I am making a cake with a firefighter helmet sitting on top of a roll of hose. They only need cake for 40 so I was thinking.....

Can I just make a helmet out of fondant/gumpaste molded over a helmet and left to dry? Will it be too flimsy to hold up and crack? It would be lifesize, molded over my husband's helmet.

I am trying to save some bake time since they don't need that much cake. It is a duel party and I am doing a baseball theme cake also...TONS OF CAKE for 40 people.

In theory you can do this, but in my experience (never w/something this big) it can be a challenge to get it to dry properly, since the real helmet is nonporous i.e. air won't circulate thru it. Also you will need to line it w/something to prevent it from sticking, as just cornstarch/ps/shortening may not do the trick. I'd try to wrap it tightly in saran first and allow a LONG time to dry...like a week! I had to allow that long when I made a "gift box lid" which I had dry on a cake pan. Took forever.

Personally if you make it thick enough I don't think it would be too flimsy, but I'd tend towards straight gumpaste for ultimate stability.

Better yet, how are you at modeling...do you think you can do the helmet from RKT?? I know that might not save you any time...but could save some headache!

I agree, very difficult to get it off and not crack or break. I would either make it in cake or polystyrene. Cover the foam with piping gel or runny royal icing for a good stick.

Thanks guys. That is what I was thinking. I think I will just bake the cake since she agreed to pay for the extra cake even though it isn't needed. I don't have a week to let it dry, it is due Saturday. (last minute order by a friend).

As always CC is the best!!!!!