AI've been asked to do a coliseum cake, with steps inside, I was thinking of using RKT as a wall around the cake and covering it with fondant then using Pasillage as the outer wall that has half fallen down and cut out the arches so you can see through them. I've done anything like this and never used RKT or Pasillage so very worried, does anyone have any advice? I'd be very grateful!!! (I'm in the uk btw!) xx

i would use crisped up fondant because it is more forgiving that pastillage--i crisp it up with added cornstarch--for example knead in a 1/4 to a 1/3 cup to a pound of fondant--adding tylose is also very popular for crisping up fondant

i like fondant because it has a forgiveness factor absent in pastillage~~

pack the rkt down real real tight in the general shape--just a bit bigger all over and let them set up overnight

then you can trim them --and you can get them super smooth with a microplane

rkt are good but they can require some support

the thicker the rkt the better it supports itself so i think you'll need this thinner in places or at least thinning out

so for an unbeatable substance depending on how thin you want it--you could whirl the rkt in a food processor then make the rkt out of that and pack that down nice & tight and it's very sturdy--would hold up under the fondant covering

but keep in mind you may need doweling too

maybe use a combination of both out-of-the-box krispies and food-processed krispies

i would love to see pictures if you feel you want the world to see your work

some cakes i can't wait for someone to hack them to bits with a machete so no pressure!!!  

AThank you so much for replying so quickly!! Will the firmer fondant hold up as a wall? I've made butterflies and they've not gone hard, i'm worried a wall might collapse? Thank you for the RKT advice, I didn't know you could do all that with them!!! They seem very popular with all the tv shows!!! I'm happy to put my photos up, I have to have the cake ready for next Saturday, I'm picking up the 12" oval cake tin tomorrow!!!! Arghhhhh!!!

that is what i would do because i know i can get the fondant to cooperate with me

pastillage would work but it's not my first choice

modeling chocolate is another idea

so you need to use what is best for you ;)

AI thought about modelling chocolate but I've never used that either!!! Would you suggest I use the strengthened fondant over the RKT as well?

if i was doing this i'd use store bought fondant right out of the bucket over the rkt

maybe knead in some shortening but no extra starch or sugar is how i would do it

but it doesn't matter how i would do it

in fact you need to do a little testing asap

make a little bit of everything asap and see how it handles for you

so you still have some time to scramble ;)

be prepared to perhaps black out the arches if necessary instead of cutting them ;)

you are biting off way too much in one week's time learning all these new things

i'm not saying it can't be done but dang wow it'd be too much for me if i hadn't started this a week ago

AYou're right!!! Especially as I have a 6yr old and a 4 yr old running around at the same time!!!! I started watching some US cake tv shows and got all these ideas!!!! Thank you so much for all your help!! X

i'll help some more --i'm just freaking out some for you ;)

at least you don't have a full time job and going to school on top of the two kidlettes while catering meals on the side do you?  :)

for all the arches--i'd make cookie cutters--so you have this drawn to scale do you???

how are you going to get the rkt molded???

possibly a more realistic way to approach this is to bake a two layer oval and make rkt* for the second tier which is the higher side of the colosseum

with all due dilligence to the proper doweling it needs to stand up there

and use black out for the arches and adorn around the arches with piping and fondant accents

you could do two layers of fondant-- one black then white on top and cut away the white to reveal the  arches--but that's not for the timid nor for newbies either

like i said yes it is possible the way you said but oh my with all new substances to make correctly and perform to their fullest extent--possible but not likely

but the colloseum is in ruin so a low threshold there :) jk jk 

*and you can use the empty cake pan to mold the rkt the shape you need

unless you already have a mold for that?

AThank goodness no!! They're on holiday so they'll be running about!!! I was hoping to use the pan as mould for the RKT but I'm hiring it so will only have it for a few days. It's oval and I didn't want to buy one! I have bought sone arches moulds but they were due last Monday, I was sent the wrong thing and they haven't sent the right ones yet!!! I was going to wait till I got the pan before I drew it but now it feels like I should havedone it already!!!! Thank you for all this advice!! X

I've just spent the last 3 hours trying to draw the Colosseum to scale, and worked out that the walls would end up being 4" high!!! And that would be the higher one!! If I work it out using my arch cutter ( 2") the height of the cake would be 13" high!! I'm still hoping I can use the cutter as it will save me a lot of time!!

by my calculations your cake should be about a 25x15 ellipse and 7 inches tall give or take with 80 arches on each of three stories -- except for the ruins parts--if it was all intact that is

the arena in the middle should also be about 7" wide and maybe about 12" long for it to be to scale

but that's just my rough estimate

it was built at a 5-3 ratio and the height of the outside wall is the same as the width of the arena--the arena appears to be half the size of the width and length

 so if there were 80 arches hmmm...

