I am planning to make my first carved cake this week. I would greatly appreciate any advice or pointers!
This is what I'm planning to do: (Gonna use 1/4 sheet cake) I have a book on how to draw Scooby Doo characters, so I'm gonna draw freehand Shaggy's head on a large piece of paper. I'll cut out the picture and place it on my cake and carve it to be Shaggy's head.
I've heard that it is easier to carve a cake that is frozen. How long does it need to stay in the freezer before I can carve it? Do I put in in the freezer when it comes out of the oven, or am I soposed to wait so many minutes? And when I do put it in the freezer, do I put it in pan and all?
What is the best way to transfer the detail lines on this size of cake? I've heard of the FBCT and using toothpicks, but I'm not sure which is best to use in this case because of the size of the cake.
I am very new to cake decorating (I've only done 3 cakes) and so excited! And other tips would be nice! Thanks in advance!
Kristian

Wow, you've got a really ambitious project going for someone who's pretty new to cake decorating! Good Luck!

As for your questions, I would suggest that you use a fairly firm-textured cake for your carving. The carved cakes I have done were not frozen first because I used a pretty firm cake to begin with.

If you are going to freeze your cake, take it out of the pan, wrap securely in plastic wrap and put it on a flat, sturdy board before putting it in the freezer. You don't really need to wait, but I would definitely remove it from the pan. I believe you would leave it in the freezer until it is firm enough all the way through that it will not crumble as easily when you carve.

I would recommend that you try using piping gel to transfer your detail lines: go over the detail on the right side of your pattern with a black permanent marker. Turn it over. Now, lay a sheet of wax paper over your pattern (which is face-down, but you should still be able to see the design through the papers). Using a piping bag with black piping gel and a #2 tube, pipe all the design lines you will need to have. I usually don't do too many of these lines, to allow a little more creative leeway when I get something transferred onto my cake. Let the piping gel set up a bit until it's pretty tacky.

Now, once your cake is carved and iced and crusted over, very carefully place the wax paper, piping gel side down, onto the cake in its proper position. Gently smooth over the piping gel lines with your hands. Don't press too hard. Now, carefully, peel away your wax paper. You should have your design transferred.

It's not too difficult, but you want to allow yourself plenty of time to work with this new skill.

Good Luck!

Wow, thanks for the detailed explanation!
I seem to never start out "small" when I get into something! I like to do the biggest project that I think I'm capable of then work my way to the smaller ones! Two other cakes I've done is Tweety Bird in a character shaped pan and a 3-D castle cake (both uploaded on this site). I can't hardly help myself!
I can't use piping gel like your talking about, because the store where I get my supplies from (Wal-Mart) doesn't carry it. I live at least an hour away from the nearest store like Hobby Lobby or Michaels, and I'm sure my parents wouldn't want to drive me there just anytime. So for now, I'm stuck with what I've got: Buttercream or Royal Icing. Would Royal Icing work?

I believe you can do the same with either buttercream or royal, but I would recommend you use royal and let it dry really well first. realize that it is going to be pretty brittle, so very carefully press it onto your iced & crusted-over cake. You won't have a line, per se, but a little groove you can follow.

If using buttercream, freeze it really solidly and then press it in. Same thing as the royal: no line, but a groove.

If piping gel is not available locally, how about ordering it through e-mail? I would think CC has some as do many other websites that carry our supplies. If that's acceptable to Mom & Dad, then try it ... it's a really great medium to work with .....

