I am doing this cake this next week, and I am wondering what to do the piping in, do I just pipe the butter cream on the fondant or would you make up thick royal for it?

Also, on the sides of the bottom one it has impriting, how do I make that work? I figure I do that after I have it all in place,but does it disturb it much?

For the round one, any tips on putting that second box top layer on?

One last! The bows, there are two, how do I get them to stay, and how long do they need to dry? do I need to do anything to the fondant to make it stay stiffer, and if so, whats the best way?

I would use royal for the piping because I know it sticks well to fondant, but buttercream would be fine too, if that's what you're more comfortable with.

I can't see the imprinting, but you'll want to do it soon after applying the fondant before it starts to crust.

Here's how I'd do the lid for the round box - Cover the whole cake with the first layer of fondant. Let it crust over a bit. Wet just the top of the cake and down the sides where you want the lid to stick. Cover the entire cake with fondant again. Use a ruler or template to cut away the bottom part of the fondant, leaving just the lid.

For the bows, use gumpaste, not fondant. You should make the parts of the bows a few days in advance, then assemble them right on the cake using royal icing or melted chocolate as glue. They'll look more natural that way.

Hope this helps!

I have done a lot of gumpaste flowers, and they are very delicate and easy to break, how do make the bow now to breakable? I looked the the step by step for the bow, looks easy enough! Hopefully I wont screw it up too badly!

Thanks!

That is a beautiful cake you are going to make. Good Luck!

Gumpaste flowers are usually very thin, especially on the edges of petal, making it very brittle.

For the bow, make it 2-3 times thicker than you would for the flowers. They tend to get heavy. Good advice on making the bows ahead of time. I would use royal icing to adhere the bows to the cake, prop up something underneath it until it dries, or as long as possible. Royal icing is better if the cake will be displayed in warmer temperatures.

If you don't have any silicone impression molds or pattern rollers, you can always try the royal icing and lace pattern. Cover the lace onto the fondant covered cake, brush to top with royal icing, carefully peel the lace away.

Cake looks really nice. Good luck! For the most, have fun!!![/u]

You will want to imprint the quilting design as soon as you cover it with fondant and before you do any other decorations. You might want to add some fondant to the gumpaste so it will not be so brittle. And do the bows on a form ... or the pans. The top one will need to be slightly rounded and the bottom one is sitting on a lip. So just make these over a pan covered in wax paper. Love the cake! Best wishes!!

Oh, and I would use royal icing because it tends to hold its shape better ... and doesn't get messed up if you happen to bump it ... especially with all the little details.

If this cake is for next weekend, I would make the bows today so they have enough time to dry. They tend to be heavy so I would put toothpicks in through the back of the knot of the bow and let them dry into the fondant. If the bows are too heavy the royal icing won't hold them so this way you can stick the toothpicks into the knot part and then into the cake.