I am making a 9x13 cake for my sons 7th birthday. it will be a dinosaur dig site. I will be using buttercream fondant (I think that is what it is called..maybe rolled buttercream??). I would like the buttercream to be chocolate.

I need a good recipe, formulated for 9x13 that isn't chcoclate, but will not crumbled when it is cut. Also can I use the buttercream fondant to make dinosaur bones? I mean I don't have to use gumpaste right?

Also, I need a dirt look for the cake. But I was hoping for a red clay/beach sand combination look. Any ideas what i can use? I need recipes for the cake, the icing and ideas for the topping preferably tonight because I need to get the materials for the cake tomorrow.

Oh yeah, is icing sugar confectioners sugar? How many bags will I need to buy of the stuff do you think?

I used MMF (Marshmallow Fondant) for accents on my daughter's birthday cake, and I didn't know that you should let them dry for several days. (so they didn't want to stay where I put them) I used gumpaste for a figurine I did, just because I didn't have several days to let it dry. So, for the dinosaur bones, I think that you can make them out of fondant if you have time to let them dry out for several days, but if you don't have several days to wait...you should probably use the gumpaste.

As for the cake...if you want a red-clay look...maybe make a red velvet cake and add orange and red coloring instead of just red?

Also, rolled buttercream is just crusting buttercream that is rolled to give it a fondant look, not actually fondant.

I believe that confectioners sugar is the same as icing sugar, and I always buy (3)-2 lb bags. The buttercream recipe I use is from Serious_Cakes, it uses a whole 2 lb bag of confectioners sugar. She has a lot of youtube videos on how to get a smooth cake, and she has a crusting buttercream recipe that always turns out great for me. She has a variation for adding in chocolate and making "chocolate buttercream." There are a lot of great recipes on this site also, just search for what you are looking for and usually, I find it! Also, if you need a good filling, I always just use a box of pudding and whip it in the blender with heavy cream (for the small box of pudding it is one and a half to two cups of heavy cream).

Hope this helps!

oops! I don't put the pudding in the blender...I put it in the Kitchen Aid mixer! Sorry!

good luck with your cake, make sure you post pics...

Alot of us use graham cracker crumbs or brown sugar or both mixed for sand... and i swear by Indydebi's buttercream recipe for good crusting buttercream...

HTH!

Just a little warning - premade wilton fondant has a unique taste that most people find unappealing. Try making your own MMF (marshmallow fondant) instead.

So I can use MMF for the whole cake? The way I would use fondant? Anyone know a good gumpaste recipe? What about a cake that won't crumble terribly when cut and munipulate.?

......know a good gumpaste recipe? ....a cake that won't crumble terribly when cut and munipulate.?......

Gumpaste: Nic Lodge's is best...... but you probably don't have any Tylose so the next best would be to use GumTex.

As for the cake here's is probably *the best* one for your needs

The *original* WASC cake recipe by kakeladi
1 box cake mix (I prefer Betty Crocker) *see notes at end
1 cup flour*
1 cup granulated sugar
generous dash of salt

1 cup sour cream*
1 cup water *
3 whole eggs
1 tablespoon flavoring*
In bowl mix together dry ingredients. It's helpful if you use a wire whisk, but optional. It's important w/choco cake not so much for other flavors.
In mixer bowl place next 3 ingredients. Add about 1/2 of the dry ingredients and blend together, then add the rest of the dry ingredients & blend. Mix for 2 minutes. Some tell me they just dump all ingredients into the bowl together. Some tell me they sift all dry ingredients together.
Pour into prepared pans * and bake as usual.

*NOTES: any cake flavor can be used. Match the flavoring to the cake flavor such use lemon/almond mix for lemon cake; strawberry/almond for a strawberry cake etc, etc. For most flavors you can use a mixture of vanilla, butter, and almond which is what I do most of the time.
You can use milk or cream for the liquid.
This recipe is based on mixing in a kitchenaid mixer. I use position #1 to stir it, then #4 to mix the batter.
Most of the time I forget to add the salt
On rare occasions I have used other brands of mix.
This makes the amount of batter as if you used 1 1/2 mixes and is perfect for a 10" sq OR 9x13 OR one 8" & two 6" round;OR two 8"rounds OR a 12" round; and other combinations of pans.
I prefer to bake at 300 degrees for about 20-30 minutes (depending on size of cake) then turn oven up to 325 for about an equal time. If cake has pulled away from sides it is overbaked. After cooling, the top might be a bit sticky.
Some people have told me they use plain yogurt instead of sour cream.
I've always used all purpose flour. Some tell me they use cake flour but then the amount is less - maybe 3/4 cup - not sure.

The flavoring I most often use is this mixture:
1 part vanilla extract
1/2 part butter flavoring
1/4 part almond flavoring

A "Part" is any measure be it teaspoon; tablespoon; cup or quart Smile Since I made many wedding cakes I usually mixed it up by the cup about once a month

I've made little animals out of rolled butter cream and it worked fine so you should be able to make bones out of it without any problems.