Here's what I have on homemade piping gel:
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The recipe is way down at the bottom of the list at http://www.wrenscottage.com/kitchen/recipes/
Piping Gel is a multi-purpose transparent gel that adds shimmering accents, colorful highlights, and sparkle to cakes. Tried this. Sandra
2 envelopes (2 tablespoons) unflavored gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
2 cups light corn syrup
Directions
Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a small saucepan and let set for about 5 minutes. Heat on low until the gelatin has become clear/dissolved - Do not boil. Add syrup and heat thoroughly. Cool, refrigerated, for up to 2 months.
Add 1/2 teaspoon piping gel to one cup of thin consistency buttercream icing to produce smoother writing and printing and pointed leaf tips.
Be sure to follow the directions closely, my first attempt I stirred the gelatin too much while it was heating and got foam, so be sure to let it sit and absorb as it heats.
The homemade is quite a lot cheaper than that purchased, and if everyone is like me they never have on hand what they need when they need it (just keep the gelatin pks on hand), this way it would be easy to "whip up" some gel.
You can color it just like BCI, according to the Wilton Piping Gel Package. They suggested blending the gel in with icing too, for more varied colors.
I put some of my homemade piping gel in with some chocolate icing recently, it sure did make it shiny. When I first made it I thought the homemade gel was too thin, but after being in the refrigerator it was more like rubber, but a few seconds in the microwave softened it up fine. I haven't used the store-bought piping gel as yet. Janice
;;Someone adds the sparkles to the gel for sparkly writing.;;
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HTH!

Unfortunately, we don't buy anthing off the internet. I will have to try that homemade piping gel! It never occured to me that there might be a recipe for it! Thanks!
I couldn't wait any longer, and started on my cake yesterday. Big Flop! When I tried to remove the cake from the pan, it was stuck (I let it rest too long and the shortening started acting like "glue" and held it in there). So I tapped the bottom of the pan, and it came out alright... in three pieces! I felt like crying! So I cut the cake pieces into squares and rectangles, and I ended up with four of them. Luckily, when I was measuring out the big head of Shaggy, I noticed a large piece at the bottom would be left. So I decided to try a smaller FBCT Shaggy on that piece. So I had that in the freezer already, and one of the cake pieces was large enough for it, so that's what I'll do. I'm gonna practice my roses and do one of the cakes like that, and maybe practice cornelli lace on another, but I'm not sure what I'll do for the last one yet. I'll upload the pic on this site whenever I complete it. Oh well, maybe next time. Ok, maybe next week!

wal mart does have it.........it's just not sold uncolored like a cake store would have.......but you can buy tubes of it in black......I think they're called gel writers or something....look in the section where they sell cake mixes and sprinkles!!

might be cute to carve one of your rectangles slightly to look like the van they drive on scooby doo!

Oh, KHalstead, I wish you could've posted that earlier BEFORE I already decorated them! That would have been so neat! Next time I think I'll cut the cake in squares on purpose and do the van, and a as many different characters as I can. Me and my brother used to love Scooby Doo...guess it's still in me. And it is the only thing that I have a drawing book on that I can actually do!
Next time I will look at the gel at Wal-Mart and see if it would be better for me to make it or buy it.. depending on the size of project I pick, I may be short for time and end up buying it or when it is smaller, I will try the homemade.
aobodessa, I have heard that if your cake sticks you could also preheat your oven to 200-something degrees and place your cake in there for a couple of minutes to melt the shortening. My oven was preheating, but I got impatient and decided to try tapping on the pan... (slap my forehead)! Only two pieces actually came out, and one still stuck! I think also why the middle stuck is because I thought it sure would be tasty to swirl hot fudge (like what you put on ice-cream, Smuckers) on my chocolate cake. I wasn't even thinking I had to level it! Some of that fuge sank to the bottom of the middle, where I put it. I was so frustrated with it, and myself I didn't feel like leveling it and didn't put my 100% all effort into the rest of it. Boy, I need to learn more patience! Especially when it comes to cake decorating!
I got to practice some of the basics that may not all have looked good together on the same cake, and now I know I need a lot more practice! I don't like some of my colors, but I'm tired and I didn't feel like making another batch of icing.. especially since we have no dishwasher! I like to keep the dishes to a minimum.
I am happy because now I have a few more ideas for new cakes, including the Scobby Van idea, and a made a rectangle cake iced in choc. Bc with my practice white roses on top. I think a larger version of this baked in a loaf pan might look great for Christmas Dinner this year! Also I'm glad I got to freehand my small Shaggy on a piece of paper then doing my first FBCT. Also of which I need more practice on.
Thanks for all the great advice, now I'm excited about cakes again! Gonna go upload my pics now...
Kristian

great info