so the 1/4 of the perimeter of the ellipse i drew with those dimensions is approx 17" so i'd just do one arch every inch and fudge it a teeny bit or make the ellipse a tad bit bigger to be able to get one quarter of it to measure 20" and do one arch per inch so maybe a 27x17 ellipse give or take and increase the height of the outside wall and the arena to 8.5 inches

that's a ton of teensy arches

i mean i don't think anybody is going to be counting them up--i mean who even knew there were 80 in the first place?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

but if you need to make them to scale with a 2" arch then it's gonna be way freaking huge

so for example with the 5:3 ratio if it's a 13" outside wall height which is the same for the size of the arena then the length & width of the ellipse is 44 x26

that's quite a large colosseum ahahahhahahaa

this is so out of control!!! ;)

AThanks for all that!!! That's about where I ended up last night. I'm picking up the 12" cake pan today, and I'm not sure about using the arch cutter as it's so big. I'm not going to do it to scale, they're not paying me enough and I don't think the Walls will be high enough to make an impact. This is getting very complicated!!!!!!!!!!

idea for you--make a cookie cutter for the arches--this will be even faster than blacking them out

you can use an aluminum foil 'disposable' pan--or some peeps use a soft drink can

cut it up with a pair of scissors and glue it together -- google-able

another idea is even if you just cut out the arch shape out of a plastic lid--you could use this to impress the surface without having to take the time to draw all the way around it --that's if you don't make a cutter

the cutter could also be an embosser of course

making something to scale will save you tons

so if we (if you don't mind me continuing ;) take the 27x17 and reduce it by half we get approx 14 x 8 ellipse with wall height and arena width of 4" or if you go 75% it'd be  21 x 12 with wall height and arena width of 6"

that's all give or take--the arches will be but dots

and that's not a bad idea for going in the abstract --maybe just use dragees or black pearls to give the illusion

once you sculpt the ruins in there and have the elliptical shape and mark off the different floors on the outside all you need is a contrast of color to bring it home for the arches--if you went with just creating the illusion

maybe even a black dot piped with a mum tip, a lily of the valley tip because that would also give it a depth like you could walk into it-ish

just brain storming about your creation ;)

mum tip - http://thecakegirls.com/shop-1/cake/decorating/piping-tips-bags/81-mum-tip.html

i'm just tossing out ideas-- something might stick--don't mind me ;)

oooh--you could place a black ribbon of fondant or real ribbon alll the way around for each floor-- then just pipe the arch shape over that! just pipe upside down 'u' shapes

i am in love with your project and i can't stop thinking about it--no kidding huh

just don't mind me ;)

options options options ...

Throwing out an idea - Nordicware makes a football stadium pan with steps.  You might be able to convert it to a Coliseum.  Just not sure it would be large enough.

AWow so many ideas!!! Firstly thank you j Winslow, I don't think you can buy that pan in the uk. K8Memphis thank you so much for all the ideas!!! I love the make your own archway idea and the ribbon idea!!! I could put the ribbon around with the archways cut out and roll out very thin sausages tohide the top and bottom, they're on the colosseum already and more sausages for the arches!!! I'm still a bit worried it's not going to look high enough, the cake pan is 4" high tho so should be good!!!!! So much help!! I'm so grateful thank you!!!! Xxx

Let us know what you decide to do and post pic!
 

AI definitely will do!!!! I'm thinking it might be easier to paint on the arches at the moment!!!! But will keep you updated!!!

AI've made the cake now, but after making it 2" high I decided it didn't have much of an impact so I doubled the height!!! I decided the pastillage wouldn't work and I'm making the RKT wall at the moment!!! I also made my own window cutter ready to use!!!

AThank you!!! I made it flat with the doweling rods in, and as you suggested I crushed half of the RKT and I'm hoping I can curve it around the cake tomorrow, I'm going use royal icing as you suggested as well!! I just hope it all works!!!! Unfortunately you can't buy premade RKT here otherwise I would have loved that!! Thank you for all the support xxx

i've never done it that way--hope that works out--

no way to get it in that general shape as it cools and sets up?

it would be nice to preserve the inner marshmallowy structure of it rather than have to bend it tomorrrow

do you have a poster board-a flexible one and roll it up in there or something?

whichever way you do it--hope it all works out!!!

can you not set it up in the cake pan????

AI wrote my last post at midnight last night as I was going to sleep, so I read your post this morning and rushed downstairs to stand the RKT in the pan!!! I've recut the inside of the cake to make the steps and I'm colouring lots of fondant at the moment!! One problem I have is I bought a 13" cake drum to put the cake on as I thought I'd be putting RKT all the way around and now I'm just using it on the raised wall so I have excess cake board. It's then going onto of a 16" board that I've covered in cobblestones. I love the board!!!!!!!

AAlso I'm not sure about the arches in the top tier, you can see the sky through them but I can't cut small holes in the RKT, should I make those arches blue??

blue or black, brown even--sure

wow--you're doing great!