I'm confused about trademarked characters... If a customer wants to order a cake with a character (like Elmo or Dora, etc) can you make the character out of fondant, gumpaste, modeling choc (or whatever you use) or is that a trademark infringement? Or are you only able to use commercially available products (like edible images or decorating kits)?

I've been avoiding taking orders for cakes with trademarked characters but this week I've had requests for two of them so I guess I need to find out the real answer!

You can't make them out of fondant for resale. (unless you've made arrangements to pay for the right to use the licensed characters.)

The "kits" sold by BakeryCraft and DecoPac can be used. The customer can also buy toys of the copyrighted characters and place them on their cake.

That's what I thought. Thanks for answering!