so my old boss is retiring (not meaning he is old but that he isn't my boss anymore ) - my boss before him gave the idea that I should do a Tilley hat shaped cake (safari style hat) as that is what he is known for wearing everywhere!

How would you do this for 40 guests? One giant hat? A hat on a round tier? Would you make the brim out of gumpaste so it could dry folded up?

Help please!

I would set it on a base with the brim up on the side - - I like the way that looks. Here is a good tutorial for making a cowboy hat, but it wouldn't take much to adjust for the tilley hat. HTH

http://www.ehow.com/how_7776344_make-gum-paste-cowboy-hat.html

I would probably do a hat on a round tier as well. I think it would be easier to shape a hat out of 50/50 gumpaste/fondant then it would be to carve a cake into the right shape. That's probably because my carving skills are pretty limited. If you are a good carver then the hat out of cake would be cute. I'd just put it on a fun cake board to make it stand out.

Actually, for a tilley hat, there shouldn't be too much carving - - it's pretty much round to start with.