I've been asked to make a 3-D sand pail cake tipped over on its side with 'sand' spilling out of it and gumpaste sea shells and a shovel on the side. It needs to feed 15 people, but I will have to carve it, so I know it will take longer. Would the cake fall down if I hollowed it out a little to put the 'sand' inside? Anyone have any ideas about how they would do this, and more importantly how much they would charge for this?

Ok here's how I would do the cake so that it doesn't require much carving at all:

1) Since it only needs to feed 15, I would use a large can to bake the cake (like those big bulk cans that you can buy nacho cheese or tomato sauce and such in at Sam's.)

2) Slice a slight bit off one side of the cake once baked so that it sits on its side without rolling around. Then place on cakeboard on its side. While completing this step, use gumpaste and let dry around can while it lays on its side. This will be your 'bucket' so you will want to mold it accordingly.

3) Slice the top of the cake at an angle (if the cake is laying down, the top would now be on the side.)

4) Use Nilla Wafer crumbs mixed with brown sugar for sand (run them through the food processor if you have one -WORKS GREAT!) Buttercream your cake and press the 'sand' into the slanted side of your cake.

5) Place your DRIED gumpaste pale over your cake (you should now really start to see it take shape.) Sprinkle more sand all around your cake and voila!

That would be the simplest way, IMHO, to do this cake. If you did it this way, I would probably charge about $75 for this cake, but that really depends on average prices in your area.

so what size would the pail need to be, and would the cake bake all the way through? For the gumpaste, would I make the whole entire side of the pail, or just the part where the cake is carved out???

I would think you would want the cake to be about 12" long and maybe 8-10" wide at the widest point, if you only need 15 servings, it really doesn't need to be too big.

For the gumpaste, you will need to cover all of the can except for the part of the cake that you cut off. Does that make sense?

I love this idea!!! I'm going to borrow this for inspiration on a cake this weekend. Only I don't have a can that I could bake in, so I'm thinking of using my 9x9 pan and do 3 layers, then carve. Thank you both for the inspiration!

Here's a diagram. I'm sure this will make it as clear as mud!

you could bake the cake in a terracotta pot.

Thanks for the diagram. That definitely helps, especially in figuring out the gumpaste part. I still really have a hard time estimating the number of servings I would get from a cake like this. If I were to carve this cake, would I need to make it 8" high, 8"wide and 12" long, so that it ends up being 8" at the widest part when laying on its side? That would mean that I would need to dowel the cake in the middle as well, correct? This seems like it would be a lot of cake for 15 servings. If I'm using the Wilton chart for cutting 1"x2"x4" pieces, than would I have enough cake given the amount I will need to carve out, or will I have too much?

If you're carving the cake out from stacjed up rectangular layers, I'm not really sure what size you would need to start with. Maybe someone else would know. I would try to bake the cake in a can or terra cotta pot like someone else suggested. That way, you son'r have to worry about carving so much. I think, IMO it would be best to err on the side of too large than not large enough.

So if I baked it in a terra cotta pot, would it be considered 'food-safe'? Has anybody tried this before? Do you know if it would stick to the sides of the pot?

I can't help you there. I've never baked in a terra cotta pot before. I'm interested in seeing if it works though. I would assume that you would grease and flour it just like you would any other cake pan, but I don't know about the issue of food safety.

Also, if there is a way to make something food safe, you could just go down to Lowe's or Home Depot and get one of their silver metal garden pails. Then you would have absolutely no carving required!

Thanks so much!! I'm really excited to make this cake, and I hope it will turn out. If anyone out there has any additional advice, I'm definitely open to it! Thanks again misdawn, you've been a great help!