Hi everyone,

I am making my first "insane" cake this weekend and I am a nervous wreck about it. I think I have it all figured out, but could use some feedback from all of you.

The cake is a replica of the lake house that the guest of honor owns. The house is basic enough. I am going to stack three double layer 1/4 sheet cakes and add an additional cake that is carved like the roof. I am fairly confident about my plan for the house. The problem is the deck that goes around 2 sides of the house. I made each section of the deck rails with royal icing. I need to be able to stand them up on the cake board (which will be covered in fondant). Will I be able to glue the rails with royal icing onto the fondant? If so, will it last like this for a few days?

They also requested a replica of the boat she owns. I made it out of gumpaste (my first attempt with gumpaste). The boat looks ok, but there are a lot of cracks in it. Does this mean the gumpaste was too dry when I was making it? I have painted it and the cracks are very visible now. Any suggestions for how I can salvage this piece?

One more question. I am filling the cakes with white chocolate pudding and raspberry jam. I have never frozen a filled cake. Can I? I would like to freeze the "roof" cake so it is easier to carve.

Thank you in advance for any help. I am a little crazy now. I am not only making the cake, I am making four different cookies, cannolis, cheesecakes, pound cake and catering the entire meal. Crossing my fingers, toes and anything else I can cross at this point!!!!

Denise

Holy moley! Uncross those fingers and toes... you have a lot of work to do!

Yes, you can glue royal icing to fondant. Make sure your board is ABSOLUTELY SOLID. Any flexing or movement of the board will cause your royal icing pieces to break.

Gumpaste dries pretty fast. Next time, consider using half gumpaste and half fondant or my preference - fondant mixed with tylose powder. This will give you a longer work time and the piece will still dry rock hard.

Is there any way you can put a thin layer of fondant+gumpaste over the areas of the boat with cracks? I'm envisioning covering the whole thing and redecorating over the new coat of fond+gumpaste.

Here's my suggestion for filling a carved cake. Carve it first. THEN, take the layers apart, pipe a dam, fill, replace layers. Trim, if necessary. Carving a cake that's already filled - especially with slippery stuff like fruit and pudding - can be a god-awful mess.

I'm sure you're already planning on it, but be sure to put boards and dowels between every 2 layers of cake. After the house is constructed, you'll probably want to drive a couple of sharpened dowels all the way through the house and into the base board. The dowels should be about an inch shorter than the height of the roof where you hammer them in.

Thank you so much for your tips. I am using a wooden board, so it is solid. I will try to repair the boat with a thin layer of fondant. Thank you so much for your tip on carving a filled cake. I am so overwhelmed with everything I never thought about the fact that the cake will be slippery with the filling and a nightmare to try to carve.

Thank you! Thank you!

Denise