I'm hoping to do a 3d cake of a Volkswagen 1964 1200 beetle for my fiancé.  I'm hoping to do it with cake , buttercream frosting and Marshmallow Fondant . I need to know a few things.. Please help me –

 

1)   Should I freeze the cake before attempting to carve?  Should i freeze it covered with a polythene cling wrap?  if so how long should i freeze it for?

 

2)    I should use Butter-cream frosting  to cover the cake before putting on the marshmallow fondant layer right?

 

3) How long should i refrigerate the butter-cream covered cake before i put on the fondant layer?

 

4)  Can i paint the cars design using food coloring? if not how do i make edible coloring to paint on the   fondant?  

How long should i let that dry before applying the Edible cake varnish to bring shine to the finished car?  This is the car I’m referring to, i need to paint the green and black stripes in that -  http://www.freeimagehosting.net/nu9gj

 

 

5)  As you can see there’s a design on the hood of the car. Ive uploaded a pic to have a look at it here-  http://www.freeimagehosting.net/h6dcu

 

Can i make that design on the fondant using the fondant carving tools? or should I carve out that design on the cake before putting on the frostings?

 

 

 

PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME!!!!! I’m a newbie to fondant ...Thanks a million in advance ..May god bless you..

AYou do not have to freeze the cake before carving but I highly recommend it as it makes it more stable and easier to work with, you should freeze for 1-2 hours before carving.

Yes, you need to have buttercream under the fondant so it sticks

I don't usually refrigerate mine before covering in fondant, if you froze before you carved and buttercreamed it, as long as you weren't too long carving it should still be stable. But if you want to, I would probably say about 10-20 mins.

Yes, you can use food colouring to paint on the fondant. Just let it dry until it's dry! Probably about an hour

If you mean the kind of lines on the hood then yes I would do it out of fondant.

Good luck with your cake hope all goes well and don't forget to post a pic!!

Thanks a million for the reply!      

About the food coloring to paint-      Can I use liquid food coloring?  Will it make the fondant runny?

I saw this on an article online-

"If you use a water-based food coloring or add water to food coloring when you paint, you will melt your fondant as you brush on the food coloring. You could end up with goopy fondant and a runny appearance."

So, im kinda worried...

The article says to mix the liquid food coloring with a bit of alcohol. Is there any replacement for acohol that i can use? I do not want to use alcohol.

Also, I should paint on the fondant after it dries right?

Once again Thanks sooo much for the reply... love ya

AI've used just regular liquid food colouring before and it's been fine! And yeah, I would wait until the fondant dries. Glad I helped and good luck!!

Thankyou sooo much!!!    will post a pic of the cake once i've done it... Love ya!