Hi There Fellow CC'ers!

I have compiled a list of questions I have been meaning to ask all week. Hopefully someone can help me out by answering one, many or all of them.

Thanks SOOO much!!! I'm such a n00b (But we all have to start somewhere right?)

1. I am doing a Wilton House Stand Cake - The standing up one and I'm putting 2 house together to make it more stable - That being said, I've never inserted dowels into anything before. Where/how would you suggest I insert them into the cake to make sure it stays up and arrive safely at the event? I'm really afraid of it falling down - I've never done this before!!!

2. Do you tell the customer where the dowels are located and what to do with them?

3. I can't find a box that would fit the cake completely. How would I give this to the customer when they pick it up? Leave the box lid open/off? Do I cover it with saran wrap or something to keep foreign materials off it???

4. How long does it take for colour flow to dry? (I'm making a skull and cross bones)

5. Is there any way to speed up colour flow to dry?

6. Can colour flow be put in the fridge/freezer to harden quicker/better?

7. Can colour flow go directly on icing? Should I wait til the icing has dried/hardened a bit before putting it on?

8. Can colour flow and icing come in contact for more than 24 hours without ruining or running? (The customer is picking up cupcakes the day before the event)

Thanks sooo much for reading this and hopefully helping me out!!! I really appreciate it! This is my 2nd and 3rd real orders for items I have never done before and I'm am such a n00b and don't have that much experience!!!

9. Do I have to make the cake more "dense" to stand on it's own (with the dowels) or will just a regular cake box cake work? If I have to make it more dense, how do I do that?

2.) I always tell the customer where the dowels are, that way there are no surprises. But, I only deal with family and friends.

3.) I would just leave the lid off the box. I would worry plastic wrap might damage the cake.

As for colour flow- I've never used it. Hopefully someone else can help with that. Make sure you post pictures when you're done. I would love to see the finished cake!

I cannot answer all of your question but as for the dowels Yes I tell them they are there but I also slide brightly colored drinking straws over the dowels so they cannot be missed. I hope that helps some.

1) I don't really know about those kind of pans. If I were making a small house, I would do the base cake, then put dowels, cardboard, and then more cake to make the roof. tap one longer dowel all the way through the cardboard to ensure the cardboard for the top cake stays in place.

2) I tell the customer that there are dowel rods, but i don't often get toooo specific. I just say like, "there is one center dowel, you can't miss it. once you remove the top board, you will see the next set of dowel rods, there is 4 of them, they aren't tasty, so go ahead and take them out and you can throw them away"

3) you can place it in a box without a lid. I wouldn't cover it, they'll take it and stick it on a table with kids and adults poking it for 3 hours (or longer) before servings. If you are really concerned, you can lay a piece of wrap carefully. I sometimes take 2 boxes, and using some masking take, build a taller box. I tell the customer to bring some good scissors to cut the box away rather than try to lift the cake out. I very rarely do this double box thing. I did it once when the customer needed the cake a day ahead of time to travel with it, and another time when she said the back of her truck held her dogs *gag*

Sorry I can't help because the stupid pop up is covering 1/2 of the text and there is no way to move or delete it.

4. Depends on the weather. If it is damp or humid outside it may take longer. Dry weather it can be done in 24 hours, especially if it is done on cardboard.

5. Some have put in an over on a low low temp ie 100 with the oven door open, or use a fan to blow on, or place a reading lamp over top.

6. No, the humidity in the fridge will make the color flow take longer to dry.

7. Doesn't matter, although if you want to keep the color flow piece you can put s barrier between icing and CF, like cocunt, crushed nuts, parchment paper.

8. Yes, although the piece will probably soften a little. If there are bold colors they may. I would try to wait to put them on the latest possible

I have used color flow a couple of times, but I am not an expert. I made my design off the cake and allowed it to dry two days before use. I would not recommend putting color flow directly on the cake just in case you make a mistake.

for ur coluor flow questions I let in dry about 24 hrs. to be on the safe side. And it's best to pipe out ur design on wax/partchman paper , then once completly dried carefully peel it off and place on cake.

4. colorflow takes at least 24hrs to dry depending on humidity, how much you thinned it and how thick you applied it.
5. I have put mine in the oven with the oven light on and closed oven. Seemed like it dried quicker.
6.not sure
7. no, unless its royal. The grease in bc and other frostings will brealk down the clorflow.
8. no, either leave it adhered to the wax paper(and trim away with embroidery scissors, lay it on the cake that way-just tell cust. there's a layer of waxed paper. Or one of my old wilton books suggests putting it on mini marshmallows or sugar cubes-havent tried this and doesnt seem like it would work if doing something on the side. For me the wax paper works the best since you really need to remove it before cutting anyway.
not sure about #9
just reread about the cupcakes so now am guessing that maybe you are making a skull and cross bones as a cupcake topper? Any chance you want to do the skull in melting chocolate instead? That would definitely hold up, otherwise, I think I'd give the customer the colorflow pieces and a few extras and have her top them when she gets there.

