You don't have to but another layer of Buttercream, just the crumb coat, if you have too much Buttercream it will be very messy when covering with fondant. Also I like to carve first then fill, so that I can save some of my Buttercream from ending up with the scrapes that I carved away, and also you are not carving away you "dam" that is used to prevent bulges.

I usually carve the night before and then cover in fondant the next day, and in that case I place it in the refrigarator wrapped in plastic wrap, and some times I cover it in fondant that same day. You will find the cake will have all ready gotten to room temp. after you are done carving and crumb coating.


Also carve off a little at a time, a slice here, a slither there and then stand back and look before going back in, because if you go too far too fast it will be hard to repair when you have cut away too much, it's always easy to take away but hard to put back.

But as you see there are many techniques and preferences on how to do it, you just have to see what works best for you.

Maria,

Thanks so much, wonderfu advice, I will definitely cut a little at a time, think I'll probably be scared to death -- I'm hoping once I get into it, it will be a lot of fun, wish me luck. Thanks again.

Gipsy Gourmet

Other tricks that I've discovered on the whole two cakes I've carved that came in handy: you can use toothpicks to mark measurement points until you're ready to carve. Using a steak knife to do the details is a lot easier than trying to use a big ol' cutting knife. You can also use food markers--the kind with food coloring in them--to mark things out if you have multiple measurements to do. Also, start by roughing out your shape in the straight horizontal and vertical axes first.

Also, I've been thinking that the kind of foam that you use for seat cushions has a similar density to cake, and it might be worth doing some practice carving on that. I haven't given it a try yet, but I intend to as soon as I can afford some foam.

Oh, and if you have anything with "points" like a pillow cake, definitely pop that bad boy in the fridge for half an hour before trying to cover it with the fondant! It'll be a LOT easier.

Ladies, I am doing my first carved cake this week. It is a pillow cake and the client wants one layer to be white or yellow and the other to be chocolate. I plan to use the WASC cake recipe for both. I have 2 questions.
#1 will they be good layered with each other (similar in density etc)?
Alsom, I read on another page of this thread (sorry I cannot recall which member gave this advise) that she freezes the cakes then carves them frozen, covers them in plastic wrap to thaw and settle overnight and decorates them the next day.SO, Question #2 is since my cake is a pillow cake and the corners will come up off of the cake board, do I need to worry about the points sagging or falling off while the cake is thawing? TIA for your input.

I have done 8 carved cakes so far. I always freeze mine. After the cakes are baked, I pull it out of the oven and let it sit in the pan for 5-10 minutes. Then I flip it out of the pan and let it cool on a cutting board(I have a huge one just for cakes). When it is almost fully cooled(just barely warm) I wrap it in A LOT of plastic wrap. I'm talking at least 8 layers both ways. (I like to be safe!) Just make sure it's not wrapped so tight that you pull the corners in. I use 2 cake boards or cutting boards to help me lift and wrap it without it splitting in 2. Then I put them flat in the freezer, usually for 2 nights, but you can do it just overnight. Then I take it out of the freezer, unwrap, and start to fill. Once it's filled, I start carving. A little at a time. When I am finished carving, I crumbcoat. Let that set up, then ice as usual, or fondant as usual. I do not store them in the fridge at any point of the process. I just leave them in the cool oven overnight. Everyone says my cakes are very moist and delicious.

*Please note that I have not filled a carved cake with fruit fillings. Only buttercream.

Good luck! I am new also, but if you need help you can feel free to pm me!
Sheryl

I freeze my cakes while still a little warm (cooled for 30 mins or so). I leave them in their pans and wrap 3 or 4 times. I thaw them in the fridge, still wrapped, then pop them out of their pans and carve.

You can use any filling, but if you are using a filling that requires a dam (like fruit or bavarian cream) you'll have to carve first and fill after, which will require touch-ups as adding the filling later will change the dimensions.

It is easier to use BC or a truffle/fudge filling so you don't have to use a dam. The filling stays firm when cold and you can carve right through it.

I've done 3 pillow cakes and I hated my first one, but after that first experience they are no longer a PITA. I use the WASC recipe but for pillows I add 6oz melted chocolate (white, milk or dark) to make it a bit more firm for the corners.

This thread is EXACTLY what I need! Thanks to everyone that has comtributed and given such great advice.
I'm planning on carving a head at the end of the month. I'm going to try a practice cake this week and see if I have to change my plan! If it turns out good I'll just be done with the cake early! Any suggestions on getting a head/face done? I'm planning on molding the ears out of fondant - or doing a girl with long hair! If the head thing works out I'm planning on serving either cupcakes or making a few large sheet cakes. I'm not sure how people would feel about eating someone's head! I want it to be edible but I'm not too concerned about flavor since I'm not planning on serving it. I know, I'm weird. I get tired of having to cut up a cake that I have usually just finished decorating.
Macsmom, do you think the WASC cake with the melted chocolate will hold up on a head?

