Hi there,
I am about to make this birthday cake for my daughter:

http://layersoflove.blogspot.com/2007/06/my-little-pony-cake-40.html

I have cut shapes out of rolled fondant and icing-glued them onto buttercream before, but I have always worried that if I glue on the fondant shapes the day before the party that the colour from the fondant shapes may leach into my buttercream and spoil the cake. So I get up at 5am the day of the party to get it all done and then I'm so tired I don't enjoy myself!!
Am I right? Do I have to glue them on on the day of the party, or am I worrying for nothing? It would be much less stressful if the cake could be finished the day before, but I would hate to spoil the cake. What do you think?

Also, two more questions re: rolled fondant shapes:
1) Do I have to let them dry out or can I just cut and stick them straight on?
2) When I have previously dried out the fondant shapes on a flat surface and then glued them onto a round cake, they have cracked a tiny bit because I have to bend them so that they sit flush with the sides of the round cake, for example on the attached cake picture which was for my daughter's Magic Theme party. How can I avoid this?
Any experiences and advice greatly appreciated, thank you!
Tiff

HI!

I have done many cakes with fondant cutouts the day before. I like to do this to makesure that the fondant will hold and look alright. I use piping gel for the glue. Many of my cakes I will just cut out the fondant and put it right on the cake. I have never had a problem yet... knock on wood.. I won't precut and dry my shapes because if the cake is a round cake they wont go flesh on the cake. I guess for a square cake it would be ok but I like to work with my fondant while it is soft. I hope that helps you out!

Kim

You can do the same shapes out of buttercream, if you want. I spread a layer of buttercream on a sheet of waxed paper, place it on a tray, and put it in the freezer. Once frozen, I use cookie cutters or fondant cutters to cut the shapes. Back in the freezer (it defrosts quickly). Once it's fully frozen again, you can peel the shapes off the waxed paper and apply to the cake. It helps to have a couple trays going, or you have to wait for the shapes to keep re-freezing. But the result is very nice!