looks like you got lots of help on colorflow so hopefully I can help with the house. I have made the wilton house and putting 2 together does not make it more stable. I have done it both ways. (in my pics, the church is a single wilton house, and santa's stable is 2 wilton houses back to back) That being said, if you just use 1 house, put a long dowel thru the top, thru the cake board to the cake below (which will have some supports in it to support the house). That will make it stable. If you still want to do 2 houses, the issue is keeping them together vertically.(it is difficult) Just putting frosting between them and either frosting or covering in fondant may not hold them together. What I did for extra stability was to put a dowel right thru the 2 houses horizontaly and slightly downward. (I left it showing and I disgusied it as a flag in my santa cake, hanging over the stable door)

Whoa!
Thanks for the awesome replies to my million questions!!

You guys rock!!! Sorry for any confusion caused though. I am doing a house cake for one customer and then skull and crossbone cupcakes for another customer who wants to pick up the day before the birthday :s

Ok so your saying to make only 1 house (instead of making 2 and putting them back to back?) I'm sooo nervous it will fall either way haha. And I will dowel it and tell the customer. How many should I put in if I am just doing 1 cake?

So if I make royal icing the CF will not melt or anything. Can I flavour the RI? I've never really worked with it (Just had the 2nd lesson of the Wilton Course 2 and made it for the 1st time last week) She wanted a vanilla flavoured Icing. I just want to make sure that it will look as good as when I had to her Saturday.

I have located a paper box that will be more than large enough for the cake. I'm going to put the cake in the lid and the larger part on top so they can transport it well. They have a dog they are taking with them (visitng the friend who just got the house) and I would HATE to have a dog hair in the cake if I left it open!!

Thanks for the CF answers. This is my 2nd time using it (1st was for the course and I still have my birds on the board as I'm afriad to take them off - class is sunday) I am going to try putting them in the oven and pray that works!!! It's supposed to be a rainy weekend and the A/C doesn't get installed until Tuesday so I don't want to risk it with the humidity in the house. Plus I've outlined them 2 days ago but I have to fill it in tomorrow (super busy tonight) so they will have 24 hours to dry and I will be placing them on the cupcakes the moment just before I walk out the door.

If I make the CF thin but not super watery thin will it help it dry faster?

And lastly, should I make the box cake dense for the house to withstand standing up? How would I do this?

Thanks a million again to all those who have replied. You don't know how grateful I am right now!!!

I am staying away from colorflow but with the house, are you putting it on top of another cake? If so and it has to travel, I would put 2 dowels thru house into cake below. (level the house 1st) If it is not going on top of another cake, just level the bottom of the cake and glue it with some frosting to your cake board. It will be fine, I have travelled with it and nothing has happened. But it is critical to make sure the bottom is level, the wilton house pan has a tilt to it. good luck

Sorry for the confusion on the color flow...if you are making cupcakes I would not top them with RI they will be rock hard, use your regualr frosting, and send her the colorflow pieces to top before the party. I wouldnt make them too thin as they will be more brittle and fragile.
Thats what I would do, maybe someone else has a different opinion. Honestly I've never put my colorflow on much more than a few (4atmost) hours before the party because I've always read it would break down....if you have time you could always make a bc swirl on a spare cupcake, or just a plate, then stick one of the colorflow pieces in the top and see how long it lasts.

Hey Everyone,

Thanks again for the replies - It really helped me out (Especially telling me NOT to put the colour flow items on top of buttercream!!! Didn't know it would break down!) I gave my customer the cupcakes and skulls separately.

I thought I would add photos of how it all turned out (And I'm not no pro so don't expect anything jaw dropping haha)

With the house cake, I couldn't get it to stand properly and I was really scared of it falling so I ended up putting it on it's side and decorating it that way. I wasn't too pleased with the outcome of the cake and charged the customer less than I quoted them. I originally told them $40 but then when they came to pick it up I said $20. Since it was my friend she refused the $20 amount and put $30 into my apron (since I was carrying the cake) I think she was just being nice. Thoughts?

I think you did a great job on the cupcakes, the swirls are very nice and the color flow as well. Great job. I dont know how big the cake is, You did a good job on it, the drop flowers are very nice. I know you'll get answers from people saying they never take less than $60 for an 8" cake or some such...but as long as you got back your supplies and you're happy with the amount thats whats important.

I think your skull and cross bones are way cute. Well, as cute as a skull and cross bones could be! ha! Seriously, they are very cool. Your swirls are very neat on the cupcakes as well.

The pricing on the house is always tricky. I agree with bbmom - it's really what you feel best about....

Great job!

The house is adorable. Sorry you had so much trouble getting it to stand. Did you level the bottom? I made another wilton house/church this weekend and travelled with it with no problem.