Those of you who have done this: For the head part of the hat do you use a ball pan & then carve it into the right shape? For the bill: do you put it over cardboard or just use gumpaste & does it get hard enough? For the stitching: do you use a comb?

Thanks in advance for any tips.

I did one and used the soccer pan. The first time I made it, I filled 2/3 and it took forever to bake. It ended up getting dry on top and didn't bake completely in the middle. So the second time, I filled it half-way only and baked another round cake (I think 9"). I placed the soccer on top of the round and carved around. The bill is gumpaste which I dried on top of a real bill under a desk lamp. It took 24 hours to dry hard. It was very easy to make. I am actually making another one tonight.

The one I made I used a small stainless steel mixing bowl to bake my cake in and it turned out pretty good for my first fondant covered hat. I also dried the bill over the bill of a hat. I just covered it in plastic wrap first. Hope this helps.

How do you attach the bill to the hat?

Just put a little buttercream or royal icing on the edge. Actually, the one I made last night is staying put without any icing holding it in place.

i used the ball pan. I would use gumpaste for the bill as suggested, as it will get hard and keep it's form.

How many will this cake serve?

You said you used the soccer ball pan...is this the one you meant?
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30936A-475A-BAC0-51B9F670FA59452A&fid=3E32A16A-475A-BAC0-5F3FE0E9BE7AE1D1
Wilton's Soccer Ball...measures 8 3/4 x 3 1/2?

I, too, use the soccer pan filled only about half-way and an 8" round. I dry gumpaste over a form and then just gently insert the edge into the fondant on the cake - it stays on and holds the shape well. I use the disk from the FMM multi-ribbon cutter tool for stitch marks, but a tracing wheel from the sewing department will work - or that little white Wilton tool with the three interchangeable wheels.

I recently made a baseball cap cake...for hubbys bday to duplicate his "business cap". He owns a small heating and a/c company. We hate fondant, the playdough look of it and the taste. It seems an all around waste. Anyway, my kids love the little candy melts, so I have fun getting
creative with those. What I did was, take hubbys actual cap, flip it over, cut out a two pieces of wax paper in the shape of the bill. The first one I attached to the cap with masking tape, to make sure all fabric was covered. The second one (cut a bit larger than the bill for handling) was
draped on the cap's bill (over the first wax paper). Then I smoothed the melted candy out for the bill area....popped it in the freezer..waited...pulled it out and peeled off that wax paper...voila. Worked perfect and the kids ate daddys hat! If it had not been on a plate, you wouldnt have known it wasnt the real thing...so Im told.
and btw..I baked mine in Wonder mold...not very full at all of course, and then just trimmed off that lil pointed mound on top. We had ten servings.

I did it!!! Woohoo! I will post pictures in the morning, but want to say THANK YOU to everyone that assisted me. After 3 attempts, I finally got a bill I could use! I can't wait to see the customer's reaction.

Thank you again and again...I love this site!

Great baseball cap (go Red Sox).
How did you do the "B" on the front?
thanking you in advance.
Rose

It is a frozen buttercream transfer. The only thing I can't figure out is how to stop the red from bleding into the white...so frustrating!

I was wondering about this myself; thanks for the good info!

Rhonda

Well it is too late to put my 2 cents in, but I used 8 inch rounds. I baked 3 2 inch height ones, but I cut off so much of the top one, that there really wasnt much left of it. Probably could get away with just 2 layers next time! (or maybe better yet, a 3 inch and 2 inch). Anyway I just shaped it into a bowl shape and cut out divits to make it more realistic. I used a real baseball hat as a template for the bill and dried it on a lightweight cardboard over the real hat. (the 8 inch cake is about the same size as a real hat by the way, so it made using a real hat for a template very easy.) I attached the gumpaste bill with royal icing. These were the basic instructions in the confetti cakes book BTW.

Here is how mine turned out.


http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=707503

Merissa...your hat is amazing and so realistic...my doesn't even compare! Great job! I want to try another one, but maybe do it a different way this time...practice makes perfect as they say.

How do you get the little "eyelets" at the top of the cap ?

Use your icing tips to make an impression in the fondant.

Of course ! the icing tips ! Thank you !!

I made the dots just like I would swiss dots...smoothed a bit, and then took a little piece of metal I had (kind of like a bicycle pump needle but solid) and insert it. I found the end results to work quite well. The end of a stick pin would probably work just as well...as long as it is clean.