Question,
How would you make a mortarboard for a graduation cake? I see some photos here, but with no explanation as how it is done HELP

Rebecca Sutterby has a great video of how to make them from chocolate. I used a muffin tin since I didn't have a mini ball pan and it looked fine.

http://www.ktka.com/videos/2008/may/13/19666/

i bake the cap part in the mini wonder mold pan, cutting off the pointed top with a slight slant, I level the other end, cover it in black fondant, the mortor board i make out of black fondant mixed with cmc or tylose, about a 5" square let it dry, so its made a couple of days before the cake is due. then attach it to the cap with buttercream or royal or melted choc. what ever i have on hand.

For something very lightweight , I made a last minute mortarboard out of a coctail size solo cup, covered the outside with fondant, and covered a square of foamcore both sides and stuck together with water. Fit perfectly on top of 6" cake (they already had more than enough cake, so the cap didn't need to be cake) and it didn't cause any weight problems on the layer. They could actually have kept the top as a souvineer /

Oooh, thanks JSmith! I've just been asked to make a graduation cake and up until I watched that video I was stuck with the idea of making the whole thing out of cake which meant covering it all in black fondant - don't know about in the USA, but here in the UK, black fondant does NOT taste good! I have a whole new plan now for a much nicer cake with a chocolate cap