Just wanted to get my fellow ccers opinions. A client wants this cake (pictured below) done for her engagement party next week but she and her fiance DO NOT like fondant. Would this cake be easy to do in buttercream and if it can be done what should I be cautious of? TIA for your assistance.

I would say it could be done in bc....I would definitely consider airbrushing it black (just the thought of black icing through and through...ugh)...if you airbrush it black, guests will be able to scrape the color off and enjoy white icing against the cake...not so if it were colored icing...they'd have to trim part of the cake off to be rid of the black...

airbrush the lid as well to be sure the blacks match...

(at least with fondant, those who don't like it, can pull it off...not so easy to do with black icing

wilton invented fondant for a reason. Sometimes you just have to do it. it pells off nicely.

It can be done in buttercream, but really, I don't think it will look nearly as nice.

If you want a cake with a true illusion of something real, fondant is the way to go.

Why frustrate yourself trying to make buttercream look like fondant, anyway????

As the previous poster said, they can peel it off!
Remember, except for end pieces, most servings will have a thin 1x2 inch piece of fondant on it! Good grief!

I tell people to eat their cake from the bottom up, scraping the buttercream from under the fondant and to then eat the fondant like a piece of salt water taffy.

JMHO
Rae

I don't know how easy it would be for you to do it in buttercream, but it looks like it is buttercream in the photo to me. If it was done in fondant, the edges would probably be more rounded, and the bands of ribbon around the sides would most likely have been rolled and cut in one length instead of the start and stop points at each corner as if it was piped with a bag of buttercream.

yes a joke.

I agree with what you all have said about peeling the fondant off and I've suggested this to them but they are insistent that fondant not touch any of the cakes that I'm doing for them (they must have had some sort of weird experience with fonant). I also agree that the cake will not have as finished and professional a look as if it were done in fondant. I do not own an air brush yet, so I will have to see if they will go with another color. I will also take another shot at convencing them to go with the fonant instead of buttercream. Thank you all so much for your input...I knew I came to the right place for help

Yikes... I get a lot of people asking for buttercream instead of fondant here... and usually that's fine. But that much black coloured buttercream is going to taste SO bitter and gross. Worse than their opinion of fondant I bet!!

Would they be willing to try a sample of your cake with buttercream and fondant on it?? To know exactly what they're getting?

If not, I might suggest an ivory coloured buttercream with pearl dust all over it. That way it's still pretty, and they get the icing they want.

Good Luck!!!

why not make them up a small amount of black buttercream to taste so they can understand the bitterness?

You can, but let them know that the bow will need to be fondant. You can get a good tasting black BC by starting with chocolate BC, but let them know that black BC will turn all their guests mouths black. I use black BC only as accent colors never as the main color.

I emailed her last night informing her of the pros and cons of all buttercream vs. fondant I just checked my email and she hasn't responded...I'll let y'all know what she says. Thanks again

I agree with the poster who said it already looks like its done in buttercream. I think that's what they did in the photo.

The icing shouldn't taste bad if you start with a nice dark chocolate first. My biggest concern isn't with the taste so much as the staining ability esp if kids are eating it.

I think if you try to do this cake in buttercream it is going to end up on cake-wrecks. It looks tricky enough without trying to make buttercream look like fondant. Good luck either way.

When I have to do a cake in a dark bc, I crumbcoat in white first. Then the black bc won't have to be so thick.

Maybe they'll let you start with chocolate bc, then you won't have to add so much black.

Hey, maybe you can show them a picture of a gray jewelry box and talk them into gray rather than black. Here's one from a quick google:

http://images.marketworks.com/hi/50/49514/crafts-jewelry_box-gray_velvet_pendant.jpg

You might want to make up some MMF and have them taste that. It tastes MUCH better than regular store bought fondant. They may of had a bad experience with the regular fondant - not knowing there are other options.

Well...she insists on all buttercream which is fine but she also wants the ring to look like her ring (pictured below). Any ideas on how would I go about making the ring? Ithought that I could start with a styrofoam ring covered in gumpaste or fondant but what about the diamonds???? Any and all ideas appreciated! TIA

BTW this will be the 4th cake that I'm doing for her in the month of June so she is a really good client...a bit picky but good

How about these clear sugar gems? Of course, you'd only need one and you have to buy the entire package, but it's one way to go:

http://www.globalsugarart.com/search.php?search=gems

here is a tutorial for a bc gift box.. and I would airbrush it too!

http://www.make-fabulous-cakes.com/gift-box-cake-tutorial.html

Thank you so much JGMB and SherryCanary62 those are great suggestions!!!!