I remember seeing somewhere online how to make your own practice cake. I am getting married in August and my sister and I are making the cake. We would like to practice a couple of times. Can anyone help?

I found that the Wilton site had a well-organized guide when I made my first wedding cake. You can check it out here: http://www.wilton.com/wedding/makecake/index.cfm

Hope it's helpful, and good luck!

     -Scott

Beecharmer,

In my opinion you would only need to practice once. You will learn everything from doing the practice cake. I made my practice wedding cake 2 wks ago. It's under contemporary wedding cakes. It's the FD cake. What I learned was that the size I chose wasn't right (so I decided on a different size), the dowels weren't the exact same size (I will buy a tool to cut them w/ because I used a knife. That was way too much work), the cake wasn't as level as I thought it was (that I can fix easy), & the most important thing I learned was that I need to give myself more time to ice the cakes. Icing a cake takes time especially if you want a smooth look. You have to ice it, let it crust, then smooth it out. So that took a little longer then I had planned. Also make a list of everything you will need & make sure you have a camera!! You don't want to leave that at home. If I can help you more just let me know. ~Tina~

I would love to practice more, but like I said before it would be a waste (to me) if it were only on styrofoam I would want to eat it or let others eat it..... But I know I need the practice just dont know exactly what to do about it.....

hehe... I'm agreeing with Ladycake. On the waste issue, if you use a cheap buttercream you can scrape it off and use it again.

I got into this thinking I was going to eat every cake I made... ugh. My butt is about three inches wider, and it's only been three months. Besides, if you stick with cake decorating, there will be times when you don't want the cake, and just want to fiddle with your gadgets; styrofoam is perfect for situations like that.

But... you still need real cakes for some practice, like learning how to compensate for lumps and bumps in the icing.

Illy

I just had a thought... what about covering cake dummies with painter's gesso instead of that Perma Ice stuff? Gesso is so much cheaper, but I'm not sure if it'd stand up to the icing. It's been a few years since I played with it.

Illy

that sounds good.... now one question not that it matters to me, but in the bakeries I have seen they have dummy cakes in the window and such, you look close enough and its like a plaster.... when they decorate these cakes, do they use real icing or plaster stuff?? Seems to me if they use real it would get moldy.... just wondering....

Thanks for all the info. Wish me luck!

Beecharmer

flayvurdfun: That's Perma Ice. Yeah, it's pretty much just plaster; Country Kitchen sells it. Once it's dried, its waterproof/greaseproof, and you can just wash them clean.



Usually with icings the sugar level is high enough to retard the growth of mold. It's not unlike how honey doesn't mold.

Aha! I just went poking; courtesy of http://www.lsu.edu/horticulture/4051/4051NOTE.htm : "Sugar - increased osmotic pressure (tends to dehydrate microorganisms) >70% sugar inhibits most microorganism" ie jelly, jam, marmalades, etc.

In other words, a substance with a high sugar content has a tendency to bind the water and moisture from the fats in such a way that it's unavailable for molds, yeasts, and bacteria to utilize. Ever notice that the wetter the food, the faster it molds? Graham crackers, saltines, croutons, etc almost never mold; there's not enough water.

Anyway, many bakeries do use real icing to decorate their dummies, and that's why. It won't mold under normal circumstances. Ants and bugs, on the other hand... *shudders*

Illy