hi everyone. i am a newbie to cake decorating. just took my 1st class 6 months ago and fell in love with it. this website is fantastic and i have learned a lot from all of you!!! my problem is my cousin is asking me to make her wedding cake for her in november. and she wants 5 layers.4 will be dummies and only one real cake. (she has a dessert buffet so the cake is just for show). my problem is she wants a tall cake with each layer 8 inches tall) how do you cover 18 inch cake that is 8 inches tall>is it possible?

i have 6 months to practice so i hope you guys can give me tips. need all the help i can get . thanks.

-ann

Welcome cakedoc88, nice to *meet* you.

Hmmm - like the rest of us you are going to have to roll your sleeves up and roll, roll, roll, roll, and then roll some more.

So i am guessing that the actuall 8inch high cake will be 2 x 3 inch individual cakes - torted (2 or 3 times) and then ganached/filled. supported with eithr wooden dowells or the sps sytem that is talked about on here....and with the fonant on top you will achive the 8 inches in height you need?

If the cake is to be 18 inches round - then you measure ....

Up one side = 8 inches
Across the top = 18 inches -
Down the other side = 8 inches

Which gives you a total of a 34 inch round diametor.....
plus a few inches more for the overhang which you will need to trim away from the base of the cake.

Thats a lot of fondant -
Just remember to keep turning the mat your fondant is on - so as to roll it out evenly to about a 1/4 inch thickness.
Depending on what you prefer - some use cornflour or powdered sugar or even shortening to stop the fondant from sticking to the mat and rolling pin.

Sorry, but you just have to keep rolling - a good hint would be to get yourself a large sturdy rolling pin - or as some use - a long piece of pvc tubing/piping.

Rember also that everytime you *roll* the fondant will shrink back just a tad - so just take it steady - and you will achieve the size you need.

Once rolled - i usually leave my regalice/fondant for a few minnies to firm up - so as it doesn't sag and tear when lifting it up on the rolling pin and placing it on the cake.

Wishing you luck - but as you say - start having a few practise shots - just to see what best method and size of pin/tubing will suit you.

Don't strees - there are plenty of people here to help you walk through it if you get or
Just walk away if you start getting - breath in and then out - and you will get there.
Do you have a snap or link of the cake the Bride to Be is wanting..

Bluehue.

i had to roll something huge once i found once i rolled it on the pin to move it , it stuck together so now i put wax paper in betweenwheni roll it up and i suggest not useing shortening it might get to wet and rip when rolling it this big

thanks bluehue, krissycupcakes for your replies.

i guess i will really have to do a lot of rolling.... thanks for all the tips.. no specific design for the cake yet. she has an asian motif and wants cherry blossoms but the final design is up to me....good thing only one of the cakes is real so i can make the dummies ahead of time. i think i will be bugging all of you for advice as the date gets nearer....

I have just been having a discussion with a cake decorating friend from Brisbane and she told me of a well known guy who was demoing a high cake and he rolled out the fondant in a straight strip higher than the actual cake and then rolled it around the cake like a bandage and then gathered the top up like you would when putting someones hair up, and trimmed off the excess and managed to smooth the top and the join and you couldn't see the joins. Usually there is another layer on the top or if it is the top layer flowers etc. Sounds feasible but I am yet to try it. I think it would be easier than rolling out and putting over roller and placing on the cake with the chance of it tearing. Has anyone else heard of this?

I have covered a 12in high cake with fondant and used the bandage method. It's still not easy to do though! You roll a disc the size of your cake first and put that on the top of the cake, then roll a strip of fondant the circumference of your cake and rol it around. For an 18in round tier, you will need a strip 5ft (60in) long, so I hope you have a very big table to work on!!!

Yes - and as i slap myself stupid i can't for the life of me think why i never said anything about it in my earlier posts -

The purple bottom tier of my Mardi Gras Cake (as seen in my photos) was covered this way.
Keeping in mind it was only an 8 inch round cake - not 18.

It was easy to do - and with my *smedger* i just smoothed the top over to join up with the side piece.

Sorry i nevr mentioned it .............*slap*

Bluehue

I recently covered a wedding cake with 7" tall tiers in fondant. The largest cake was a 15" round. I was a nervous wreck about it, but luckily everything turned out great.

The tips I can give you are:
1) Have plenty of fondant so you don't have to roll it too thin.
2) The fondant was too large to fit on my rolling pin, so I tried the vinyl method and that was a disaster. I ended up just rolling the fondant out on my counter with enough powdered sugar to keep it from sticking. I lightly marked the center of the fondant. Then picked it up with my arms and centered it over the cake.
3) When putting the fondant on the cake, don't let it hang down below the bottom edge of the cake. The extra weight of the fondant will pull down and start tearing along the top edge of the cake. (For example: my 12" and 15" cakes were too large to fit completely on the turntable. So instead of using the turntable, I just set the cakes on my counter.) HTH


Good Luck!!! and welcome to CC, you'll love it here!

Sorry....double post.