Ok so I need to make this cake for the 29th (I just got told today)but I have no idea how to even begin this cake! I thought that it might possibly be layers of tip #45 or something larger like that (don't know what though)and just a continous line around and then overlaping the next row a tiny bit until you get to the top. Also, how do you get the top so smooth? I'm guessing you ice that first then when you end there you'll have a bit of a lip so how do you blend that in?
She wants a 6",2-8" and a 10" seperated, not stacked like this with a possible bottom bead border. I'm thiniking I'm gonna need tons of icing for this one too.

I'd like to know too. I think it's a cool looking cake. Good luck!

My thought is to use tip 124 thru 127 - they are extra large 'rose petal' tips. Start at the bottom and make a line all around the cake....move up so a bit of the top of that line is covered w/the next row and so on up to the top.
I would give the tiers a heavier than usual crumb coat 1st.
(but not as thick as a reg icing)
The top of the cake could also be applied w/a large similar tip.... or a 'quick icer' tip.

It looks like if you do a crumb coat with a heavy layer on top then you can do the sides with the flat side of a basketweave tip and overlap them from bottom up.

Does that make sense? It shouldn't take too much extra icing for it ...

What that looks like to me is...just a good thicker coat of BC and then using the Decorating Triangle to go around the cake and that puts the contoured design on it.

You would just ice the cake like normal top, sides and smooth then put your cake on a turn table and while holding the Decorating Triangle, turn the cake to get that design.

I hope that helps a little.

Terri

I'd use the tip idea, and for the stacking part... here's what you do:

You need the cylinder separators. And a wide board base for each layer. The foil covered bases work great for this, and then you hotglue the beads to them.

I've got a similar cake setup in my pics, the one with the disco ball on it.

Transport them unstacked, and then assemble on site. If you need anymore help send me a PM. Good luck!!

Don't forget to post pics of your work!!

My first thought was a rose petal tip, too. Keep in mind that we can't see the back of the cake, the lines might overlap and we just can't see it. Very pretty, good luck.

Let me see if I have this straight in my mind:
Heavy crumb coat.
Petal tip with wide end to the cake and go around. I'm assuming that you stop at each one so that each row is new and there is a slight over lap in the back

What I'm having trouble with now is the top. I was thinking I'd ice it normally first then apply the layers to the crumb coated sides. Are you saying there is a different/better way to do it?
What is a "quick icer"

If possible I plan to attempt this tomorrow on a small cake I'm making for my MIL...that is if the local wilton distributor has the right tips....I'm looking for anything between 124 &127 correct??

The "quick icer" is a large tip made by Wilton to help apply the icing to the cake so it's easier to smooth. It looks like a large basketweave tip.

It does look like each one starts and stops and is done separately....look at the middle tier....top band...toward the left side...it's a start/stop point.

Definitely a larger petal tip like previously stated.

I would crumb coat it...give the top an additional layer....do the overlaps starting about an inch from the bottom all the way up the side making the last one come just a smidge above the top of the cake...smooth the raised icing back over the top surface then smooth it with warm/hot spatula..stack the tiers ....add the final band around bottom


OR

crumb coat....additional icing to tops....dowel...stack then start the overlaps from the bottom up...then carefully remove excess from top edges....smooth carefully if necessary

The easiest way to achieve a similar effect would be one of these $2 tools:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000VM7XM/?tag=cakecentral-20
or
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000VOOXI/?tag=cakecentral-20
The smash cake next to the Barbie in my pics is done with the Ateco comb, granted it's mascarpone, thus not nearly as smooth as buttercream can be. Good luck!

Wilton aslo has an icing sculptor set. I have it and it's great!!
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E31A21B-475A-BAC0-51A3CBEF4593810B&fid=3E32F518-475A-BAC0-535818F5D52DA731
Hope this helps

I have the "quick icer" tip I guess I just didn't know what i was called...LOL
I also have the wiltion icing sculptor set as well but I don't think that it would work on this.
I too noticed what I thought was a start and stop point (made me happy to see that even the pros have moments too!)
I don't have to stack the cake luckily either. She wants it on the Wilton cakes and more 3 tiers dessert sand. My only concern is transporting it so that nothing happens to the sides. Right now the only thing I can think of is packaging them all seperately in boxes much bigger then they need on no skid mats but we'll have to see I guess.....that's the least of my problems.
I did tell her though to start designing plan B in her head because I may not be able to get the tip I need...especially with it being a holiday weekend.

Are you sure these aren't strips of fondant layered???? Last night on Ace of Cakes they did a cake identical to this and it was strips of fondant layered. They laid all the strips for each cake together and then picked up and wrapped around cake, they had a really hard time with it but it turned out pretty good.

