Hi everyone,

I'm wanting to do a pocketbook cake for my grand-daughter's 9th birthday she's a little prissy girlie girl so she loves purses and she carries her chap stick and gum and note pad in one of my old ones I gave her alllll the time lol.... I have included a photo of one I'd like to try but I've never even attempted a cake like this so I was just wondering if anyone has and if so can you give me some pointers please? Thank you so much!

Jellybean :0)

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Hi Jellybean! Your granddaughter sounds really adorable!

To get the basic shape, I would stack and fill rectangular cakes. Size and height obviously depending on the size you want.

Let it rest or even chill it covered for a few hours and then carve it into the shape of a purse. For this one round off all the top corners and edges, as well as shaving all the sides at an angle so that the bottom is wider than the top. Then ice and apply fondant as usual!

You can make the handles by threading a wore through a log of fondant and then gently shaping it. Or curve the wire first and roll the log onto it. Let it dry and then stck the ends of the wires into the cake. Make sure to use straws or coffee stirrers to protect the cake from the wires!

Good l7ck! Hope this helps!

@bakemeenchanted ‍ wow thank you so very much for your help! I have one more question lol.... Do I crumb coat then second coat again or just coat once? I've not been working with fondant very long esp with cakes that's not round lol....oh and would you have any ideas for how I could add a zipper re: fondant should it go between fondant layers or on top of the other fondant? Sorry that was 2 questions lol 

Thank you

Jellybean :0)

You're very welcome! Glad I could help!

Yes after you've carved the cake, give it a crumb coat, let it rest, and then give it a 2nd coat of frosting. Try to get it as smooth as possible. This is where you'll be able to refine the shape. Hide any rough edges and all that. I usually put my fully iced cakes in the freezer for 10 minutes or so before applying fondant just so the icing doesn't smoosh when I'm smoothing.

You can actually do the zipper either way. Putting it in between 2 layers would require more precision though. You'd have to measure the width perfectly, be careful not to stretch it, get a good seam, seal it completely and so on. Doable, but tricky.

It would be easier to apply the zipper as a thin strip on top. I think that's actually what they've done in your picture. They've applied a thin silver strip on top of a slightly wider black strip and then put the whole thing on top of the pink fondant.

If you need any more info, please do ask! I'm glad to help 8)

thank you so much I really am so very excited about making her this cake I'm sure mine want look as good lol but I know she will  love it!

Awe yeah I hope she's the happiest little girl in the world on her birthday! Post a pic when you're done if you can

i'm gonna toss this random thought out there just in case but bakemeenchanted you have really done a great, careful, caring job in this thread -- 

when i fondant a purse cake that's been all carved up, right, i loose the height of the cake -- because the fondant pulls it down so i've always doweled and boarded in there to hold the height -- but if you keep some of the edges of your carved cake you can probably avoid this especially since i think you're making a smaller wider purse -- so just a random thing i kept thinking every time I look on this thread --

best to you and to bakemeenchanted

Wow thank you @k8memphis! That is so sweet of you! I'm just glad to be able to pass on what I've learned from the wonderful people here, including yourself ☺️ Practically everything I know, I learned from here.

and you're so right about the dowels and the board! I should've mentioned that anything above 4 or 5 inches or so should be treated like a double barrel cake, with dowels and another cake board used to support the top layers. Otherwise the bottom lyres will collapse under all the weight.

thanks for the reminder!

If I could just add one more thought, I'd like to suggest that if you have room in your freezer to freeze the cake before you carve it, it will be easier to carve. I crumb coat cakes to keep them moist and freeze before I carve, and that way I can use a small paring knife for small cakes. Works beautifully. Once I have finished carving, I give it another crumb coat and then a layer of buttercream under the fondant just like bakemeenchanted said.

wow, you guys are amazing! so sweet and helpful, not only to me but each other... I am so blessed to be a part of that!

ok so I'm making it choc cake with choc moose frosting it's like a moose type buttercream but not made of butter its a twist on a choc ganache made into a heavy moose, so if I make the cake using a wedding type pan for depth and cut the cakes in half frost in between each layer would it make it more or less stable? or should I just do normal cake size and frost between... I could still place dowels and boards between the normal layers, but what is your advice on it?

thanks so much and yes ma'am @bakemeenchanted ‍ I will be happy to post a photo

thanks again so much!

Jellybean :0)

Do you mean you'd like to bake a deeper cake and torte and fill it, instead of sandwiching separate cakes together? Yes, that should work perfectly fine. The concept is the same either way. As long as you have a good support structure, you should be fine.

Tbh, I haven't filled cakes with mousse-type fillings before, so I can't really comment on that. But if your filling is softer than ganache usually is, be sure to use a nice, stiff buttercream dam to prevent the dreaded bulge.

ok this is a pic of a cake I did with this moose type frosting it holds really well but stays very smooth and soft but not runny or mushy if that's even the correct words lol @bakemeenchanted  

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Oooooh that looks yummy!! So smooth! Also it looks more like a buttercream than a mousse, as you said. So I think you should be fine. Just allow your cake to settle for 8 hours to overnight after you fill and crumb coat it. That'll allow it to do whatever bulging it needs to do, and you can just scrape away the excess.

And as @barbara_ann mentioned, freeze it before you carve it, and again before you apply the fondant. Not too long: I think somewhere between 15-30 minutes should be enough.

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thanks guys for everything!

people that bake together, make the best of friends!

well guys I made my granddaughters purse cake... it's a little bit different than the photo but I think it turned out ok considering it's my first one ever and I'm no professional lol.... I can't wait to show her I'm so excited!!!! Thank you @bakemeenchanted @Barbara_Ann and @K8Memphis for all of your advice...

jellybean :0)

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Wow that looks amazing! Well done @jellybeanlane!

your fondant came out pretty smooth and neat, and the stripes look great. The whole thing is just darling! I'm sure your granddaughter must have loved it!

wow you did a great job -- your little grand daughter had/has to be amazed with all the   bling on the pretty pink zebra purse and the make up and jewelry -- a work of (he)art -- to me the ultimate in cake decorating -- one for the record books, jbl

I bet your granddaughter loved it!  It came out quite nicely!

Congrats!!  I really like how it turned out.  It's just different enough yet just right :)

@Barbara_Ann ‍ 

@kakeladi ‍ 

@-K8memphis ‍ ‍ 

@bakemeenchanted ‍ 

thanks guys for everything, you have no idea how much it means.... Becca loved it she was jumping up and down and had the biggest smile on her face... she said nana I thought that was your new purse it looks real lol.... my job was accomplished because she was happy! so thanks to each of you for your advice and guidance and support you helped make my baby girl smile!

Jellybean :0)