Hi ya'll! I'm working on my OSSAS entry and one of my cakes is going to be on a dummie. The thing is I've never used one before and don't know how I should be preping it. Do I need to cover it with something? Sand the edges? When I'm done with it can I scrape off the fondant and use it again for something else? Any other things I need to be aware of when using one?
Thanks!
~Truly

Bump

Bump again . . . . I need answers to this too!!!

I coat my dummie with piping gel. I have never reused a dummy as they are cheap to buy. I have twenty plus cakes still assembled in my work room.

Truly,there is probably a line running up and down on one side of your dummy where the cut started and stopped. This needs to be sanded off or trimmed very carefully with an exacto knife. Soften the upper edge of your dummy so it doesn't cut your fondant. Basically, push down on the edge with your thumb or run over it with a rolling pin. If there are any holes in the styrofoam fill them with some moistened fondant. Some people say to use royal icing but your probably using fondant to cover it anyway. I don't coat my dummies with anything. I just brush a very little bit of water along the bottom edge to make it stick but that is done after the fondant is trimmed. I make my fondant from scratch and for shows I don't put any flavoring in it although I sometimes use brown vanilla extract if I want it a little ivory in color. -- Carol

This is a great topic.

Since I decorate a lot of cupcakes I purchased some dummie ones. What is the best thing to decorate them with?

Thanks!
Melissa

Thanks for the great answers sweetteacher! You're a lifesaver!

And for future reference I'd love to know about the cupcake dummies! I've never seen them before. How would you get a cupcake wrapper on- royal icing?

I used to use just water and soon realized that the foam would absorb it. I use the white beaded stand in cakes. I coat it with piping gel I let it dry. This will smooth out the imperfections in the foam. When I apply the fondant I us another thin layer of piping gel. I learned this from the heavy hitters at OSSAS. The piping gel allows for a bit of movement mimicing icing.

Where is the best place to buy 'dummy' cakes?

If you wanted to do a "fake" buttercream, what would you use??

You could use perma-ice but it's a bit expensive. Last forever.

I just bought some dummies myself for the first time. Could you use royal icing to mimic bc? If so, are there any tricks that I need to be aware of? I would greatly appreciate any advice. Thanks in advance.