Just thought I'd share the techniques I used in order to get the cricut cake to work for me.

I got so so frustrated with it that it has been sat in the box since Christmas and I have only taken it out a handful of times. I set myself a challenge with my black and white engagement cake that I would get it to work, since I suggested the design to the client!

Here's the finished cake:

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1) Rolled to number 5 on my pasta machine, then put it on a lightly crisco'd mat.
2) Rolled to number 6 on my pasta machine (thinnest setting), then put it on a lightly crisco'd mat.
3) Hand rolled onto a lightly crisco'd mat itself to as thin as I could get it.

I then wrapped each mat in one layer of Saran Wrap and put it in the fridge overnight (for about 12 hours)

Options 1 and 2 wouldn't cut intricate details such as the scrolls I put on the side of the cake and it barely cut out the letters and would only do them if they were large with no intricate parts like an a or e. The pieces were unusable.

Option 3 worked perfectly for the scrolls and the letters.

I needed another mat with the gumpaste on it so I hand rolled some more onto a couple of mats. I tried to cut it straight away to see if it would work, it didn't, the paste would slide around and get caught in the blade. So I put one in the freezer and one in the fridge. I took the frozen one out after about 10 minutes, it would cut but wasn't clean and it couldn't cut the intricate details. The one in the fridge I left in for a couple of hours and it wasn't as good as the one which was in the fridge for 12 hours but it was better than all the others.

The one which I took out of the freezer I just left on the side until I was going to clean up so I decided to try it again once it had air dried for a bit. It was okay but the edges were jagged because it was dry. I tried to cut the design from the top tier of my engagement cake from this gumpaste and it wouldn't cut the top two parts cleanly, it would only cut the bottom part and this is why I used those as part of the design. In order to hide the jagged edges I turned the pieces over to get the smooth side from the mat on the surface. I also cut the letters with the flip on so I could turn them over and use the smooth side.

Another thing I found was that if the paste was sticking, if I took the blade out and wiped it to get any paste residue off it would improve the cuts.

Sorry that this is realllllly long but I just wanted to save other CC users the heartache I felt when I couldn't get it to work for me! And also, this might not work for everyone due to humidity/temps in other countries. I'm from the UK so it's pretty cool at the minute, about 65-70 F, with very little humidity.

thanks for the tips. going to try that gumpaste recipe with my machine

I am going to try your instructions. I have been with the results and my C just sits in the closet.