I think I have an idea of how to make this but I am not completely sure. Do you place the cake on something to rise the cake a little and then apply the fondant to give it the look like it is standing on nothing but fondant? Also do you think this "stand" is made of fondant or gumpaste. I am worried that gumpaste would crack.

Ugh I can never get attachments to post. Here is a link:

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2s12nmb&s=7

Are you talking about the stand in the middle of the cake? I imagine that it's a regular stand and the cake was designed to match. It sure looks like painted metal to me.

Otherwise, I'm not sure what you're referring to.

I haven't personally ever made anything this extravagant, but to me it looks like the cake is on a actual gold stand supporting the various tiers. They either bought it this way or had it special made. I don't think anything other than an actual stand could support such weight.

That and also the Gold on the outside of the stand. According to Ron Ben-Israel the entire stand is covered in sugar. It is sort of hard to describe I suppose.

To make it structurally more sound, how about making the gold part with styro foam and adding the details with gumpaste before painting it or covering it with fondant too, will not add too much weight but give you the support you need without all the breaking

Thats what I was thinking. Have the structural part of the stand be styrofoam and then cover it in the decorated fondant. The cake is for a contest so it will be cake dummies (already checked with the judges and they said it was okay) so it won't be too heavy.

the bottom tier is sitting on a base of some sort, like foam that is smaller in diameter so you don't see it. then it is covered in the gold covered piping. the "feet" that are around the bottom tier are placed afterwards to look like they are supporting the bottom tier. and then the entire cake is sitting on a gold platform.

Sounds exciting. Good luck in the competition.

Thank you all. I am very excited about this cake. I am just hoping it comes out how I want it to look. I am not super experienced but I always like to try to go above and beyond just to see how I do. I am just hoping the whole thing doesn't crumble and crack in front of me. This cake also has to travel about 6 hours through Florida.