i was asked to create this cake for a weightlifters birthday this saturday. i typically ice my cakes in buttercream and have seen a few done in that, but not sure how to go about it. can a cake be iced semi-frozen? would you suggest that....

ANY help greatly appreciated

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsct/4805667689/

I don't have enough to experience to help you adequately, but since no one else has responded, I'll give you my opinion I cannot imagine how that is standing up, other than to assume that the cake parts are sandwiched between cake circle, which have holes cut in them to accommodate a non-cake parallel support (the handle part of the dumbell). Does that make sense?

I guess that's how I would attempt to construct it

So, say you used a 1" PVC pipe. You'd then measure/cut a 1" hole in the bottom cake board before placing the cake onto it. Then, place another cake board on top of the cake with the same hole cut in the center. Then, you'd cut the hole through the cake to match the bottom and top boards.

I'd then ganache and cover in fondant and cut the top and bottom holes through. Then let it dry. I would hope the whole part would be firm enough to stay together once lifted upright onto the pipe. After both sides were done, I'd cover the pipe in the black fondant.

Could you contact one of the makers of the cakes you are finding and ask for tips?

thank you both so much...i have attempted but the flicker/yahoo site was acting odd! i am beginning to stress :/

Oh, also check out the durable 3d cake recipes in the recipes forum. I think you'd definitely need a dense cake for this.

I just wanted to add what I feel that this is and it looks to me that it's not cake at all but RKT covered in fondant! I have covered many things in fondant and if that was a cake it would also be impossible to achieve. just my opinion.

I would do the barbels in rice krispy treats and set them on a cake. I don't see how cake could stand up like that, I'd be too stressed to try it.

I don't think it's really that impossible! To me the ends of the barbell look pretty small, and I think you absolutely could put a small round cake on end like that, stabilized by the bar in the middle, and not have it fall apart -- especially wrapped in fondant. I've done something similar for the roof of a house or tent cake, cutting a baked square into four triangles and standing them on end, and I know it's common to use half of a baked round set on end for some animal cakes. I'd try, say, 6" and 4" rounds or even smaller, and slice a bit off of one edge so they can sit flat on the board.

These instructions talk about using larger cakes but you can see there is a bigger slice taken off the bottom:
http://family.go.com/contests/cake-recipes/cakes/pound-cake-10320/

And this one uses some dowels for additional stability:
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/568283

I would definitely freeze the cake before setting it up. Mine are generally still firm and cold, but not actually frozen, by the time I'm done carving, arranging and crumbcoating.

Holly