Urgent Help Please! Elmo's Head Split In Half!

Decorating By littleninja Updated 8 Oct 2011 , 7:36am by sweettreat101

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littleninja Posted 6 Oct 2011 , 10:08am
post #1 of 17

hi,
I was wondering if anyone could offer some suggestions, I made an Elmo 3d cake and and the head( made of cake in sphere tin) decided to split in half tonight and I need to drop it off tomorrow arvo!
It had a centre dowl, but the cake didnt split near the dowl. It was covered in butter cream and I was just about to put fur on it.
Should I try cover it in fondant first and then fur pipe it? Would this make it stronger and not split again?
I also tried rkt for the first time tonight and it will not set and stay stuck together! What am I doing wrong! I'm about to pill my hair out!

Thanks in advance for any help!

16 replies
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noahsmummy Posted 6 Oct 2011 , 11:41am
post #2 of 17

whoa! sorry abou this! would send me insane too.. any chance of "gluing" it back together with icing???

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CakeItGood Posted 6 Oct 2011 , 4:30pm
post #3 of 17

This may be a really silly question for me to ask ... but do you have the pan where you cook each 1/2 of the sphere separately and then join them? If so, is it splitting along the seam? Do you just need to change the direction that Elmo's head is tilting so that the seam is horizontal vs. vertical?

If that is not the answer, maybe your cake is too soft/crumbly for scultures/spheres. If you are not able to re-bake in something more firm, would patch up the crack with buttercream and then use some cake spackle to firm up the outside of sphere.

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chefandbaker Posted 7 Oct 2011 , 4:25am
post #4 of 17

you could also try using rkt to form the head if all else fails. icon_sad.gif

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NancysCakesandBeyond Posted 7 Oct 2011 , 4:42am
post #5 of 17

You might can try to cover it in ganache and pop in the frig...it will firm up really well. Just a thought

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shawnteel Posted 7 Oct 2011 , 4:43am
post #6 of 17

I would also say use rkt. If it is coming out to soft you probably need to cut back the butter in the recipe. Good luck!

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gidgetdoescakes Posted 7 Oct 2011 , 6:03am
post #7 of 17

if rkt are too soggy add more rk.......if its already made and you need to patch it together use melted chocolate, and then pop it in freezer to harden quick...or fridge even......hope this helps....I usually cover rkt with melted chocolate to smooth it a bit, which is not needed with furry friends but it does add support to the rkt

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littleninja Posted 7 Oct 2011 , 10:01am
post #8 of 17

Thanks everyone for your advice, I tried patching but it didnt work.
I baked the cake in sphere tin where you flip it half way through baking so I comes out one solid cake so not sure why it split.
My rkt ended up setting hard by this morning so I have used that for the head hopefully it holds !! Thanks again!

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gidgetdoescakes Posted 7 Oct 2011 , 3:25pm
post #9 of 17

in future if you want to make the head of cake bake each half ball and glue together with a thin coat of buttercream....or a thick coat haha I love bc

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littleninja Posted 7 Oct 2011 , 6:59pm
post #10 of 17

should i put board in between the two halves too then? would this make it stronger too?

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shawnteel Posted 7 Oct 2011 , 7:08pm
post #11 of 17

I would put a board between the cake and the head and dowel it not only to support the head from breaking but also supporting the cake so it doesnt squish.

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gidgetdoescakes Posted 7 Oct 2011 , 11:48pm
post #12 of 17

I made elmo and used rkt and just formed a ball and then covered it with melted chocolate then after it was chilled and solid I piped fur on him, and never used a board....if you are using cake then it would be a good idea to use a board IF its not going to absorb moisture and then be useless....it needs to be coated or hot glue parchment or wax paper to it.......personally I think rkt is the way to go and then you dont need a board at all. hth

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littleninja Posted 8 Oct 2011 , 5:36am
post #13 of 17

Ok thanks for your help, greatly appreciated!

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cabecakes Posted 8 Oct 2011 , 5:57am
post #14 of 17

I would think that the structure of the head would be compromised if made completely out of cake. All the pressure would be on the center of the bottom of the sphere, thus making it highly likely that the cake would split. However, if you made the bottom of the head RKT and the top portion of the ball cake, the structure of the head would be much more stable.

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gidgetdoescakes Posted 8 Oct 2011 , 6:27am
post #15 of 17

I agree cabecakes......thats why I made mine out of rkt instead of cake.....much easier too

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Freedomx6 Posted 8 Oct 2011 , 6:38am
post #16 of 17

I had a cake made in the bear pan completely fall apart on me just like this.... I remade it using this pound cake recipe http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Chocolate-Pound-Cake and it held together great.... and was delicious!

The box cake was just to soft to hold the shape.

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sweettreat101 Posted 8 Oct 2011 , 7:36am
post #17 of 17

All else fails run and buy a round styro foam ball. Works great in a pinch.

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