I've seen this cake before in fondant, but this one is definitely buttercream.

I was just about to ask the same thing ! It sure reminds me of the Ace of Cakes ,cake they showed last night ! Unless this cake your customer wants is just the buttercream version of Duffs ? Just a thought !

Perhaps it is buttercream, I would think you could use the straight side of the basketweave tip, but you are going to have to have a very steady hand to keep the straight lines, It would be a disaster for me, I would much rather do it in fondant, and even that will be difficult.

No it's definitely BTC, it said so in the description next to the cake......you can find it on the Better Homes and Gardens slideshow. It doesn't say how it was done though.

I've seen that episoded of Ace of Cakes before, I believe Anna was the one doing it and she commented several times how hard it was to do horizontal stripes and keep it even. I'm hoping this is easier somehow.
I was able to find the tip(s) I needed locally and I'm gonna test it out on my MIL cake this afternoon to see how hard it will be before I give her my final decision. It will be my 6th week in a row with caking and I'm not sure how steady my hand will be so I have to keep that into consideration. I usually get one cake a month if I'm lucky so this is HUGE for me lately.

My first thought is BC too and a petal tip.

Look at the second tier, on the top left, you can see a "seam". I'm sure you'll make sure your seams are on the back of the cake but this helps a little for you to see how they did it.

Good luck and do post your pictures to this thread.

~Julie~

Hey, look at this -- looks very similar. Maybe you can PM the person who posted it?

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1201448.html

After trying all day to get this to work I was unable to replicate what the cake artist did on this cake.
I've bought the tips suggested I was even able to keep the layers relatively straight but my problem is turning the table. There must be some kind of improvised motorized turn table out there that would keep a consistant continuous rotation going. I would be going along fine and then run out of arm and have to stop for a half second and start again. That would leave ripple point or even break the strand.

Some things I learned for anyone else who may want to try this cake......
Tip 126 worked nicely for spacing and design.
Icing needs to be a tad softer then medium so that it doesn't rip or pull to much. You get it too soft it will melt into the lower layer and run out of the tip when you don't want it to.
The key isn't only in keeping it straight (which I found easier to do then I thought) but also in keeping the cake moving at a steady speed.

Thanks to everyone who tried helping me with this cake. I sent the bride to be the following email:

I know at least one decorator in the area IF she would take it on short notice who would attempt this cake and not care what it looked like. It would be "her version" which may look little to nothing like this. I would never do the orginal artist or the customer such an injustice.

Thanks again everyone!

Your post made me think of an Alton Brown episode where he was icing a cake and put it on an old record player turntable. If you have one lying around it might be worth a try. Or a potters wheel - but that would be more difficult to get ahold of.

What about having someone lend a hand to turn the table for you? Keeping steady motion? It would be a bummer to accept defeat - We are smarter than the cake right?!?!

I actually did have my DH try turning the table. The problem is you can only go so far before you have to stop the table and turn it again or do repeated short stops which made little ripples like in the icing or the thread of it would just break right off.

jnoel~ I was actually thinking of the same thing....a LP turntable on slow would probably work great but I don't have one of them lying around and the cake is for next weekend.

For the record, I'm not bailing on this bride. She contacted me this past Monday for a cake for the 29th but she had no idea what she wanted. She only came to me with this design last night. She had another picked out that was in my venting post from earlier this week.

Okay, so i saw this post last night and all my ideas to help you were all ready posted. But then today i was looking through some photos and found this one, which looks exactly like what you are trying to go for. I know you now say you are defeated and are giving up. But i have been searching for this topic all day to send you this photo incase you wanted to ask the person who made it for some help...so im sending it anyways. haha. Its made by mommyle. Hope it can help you some.

melissa043~ Thank you so much for the post! I may just PM her to see how she did it!

ssunshine564~Yeah he's my fondant man too...he does a great deal of my fondant work too. He covers the cakes so I can do the little details. I think I'll keep him around a little longer.....might loan him out too...any takers!?!?

Since my last post the bride-to-be has emailed me and said she's partial now to the bead borders and wants to know if we can make a cake with a bead border and possibly the 3 swiss dot groupings around the cake instead....with a scrollwork type top border.
I kid you not, this is like the 100th time she's changed her mind since Monday and we still have a week to go. She asked me if I had a chance to work with the colors yet too......she wants to add either peach or pale rose to the cake so it's not so cream colored.
I practiced this design ALL DAY when did I have time to mix and match colors with other designs exactly??? I don't want to spend my entire holiday weekend on this but I guess I'm gonna have to so I have another design ready for her.