!!!!