Hey all!

I am wanting to do a dummy cake with the look of buttercream. Will buttercream last, or should I use royal icing? Or can y'all think of something else instead?

Thanks in advance

Hi,
I have used regular buttercream on my dummies with no problems at all.

No need for royal unless you just want to.

KimAZ

Thanks KimAZ! I was just worried about mold or it going bad.. I'm wanting to use it as a display

I've done it with an all crisco buttercream. It is just going to get harder and harder the longer it sits, that's all.

I've always used lightweight spackling (yep, from the hardware store!) - the dummies become scrubbable and last longer IMO.

bakingpw; What do you use to decorate the spackling? I've been thinking I would try coloring the spackling to see if it would go through a decorating tip. [/quote]

The lightweight spackling is actually a little fluffier than BC. I use a pastry bag (designated), whatever tips I need, and yes, it colors beautifully! Just decorate as you would any cake, allow to dry. Spray with a poly if you want it shiny, otherwise it will be matte.

LOL! I work at Home Depot in the paint dept! I've thought about doing that but couldn't think of how to color it. Thanks!

buttercream will last forever and it will get super hard too./

ditto what sugarshack said. I did ALL of my dummies in BC and some were over 2 or 3 years old. Mold results from an invasion of moisture. The BC dries hard as concrete so there is no moisture to generate mold.

Folks who visited my shop and my show booths were always surprised when I said, "Sure! It's ok! YOu can touch them!"

I agree with bakingpw on the spackling. I've thinned mine slightly to get the consistency I like, which is usually like RI. I've done basketweave with it, and pansies. I use my regular Wilton colors to color it too. This way I know that it matches exactly what the bc would be. It's wonderful to work with and weighs next to nothing.

i have just been wondering about using royal as well i am going to find out how much that spackling costs though, if it is cheaper then icing sugar and butter then i may go that way

You will definitely end up cheaper using the spackle. And remember, you get a bit more even because you are adding some water to it. Not much, but it still makes it go further. And, you can keep what you don't use forever, as long as you keep it covered so it doesn't dry it. I know we paid under $20 for the large container, but I dont' remember exactly how much.

Are the pictures of the spackle cakes in your photo's?

I'm sorry, I didn't keep photos at the time. Mainly because we used ivory color in the plaster and it turned it a nasty rancid looking color. And it was such a good basketweave I did on that one.... lol Use the lightweight plaster, you can get it in Home Depot. Mix it with water to get the consistency you want, for spreading, piping, making flowers..... Use your regular food colors and you get the same color as using it in your bc. I love piping with it, like piping with Royal Icing, only easier, and longer lasting. I've been trying to come up with a design I want to make for a wedding cake for a friend who keeps one in her shop, just in case of a cake disaster for one of her brides, then I'll be doing another one. I think there might be some photos on here to see though. You'd never know the different between the plaster and RI. I do have one, that you may not be interested in seeing. We bought a basketweave dummy cake from ebay one year for Halloween. We added lots of bugs and spiders to it, so it's not exactly what you might want to see. lol

But, it is definitely worth trying.

Hi IndyDebi, would you be so kind to give the buttercream recipe you used for your dummy cakes! Thanks a ton!