My youngest daughters 2nd birthday is in a month and I have been planning her cake since I found this site. I'm really doing my homework on this one since I want it to be the best cake I have done yet.
Since there will be a lot of little ones there, I want to make sure that the items to be on the cake are fully edible for them. I have never used gumpaste and I think it will be too hard for their little teeth. I thought of using rice krispie treats to make little things like the cell phone and shoes going on it, but how early can I make those? How would I store them once made and decorated, to where they will still be good and soft? I'm so anxious for this cake I would make it tomorrow if it would last

I would think 3-4 days before would be okay. Are you covering the rice crispies in fondant? Instead of using gumpaste you could use fondant. It doesn't dry so hard so its more edible.

If you use straight fondant (MMF/Marshmallow fondant) you can make them right now, just keep them in a sealed container to keep them from drying out. The only downside of mmf is if your pieces are really big and round the weight of the mmf makes them sag or flatten out (see the panda's belly, below). I did a quick snowman cake at Christmas w/no cake supplies so, much like the panda, my homemade mmf snowman just smooshed into itself. Of course if your items are thinner or smallish that effect won't be too pronounced. The other round shapes in the below pics were made from Wilton's so although it was soft, the figures held their shapes better and ultimately the fondant was still soft enough to bite into.

You can also add gumtex (available at Michael's) to your mmf to help firm it up. Again, if you store them in a sealed container rather than leaving them out to dry for more than a day or so, they'll still be a bit firmer than straight mmf, but not hard. Or use (shudder, dare I say it) Wilton's fondant as just mentioned. It tastes nasty but young kids don't care (or else, they spit it out but they don't hold it against you LOL)....anyway Wilton's is firmer to work with than mmf. I used Wilton's for the other animals below, and let the figures "dry" for about 2 days, but you can sort of see from the lion in the back of this "aftermath" shot -- they were still soft enough to eat.

Thank you so much for the help. My kids have asked me to please not use the fondant. I can not make the MMF for only having a small mixer, and I used Wilton's on a cake before. They wanted to taste it since it was something new I was using, and just about gagged. Even the baby,the soon to be birthday girl, spit it out. I will be decorating with BC and RI on everything. Thanks again!

LOL well that is funny. I don't use my mixer to make MMF, just give it a go in a big bowl. I use Rhonda's recipe here on CC. I have never used a mixer. My daugher LOVES the stuff, oftentimes she skips the icing and just eats the fondant. Of course if you are comfortable with BC/RI then go for it; I couldn't pipe my way out of a paper bag so that's not an option for me

Awesome, I would love to be able to make a fondant that is tasty. I will definately have to try it. I tried once, but broke the mixer I have been doing a lot of piping practice and I am OCD for details so I think I am pretty good at it. I just havent figured out how to get all the scrolls in full uniform etc. Is there some sort of imprint that you can use? Anyways, Thanks again. I will be trying that recipe this week by hand

You should definitely search the forum on scrolls, I've read lots of tips about them. I think there are imprints you can buy, but seriously, I don't pipe. You should see what few things I've ever piped. Scary.

Cowgirl, I'm a MMF gal myself and use it for all my figures, etc. I make a 50/50 mixture of the MMF and gumpaste so that it still tastes good, but holds up and does not sag. I, too, use Rhonda's MMF from this site, but I use the addendum recipe. Now, I use RF for details as well (In my photos there is a Wizard of Oz cake and all the lollipops are RF.) I start all details at least a week in advance and sometimes two... I'm slow. BUT, the good news is that I have learned that they store forever in both the RF and the MMF/gumpaste combo. Simply put them in a sturdy box after they dry and they will be fine. Depending on their fragility, I use bubble wrap to keep them from bumping or, if they are flat objects, I use parchment between layers. Oh, and if you are using RF for the kiddies to eat, make sure you use a fun flavoring such as orange or raspberry... otherwise it's kinda "gaggy" as well.

You can try your hand at making the figures out of chocolate clay. The pieces will be totally edible, and during the short term, only really harden on the outside. They will keep their shape as long as they are kept cool.

There is a recipe for it in the recipes section. It might also be listed as chocolate modeling paste.

Theresa

I'm with Theresa, candy clay is the way to go with kids. It is cheap and easy to make, handles almost as well as fondant (it is more heat sensitive), but the main thing is kids LOVE it. I don't hate it myself.

If you decide to use candy clay, you can start making your details now. If you keep your clay and finished figures in tightly sealed containers (I use Tupperware) they will keep for months.

You can also find the recipe on the back of the bag of Wilton candy melts, all it is is one bag of melts plus one-third cup of clear corn syrup.

Good luck with your daughter's cake and have fun!

Kim

You gals are great. I'm headed to the Wilton sale at Hobby Lobby this weekend and will definately be buying up on the candy melts. Thank you all so much for your help. I'll make sure I post up a pic as soon as it is done. (Lord willing no major disasters strike me like usual)

To get your scroll work uniform, you can make a template to use.

Either do the paper route with pin holes along the design and transfer onto your cake, or I have seen another thread where you can make your own imprint using a hot glue gun to get the raised design and transfer. They have wooden blocks at the craft stores you can make your own stamps on using hot glue and you can go over the glue more than once to get the desired height of the stamp.

I haven't tried it yet, but it seems like it would work. I need to test it out at home, love my hot glue gun! It's also great for attaching ribbons around the base of your cake boards (and something else I have started doing it buying fabric from the craft stores and using it to cover my boards. A hot glue gun is very helpful when attaching it to the board in a nice, tight manner. Plus they have so many fabrics that help accent the cakes--like asian print for a pagoda cake I did and a paisley print for a western cake I had. Really looked so much nicer than the silver foil.)

The only problem I have with candy clay is that it does not take painting with food color well (for me.) It does tint well; however, and it sculps well. Good recommendation for kiddie cakes...

I do tons of crafty things and have 3 or 4 glue guns around here. I will definately be putting the block thing to the test. Never would have thought about that one. Thanks

[quote="Monna7122"] Even the baby,the soon to be birthday girl, spit it out. quote]

That cracked me up! When the baby spits out something sweet, you know it's bad!! You caused me to have a coughing fit. I'm sitting at work with a horrible cold, I started laughing and it turned into coughing. Now everyone ran away so they don't catch my germs.

Another thought on the scroll work. I have seen Martha Stewart use a rubber stamp. You ice the cake and then use the stamp to press the design into the crusted icing or fondant. Then you can use it to "trace" or as a guide to pipe it.
Enjoy it no matter what you choose to do because you are doing it with love.

Yea, I saw the glue gun template idea somewhere on a forum post for getting scrolls or circles the same size and I really want to give it a try.

So easy to use and reuse again and again, after all you just need an imprint on your cake to show you where to go over with frosting....maybe I should do that with cornelli? I'm so bad at doing that!

Cornelli is one thing I stay away from. It never looks right.

Adding stamp idea to the list!

TracyCakes, We all have colds here and its horrible. I'm just glad I'm not about 8 months pregnant. I would be dying of hot flashes from the heat and p'n myself all day from the coughin and sneezin' Everytime I see a pregnant woman this time of year, I think "You poor thing"