New here, asking for advice please?

Hi there all. First let me say that Ive been enjoying seeing everyones creations here on this site and I am amazed at the talent! I dabble in specialty cakes, mostly for friends and family. I have a cake request for a very special co-workers birthday coming up. Hes a HUGE fan of the TV Show The Office

Id like to do a cake in the shape of a coffee mug, with Boss of the Year on it.

I can stencil the letters onto the fondant in black food coloring, so I think I pretty much have that figured out in my mind its the handle of the mug that Im wondering about. What do you think is the best method for creating a handle on a coffee mug cake?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions/ideas!

Stencil is good--consider using black edible ink markers.

Here's my suggestion for the handle.

Don't make a 'handle'.

Make something that will stick out of the cake and appear to be a handle but it's an iceberg thing where there's a whole lot more to it under the surface if you get my meaning.

People make 'a handle' then try to adhere them to the cake with toothpicks or something--agh! Like a wobbly wiggley toothpick will balance a few ounce weight of handle. Think iceberg.

I would use fondant plus cornstarch for the handle.

Cake buddies would often use gum paste or gum paste + fondant.

You could make one out of modeling chocolate too.

Handle thoughts for you.

You could also make the handle out of RKT (rice krispy treats) and cover it with fondant, it would be a lot lighter. I'd form the handle around a lollipop stick so it will be sturdy (in fact for a handle you could use a lollipop stick on each end) leave a good 3 to 4 inches sticking out and push that into the cake. You could even carve into the cake a little bit for extra stability.

Excellent Ideas, thank you very much
(my first thought was to stick something into the cake but then I wasn't thinking about the instability of doing that)