A friend asked me to make a cake for her husband and it is to be his gift from her. He is retired and they live on a farm. She said she wants it to reflect his favorite pastime: sitting on the porch swing, cup of coffee in hand, looking out at the cows! How can I translate that to a cake? How can I make a swing that will stand up and hold the weight of a gumpaste man? I don't think she wants silly, cartoon-y cows, but realistic ones. Any help or tips would be soooo appreciated!
Thank you so much!

Can you make it funny? Gumpaste man on the floor of the porch, fell down from the swing - or the swing with a hole (so you resolve the swing problem), the cup in the hand half empty and spilled the rest of the coffee. Looking on the (white) floor where the spilled coffee formed cow spots design or a flat laying cow. You can also make some real cow figures out of porch watching him. Maybe it's too crazy. Just an idea.

Okay I just "googled" gumpaste cows and I couldn't find one to show you that didn't look cartoony So maybe like the previous poster said you could see if she might want something on the funnier side of things? That would make things soooo much easier! As for the swing, I would make it out of RKT, that's the only thing I can think of that would hold the weight of the gumpaste man. You could cover it in fondant and give it an "antique" look. Hmmm... that's about all I have! Sounds like it will be a fun cake to make

Can you make the cake out of modeling chocolate~when it dries it should support a small man, howeber if you make his feet touch the porch from on the swing you could use a toothpick or such to take some of his weight off swing...hope this helps...sounds like fun...can you but the cows at Michaels.....just a couple and they wouldnt look cartoonish then...

Recently another CC member, Karen421, was very kind and responded to my question about some tiny little pigs around her cake. I could not figure out how she made them. This is her reply:

"Using Amazing Mold Putty, I made a mold of a little pig. Then I "cast" them in chocolate. I love Amazing Mold Putty, it's pretty inexpensive and for small & medium size things it works great!"

You can purchase some Amazing Mold Putty, some tiny plastic cows from a craft store, and make your own cow molds. You could then make chocolate cows quite easily.

Can't help with the porch, swing.

Hi, I think the swing made out of gumpaste and stuck together with royal icing perhaps with some form of support in the upright parts, Maybe dowels covered with fondant would work, as for support as it isn't actually going to swing couldn't you just use sponge under the seat part to support the weight of the man, as for the cows i know on ebay you can buy candles that look like realistic cows (Item number: 23050712439 Good luck with your cake...can't wait to see the result.

Oh, wow, you guys have some great ideas! Thanks so much for helping. I also like the idea of going with humorous! I was thinking maybe a cow on the swing with him, legs crossed, holding his own cup of coffee! Haha! I'll see how she feels about it. I'll definitely consider your ideas!

Oh, my hubby came up with another idea for the cows! Use a realistic looking cow cookie cutter, sandwich two of them together with something thick between so that they're 3-D and look like like cows from both sides (as opposed to propping up one decorated cookie.) Does that make sense? I've found some pretty cool cutters online.

I LOVE THE IDEA OF THE COW ON THE SWING HAHA THATS GREAT