I have to make a 3 tiered square cake 6",9" , and 12" squares each tier turned slightly (like pic. attached) and the bride wants sugared grapes on either side of the tiers..........now there's only a 3-4" space to place the grapes on each side so it won't be a HUGE bunch of grapes, but I'd like them to slightly dangle down the cake they're on.......do I need any type of support for the weight of them??? Or what about something to anchor them onto the cake??? Anyone done this before?? I guess I'm afraid they'll either smoosh and rip the corner off of the cake......or that they'll just simple roll over the edge ripping it up or at the least ruining the icing job!

Any help would be very much appreciated!!


Tina

P.S. Does anyone know of any greenery that's non-toxic that would look good with the grapes?? I know, i know....grape leaves.......trouble is I can't find any. Would it look tacky to use fake? Not even sure I can find those...but I could try. Wondered if there were any other types of green readily available at the florists that would look nice with the grapes?

Is your cake buttercream or fondant?

I didn't really dangle them down like you're intending to, but I've done something similar in buttercream and they just stick easily. (If the edge wasn't large enough, I'd anchor it with a bend "bobby pin" of florist wire hidden between the stems.)

thank you so much antonia (gorgeous cake......as always) I was hoping when I saw there was "1" reply that it was going to be from someone I could completely trust (and it was!!)....thanks so much


The cake is going to be buttercream, and about the floral pins...I actually thought of them when I wondered if I needed to anchor them.......guess I'll pick up a bag of them just in case!!

Thanks again........oh..........by the way.......how far in advance can you sugar the grapes?? and did you use super fine sugar or just regular granulated??

Hugs to you!

I only sugar the night before or the morning I'm going to use them. If you do it further in advance you risk them getting too dry/crusty/chippy and weeping can happen after a day or so as well. It's not stronger the longer they sit, IMHO.

Superfine sugar, all the way! Here's what I do, just cut and pasted from another thread, more info than you needed....


- I use egg whites, about 4 or 5 at a time and add about 1tsp of water to that. Mix it up, but don't create lots of foam.

-you need the superfine sugar for this (the really fine sugar that is often called Jelly sugar...not the regular kind you bake with. The regular (granulated) will work, but doesn't look as delicate at all.)

-don't wash the grapes beforehand...unless you have hours to let them dry completely. Also, make sure they are room temperature...not just out of the fridge, because you don't want the condensation to ruin your work

-take a regular kids' paintbrush and brush the egg whites carefully onto the grapes, just like painting. Don't glob it on or the sugar will cover it in globs. Paint thinly and evenly.

-drop the grapes into a deep bowl full of the superfine sugar. Now, WITHOUT actually touching the grapes, pick up handfuls of the sugar and coat the grapes. You can reach your hand underneath the bunch and turn them in the bowl...but don't touch them directly. Your hand will brush off the egg before it can get sugared.

-when they are evenly coated, slip your open hand underneath the grapes and ease them out of the bowl...shaking the excess sugar off carefully

-place them on a baking rack to dry overnight

-don't put them in a cold or chilled area, or the sugar will get damp and it won't crust

The dollar tree sells fake grapes with the grape leaves on them.

wow antonia thanks.......I didn't get a message that there was reply so I didn't have your instructions........BUT I did it exactlly like you said........only thing is..........I couldn't find any superfine sugar ANYWHERE. Wal-Mart was the only place that even had a spot for it on the shelf and they were out!!

Well, here was the final result. i dinged up the icing pretty badly during assembly. I put the fondant ribbon on at home and then stacked them on site and the ribbon was trying to fall off and was messing up the icing. The bride could've cared less, she was thrilled as was her hubby....so I guess that''s all that matters is that they didn't see the mess ups.
The bride was all upset because she forgot the cake topper, but I was like "no prob...I have an extra bunch of grapes" (they were actually suppose to go on the bottom cake board) so I just stuck a few random grapes there.

Thanks for all the advice on them. I did them the night before and they were perfect. The picture doesn't show it but they looked gorgeous in the sunlight in the room the cake was in.

Thanks again

I thought I'd check back and see how it went. Your cake is BEAUTIFUL! (I'm kinda glad the bride forgot the topper! The grapes are even better.)