I'm attaching a picture of the building cake I am planning on making. I cannot figure out how to make the delicate, wrought-iron fence. Pipe it in royal? Make it with gumpaste? But then can I use an extruder if I use fondant with tylose or gumpaste or do I have to roll out all those strings by hand? Which will be less likely to break and easier?

I need your help, fellow cakers! Any help is appreciate.

How about trying the the RI made with the gumpaste mix that has been talked about in a few threads lately. It could be piped with a small tip. let dry and be a bit flexible? Maybe someone who has tried it can elaborate on this....I have it in my 'to try' category now!

I like using chocolate, in my pics the gate on the princess cake is white chocolate. Just make a template,pipe and put in fridge to harden.

bibsbqueen: I was considering the flexible royal icing but am not sure if it would hold up enough to stand up on its own. I might have to try it out!
Yums: Chocolate is a great idea! I am afraid it will harden quickly. How do I make sure it's liquid enough to keep piping? Can I set my oven on low and stick it in there, or should I keep microwaving it at intervals?

I tape my image to a baking, cover that with wax paper and put in fridge or freezer for awhile so when my chocolate hits it, it firms up. I melt my chocolate in a plastic piping bag and I think it stays liquid for awhile. I did four gates and had enough to fill some candy trays before it was too cool to pipe with. Maybe the heat of your hand helps? I'm not sure I would put it in the oven tho, you don't want it to run and ruin your image. A least if you mess up, you can pull off and re-melt

When I am using chocolate I use my heating pad to keep the chocolate warm. I heat it first in the microwave, pour it into my bag with the tip and place on the heating pad to keep warm. I place alum foil on top of the heating pad so not to make a mess, but it keeps the chocolate warm so I don't have to re-heat in microwave. But, you can't let it get too cool. You could use two different bags so when one needs to be heated put on pad and then use the other one.

HTH,
Carol

Chocolate works, but it's not very strong - especially when it's standing up. I wouldn't risk using it on a project of this magnitude.

I haven't tried the royal/gumpaste mixture, but I already like the idea better than chocolate. Royal icing alone would work. There's also unbreakable gel. I haven't tried it myself, but have heard it works great for stuff like this.

No matter which medium you use, you're going to need to make a lot of extras just in case.