I am hoping that someone out there can help me out...

Okay so my godson's birthday is in July and I am making the cake (well, cakes) for his party. I wish I could put the blame on someone else, but somehow I got the bright idea to design three cakes. My godson is obsessed with Spongebob... as most kids are. So I am supposed to be making three different cakes. One is Spongebobs pineapple shapped house, the other is patricks rock house. I am not worried about those at all. I am worried about doing Squidwards house I am new to caking and have never carved cake before. Does anyone have any suggestion on how to carve that one or maybe even a template.

Each cake will be on a seperate cake board and will be connected to one another at time of set-up. Boards will be covered in a sandy colored fondant with the theme song piped all aroung the edges...

What did I get myself into...

I don't know what Squidwards house looks like (should coz spongebob is my granddaughters fav) but recently I had to make a giant shark cookie. I found a picture and then just used it to freehand a giant template. I used a cake board and just cut around it. I think maybe you could do the same sort of thing. Maybe you would have to do pieces like front sides. But I think that could work for the cake too. Good luck!!!!

When I made squidwards house I used round cakes stacked on one another..if you think of him as a shape its really just an extended flower pot turned upside down....I made the accent pieces out of fondant...I thought about carving the pieces out of the cake but just thought it would be too much of a hassle...I have pics of it somewhere on my camera and will try to post them for you...I hope that helps..

Is the Tiki house his? [img][/img]

Squidward house is the one in the middle

cerasmiles- That would be great if you could find those pictures. It would help me out alot!!

And thank you to everyone who is offering there assistance!

kaseysweetkissbakery, if you are in a jam, could you just bake a sheet cake and make smaller buildings to place on top? Maybe you could do rice cereal treat houses and cover them in fondant then make the Spongebob land around the buildings. Just an idea. I have had to scrap my detailed designs many times when things get too hectic.

Don't worry...you can absolutely handle this!!

I agree with Cerasmiles. I'd bake and stack four 6" or 8" cake rounds, level/fill/stack those and drive a center dowel for support. And those accent pieces wouldn't be hard to make from fondant. They're pretty basic shapes.

Would love to see pics when you're done next month!

Best of luck!

Yep...stack cakes then add fondant or modeling chocolate details. I would be more worried about the pineapple than the tiki house myself.

electronic turkey cutter....it's AWESOME

Thanks everyone...

I thought that the pineapple would be easier cause its just a like a rounded top. Then I would just figure out what to put on top. I am not that experienced with fondant or modeling chocolate. Would I adhere it to the cake before the frosting and detail process? I thought maybe just shaving the cake into that shape but didnt know if the gravity effect would take hold and fall off...

You can put the modeling under the final layer of fondant and on lop of the frosting, smoothing the fondant over the details. This will give the final look a smooth, all one piece type of look. OR you could use fondant details on top of the fondant layer. This would give it a look like the pieces are on top of the building, like bricks on top type of thing.

I hope that makes sense....sometimes I talk in tongue....

I think carving is the least of your worries! It is really easy...just carve semi frozen and do not use a really sharp knife. I use a steak knife. Just take off small bits at once. Fill after you carve.

The cake sounds reallly cool, but as a hobby baker I relate with taking on too much. I have learned to scale down my original plans like one poster suggested and believe me, the recipient is just as happy. Where else can you get a custom cake FREE or for next to nothing? And you dont have to tell them what you planned to do originally. I have also learned the word NO (with a sorry thrown in because I am Canadian of course and we apologize for everything)! I finally set a quota for myself and stick to it. I turned down 4 cakes this month and I was just fine with it and less stressed!

A sheet cake with little houses was a good suggestion. Though, I think you will be absolutely fine carving the Squid guys house, just try to make/bake the cake as close to the desired shape as possible and carve a little at a time, as I suggested. Make sure you have a solid structure to start with, as well. RKT would also be a good choice. Good luck! [/i]

Sweet thanks for the advice. When should I bake the cakes off? I dont know when to do it. I imagine it will take me a while to carve and decorate with all the detail. But I dont want the cakes to get old and gross. Is there a secret to this?