AHi everyone. I'm trying to recreate one of the Frozen cakes for a friend's daughter. I just dabble in the cake baking and decorating so I don't really know what I'm doing. ;) I'm concerned the sticks of rock candy "ice" will topple over. Any advice? Would I be better off making this tier out of Rice Krispie treats? Would the candy sticks hold up better in that than real cake?

What kind of "sticks". Link to the candy?

How many in how big a cake? Both size and height.

And yes, in Rice krispie treats it will definitely hold better than in cake.

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This is a photo I found on Pinterest, and is the basic idea of what my friend wants on the cake. See the rock candy sticking out of the top? Each stick is probably 6 inches long, with about 3.5-4 inches of it being candy - rest is a wooden stick. I looked at the candy in the store, but haven't bought it yet. I'm afraid it's gonna tear the crud out of the cake and just topple over. The cake tier would just be a 6" round, 2 or maybe 3 layers of cake.

(sorry I can't give credit to the original cake maker. I don't know who made it.)

That candy will be HEAVY. The only rock candy I know like this has a stick with a wooden ball at the bottom. I would cut off the little ball at the bottom, and use them as "spikes". 

It actually looks like some sort of two layer topper made of these sticks. I would cut a foam core board the same size as the TOP of the cake. I would poke holes through and push the rock candy "trees" through the foam core and "glue" in place with royal icing or gumpaste both from the top and bottom. Set on top of a bowl and dry. Now you have a "topper" that has the spike trees on top and wooden sticks coming out the bottom. I would make the cake, and then plop on this "topper", and ice over to conceal. 

On top of the sheet cake, and around the lower round tier, I would make a foam core "ring" (doughnut?) and install the same way. 

In looking at it, do you see a "top plate"? Almost like they just drilled out some holes to push through candy and set a top plate on top. That may be a different option.

I believe the cake will be too soft, alone to support this candy weight. So drilled plastic tier separating plates, or concealed foam core board would be my bet. 

here is mine, in the cake with no problems! no extra support needed when I did it.

Mel,

Did you move it after the rock candy spikes went in? Those just seem too heavy to be supported by cake (but never used them, so you would know better). 

AI only moved it from table to table at the location so not in a car ride.. But they really weren't that heavy.. I felt like they were pretty stuck in there. I cut off the ball tip then stuck it in and it was probably 2-3 in deep. None of them tipped over or anything

Good to know. Like the OP, I was worried about the weight. Cute, cute cake! 

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This is how mine turned out. Thank you all for your insight and help! I ran short on time so I didn't get to do a 2-tier kind of thing for the candy, unfortunately. But this worked out well. I even had to carry it down stairs and drive it to a friend's house. Everything stayed in place perfectly. And that was only the 2nd stacked cake I've made - and 1st time transporting one fully assembled. Sooooo many things could have gone wrong - lol. Thanks again for your help!!!!! :)

ALooks great!!! Good job!