I am making 4 dummy cakes for a bridal show in January. I will be using a shortening based icing and satin ice fondant. I want to get started ASAP, but I am not sure if I should worry about the fondant looking dried out or cracking between now and then. So should I wait to cover the dummy cakes with fondant until January or would it be ok to cover them and get started now? And how long can I expect a dummy to last once it is covered?

I have a dummy covered in fondant that's 5 years old. It's fine. HOWEVER, I always buy some Wilton fondant from Michaels or Hobby Lobby or JoAnnn's with a coupon. I would NOT use my good, edible SatinIce for a dummy. Also you can just spritz the dummy with a tiny mist of water and then the fondant will adhere. No need for bc.

I smear the dummies up with shortening. If you ever want to pry the fondant off to reuse, it may help somewhat but it's still a bit of a job to chunk it off.

i still have a cake here that i won a blue ribbon on for my first cake show.It is as pretty as it was then, just dusty. same flowers ,swags, etc. so get started on it now and you won,t regret it.

Thank you so much for all the tips. That is a smart idea to get wilton...save a few $. And I never would have thought to spritz the dummys rather than make buttercream. I love to save time and money!

hello all together,

just a question because you said for a dummy you're using "only" wilton fondant. is that one of less quality? it's quiet difficult to get rolling fondant over here in austria/europe. so, I can get wilton, but prefer a swiss brand (massa ticino) called Carma. I did a dummy in advance for my in-laws 50. wedding anniversary. after a few weeks you could see a little difference because the already dried fondant looked a little dim. but with decoration on it absolutely no problem.

THX, olivia.

OMG just figured out how cheap satin ice from global sugar art is!!!!!

it's just 2.9dollar per pound. I pay - and that's cheap - 5.8dollar per pound for my swiss massa ticino IF i buy a minimum of 27.5 pounds.

if someone ever thinks about moving to europe: forget it!!!

Check Fondx - I believe it is actually cheaper than Wilton (38.00 per 10lbs) and it tastes so much better!!!!