i recently got dummy cakes and was excited to use them.
i for the life of me - could not cover those things. i wanted to cover them in fondant for practice cakes.
heres what ive done so far:
1)fondant on plain dummy cakes. i tried wilton/mmf/satin ice.
2)plastic wrap dummy cakes then applied fondant.
3)press n seal on dummy cakes then fondant.
4)press n seal on dummy with buttercream then fondant.
none of the above worked for me!!
the fondant kept cracking and tearing.
also the one thing i was turned off on was- there is no weight to the dummys and was very hard smoothing the fondant.
but if i could have gotten them covered i probably would have over looked it.
TIA

giving myself alittle bump-hoping someone will read and advise what im doing wrong?!?!

Hmmm, I'm not sure why you are having problems. Sometimes, especially the smaller dummies, I would get some tearing.

Here is what I do: Isand the top edges just a bit, rub a layer of shortening all over the dummy and then cover.

I like to put my dummy on this non slip mat. I also use two smoothers. One on the top and one on the side. The top smoother helps everything keep in place. I make sure there is movement on both smoothers. I hope that makes sense.

yes it does rylan thank-you.
i did use crisco on the fondant but not on the dummy and now thinking about it it was so stick and dry maybe that would work.
with cakes when i cover in fondant. there is alittle give in the cake.
hmmm maybe thats my problem.
i tried for a long time last night trying to cover them-im used to yelling at my cakes....now im yelling at dummies!!!! haha.
thanks for the info.

Aundrea, Crisco is the only thing I use to stick fondant on cakes/dummies (I use ganache on real cakes so it forms a shell). They will stick securely and if you have a mistake, it is easy to remove.

I hope everything works with you. I get those problems once in a while and I get so frustrated with my cakes. Sometimes a little rest will help, haha.

I've recently tried a dummy cake for the first time and yes it was difficult because the dummy kept sliding but thats an easy fix. To apply fondant to the dummy try a spray bottle of water but don't over do it. Hope this helps.

yes i started using gnache under my fondant too-thanks to you!!
never thought of the crisco for dummy cakes.

I wanna play with dummy cakes too, I need to order me some. Can any of you point me to the right direction as to where to get them at a decent price?

Thank you I would really appreciate it.

they are not much-i think global sugar art sells them. not sure how much. i got mine 10,8,6 for $4.00. i think a guy in my state CT sells them.

When I need to cover a dummy, I get some strong double sided tape and tape it down to my work surface. Once covered and set, I slide a thin spatula under it and pop it free.

I'm willing to ask for help.

The best dummy I've ever done; involved me rolling out on shortening and sanding the edges of the dummy with a finger nail sander they use for fake nails.

It looked gorgeous for about 3 days. The bottom started rippling for lack of a better word. I could put my index finger in one of the ripples.

I'm bad about using piping gel, normally too much. Should I have done an extremely thin film of that to seal the bottom of the dummy?

Sorry you had such issues. They are really light and move around a lot making it hard to cover. I use the press and seal also, then dampen it lightly with water.

But you didn't mention if you had sanded down the edges. That could cause the fondant to consistently tear. Just wanted to check about that.

I ordered my cake dummies from http://www.dallas-foam.com/ they sell many different shapes and you have the option of getting contoured edges (so the fondant doesn't tear). Their site was a bit confusing for me, but they do have an eBay store with clear photos so you can see exactly what you're getting. I actually sometimes ice my cake dummies with a very thin layer of icing so the fondant will stick (and when i'm done I just clean them off with hot water). But I'll be trying the shortening method next time!

You could also put a little dab of icing under the dummy and stick it to a cake board or turntable so that it doesn't slide everywhere while you're working on it.