This may be a stupid question and one I really should know. I have to make a 50 topper for a cake. I'm planning to use either gum paste or fondant mixed with the stuff I can't remember the name (lol). Anyway my question is do I shape the numbers out of wire leaving a few inches at the bottom so they stick into the cake or do I make them on tooth picks? I'm going to make 2 just in case one breaks. Because they will be red Im' probably going to go the fondant route so I don't have go colour the gum paste. Would you use red pearl dust to make them sparkle or something else?

Thanks
Pam

use 50/50 fondant gumpaste. i think the word you are looking for, could it be gum traganath (not sure of spellings). i am sure a tooth pick should do depending on the size of the figures. i have made them with only fondant too, takes longer to dry. 50/50 will be stronger. not sure how well it would cope with transportation. unless you stick it on at the venue. I apply the colour to the paste, and once dry apply coloured pearl dust. HTH.

If you are making a large one I would make it out of gumpaste only. And while still sof insert small skewers, then let dry. I do this all the time and haven't had one break or fall during transport (not yet anyway, knock on wood)

Thanks all. It was actually tylose I couldn't remember but gum traganth is the same. I would prefer to do a 50/50 mix or all gum paste except that it has to be red and I'd rather not colour it. I've got satin ice red fondant which I'm using on the cake and if I mix it with the gum paste it will change colour and I'm trying to avoid that. If you saw my previous post about my customer from hell, this is for her. . So I'm looking to avoid any chance of her complaining. And she will if the colour is off. LOL.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm going to put it in at the venue I think and will definitely use the dust.

If you make them like this:

http://blog.pinkcakebox.com/nyc-themed-50th-birthday-cake-2010-08-12.htm

http://blog.pinkcakebox.com/sweet-16-butterfly-rose-topsy-turvy-cake-2009-12-23.htm

...you might need two little balls to hold the numbers, since they have rounded bottoms. Pink Cake Box makes a lot of numbers. The balls will make the toothpicks or skewers hold the numbers better and it will hide the toothpicks well.

Make more than one just in case!

Thanks! Those are great examples! And I'm definitely going to make an extra set, just in case.

Ok stupid question, but when you use the balls, where do you put the toothpicks?I'm confused, but cakes amaze me and I would like to try to make one some day.

Do you put the skewer through both the ball and the number? do you put the balls on the cake first or "glue" them together and then attach to cake with a toothpick?

My halo cake I have the number 13 on top....I put tooth picks(longer sandwich type) in the numbers when they were still soft....or you can make the hole for the toothpick and add it when putting it on the cake...gumpaste/fondant works well, but gumpaste dries fastest I think.

I use fondant with cellogen or CMC (or tragacanth if its all I have on hand). And I also use toothpicks to hold them into the cake. They dry overnight usually. I use my airbrush to colour them occasionally if I don't use coloured GP/fondant to start with.

I like making freeform numbers, but I also recently bought a silicon number mould I can use for chocolate as well as sugar or sugarpaste/GP. These are excellent for my quick orders I do for caterers needing a birthday cake for their catering jobs occasionally.

HTH!

I recently made a cake with a 40 on top and because the numbers were flat I couldn't jam wires up into them. So I made my numbers, let them dry hard, Then I turned them over, placed the top inch or two of the wire wire onto the back and secured it with a small rolled out rectangle of gum paste (glued down with water). Then let that dry and they are ready to go down into the cake! I made sure to have about 4 inches of wire under the numbers to go down into the cake...it can never be too sturdy!

Here's a pic of the cake...
http://stuffbystace.blogspot.com/2010/10/miami-dolphins-birthday-cake.html

Always leave more wire or toothpicks/skewers than the height of your finished numbers. Once dry, they can still pull out of the cake/lean over/twist around, but if you have the supports deep enough into the cake, they will stay secure. I do a lot of numbers on top and you just have to learn from experience where to stick the wires. Especially on the zeros... you can't use an angled wire and expect it to line up with any other number you add to it. Also tears up the top of the cake. I use a bit of flowers, leaves, pearls, etc to disguise the picks.

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1678842