Thanks,
Melissa

Cakes By LJ,

Ambitious or foolish!? Sometimes my ideas are bigger than my abilities! Most of the time I don't tell people what I'm planning on making so when I show up with something really simple I can tell them 'it's exactly what I had planned'!

The cake is for a teacher appreciation luncheon after church. Last year I did a teacher's desk. So I had to do something different this year. I want to include ALL of the people that help with a student's education - lunchroom, custodian, librarian, etc. So I came up with this idea of a large head with small fondant figurines loading things into the brain. I won't actually show any of the brain, just piles of books, art, p.e., music, stuff like that. I do have a back up plann if the head is a total diaster. But I would love to pull this off. Any help would be MUCH appreciated.

Melissa

Melissa, I'm afraid I would not be of any help The only way I would attempt it is with a styrofoam head. Cover it in fondant and perhaps have some sort of pattern sketched out of the brain and use a dresden tool lightly to define the top of the skull. Then paint it a grayish color... Well, ok, maybe I might try it someday...
It sounds like you are quite capable.. good luck with it..

Hi...
So, the way it is : froze the cake...then put the filling and frost the cake frozed???
This really gets me.....
Thanks
Paty

When then would be the best time to level the cake? After cooling 10-15 or after freezing? I have such a problem with keeping my cakes level. They puff up in the center and my corners are low.

Don't worry about making a mistake. Use Toba's cake spackeling to fix it. Learned that at a Confetti Cake class.
Susan

I have been following this tread for a while know and I was wondering if there is a cake recipe that I can make from scratch specially for cake carving because where I live it is very difficult to get boxed cakes so everything has to made from scratch that is not dry and tastes like stale old bread lol I tried the recipe from Lindy Smith but it was pretty dry, hope someone can help me because I need to have a recipe by the end of this month

Hi everyone... a friend of mine asked me to make her a carved cake - a motorcycle (which I told her I will attempt, but can't gurantee as I've never done a carved cake) and if that doesn't work, a helmet... anyways, she said she wants the cake to be either a rum cake, dulce de leche cake, a cheescake (which I thought WTH?!?!?!).... all of which are super moist cakes! has anyone ever attempted to carve such a moist cake?

I figured I could offer the filling to have the flavor of dulce de leche or cheesecake... but i wanted to see if it is possible before I tell her anything about her choices.

Any and all help would be great!!!!

THANKS!

Like a lot of others here, I don't have a ton of experience with carved cakes but I've done a few (car, a cast, a teddy bear and a few others). I started wrapping my hot cakes and sticking them right in the freezer. I let them sit there overnight and take them out about a half an hour before carving. It works best for me to do it when they're really cold but not frozen. I've always filled mine before carving but that's only because I never gave it much thought anyway! LOL.

I have some photos on my flickr account that shows the progression of a carved car cake. I put it up in a hurry so it's not the best in the world but maybe it'll help... http://www.flickr.com/photos/37331318@N08/sets/72157619119013020/

great thread!

^^ GASP!! I'm so jealous. I've love love love to see him in person and watch him work. Can I come with you in a stow away suitcase?

I think frozen cake is TOO hard to carve...I carve refrigerated cake. Stack with buttercream and lay out everything I printed out from Google Images and start cutting with a serrated knife!

I did just buy a little handheld cordless saw which I can't wait to use soon...Saw Duff using it to get through the cardboards stacked up in a larger 3D cake. Which I have used cardboards too but generally have to saw pieces off with my knife and that doesn't make a very nice cut in the cardboard.

Smaller details can be made by using or piping extra buttercream, or a log of fondant, etc, under the final layer of fondant.

For faces its helpful to use ALOT of buttercream under the fondant...then when you cover in fondant, use tools to indent the fondant and make your details, as the buttercream underneath will push and move.

I do like to refrigerate my buttercream coated cake very well first before putting on fondant. If the buttercream is crusting, a fine mist of water will help your fondant stick better.

That's all I can think of for now...carving is not an exact science...depends alot on your ability to look at a picture (or several) or a model, and transfer that to the cake. I guess there are more exact ways of doing it, like the Mike car dvd....but mostly I just grab a knife and start chopping.

This is an AWESOME thread!! Thanks for all the info.

Here is a link to a good dense mudcake http://www.cakesandmore.org/blog/2008/09/chocolate-mud-cake-with-ferrero-rocher-filling/ It is a good one to use for carving

I have carved a few cakes (hobby) and I do it at room temp but my sister has said it is much easier doing it once it has been refrigerated. I have also found that a serated knife makes it much easier - I have a small sharp one which is great to manouvere. I put bamboo skewers through to hold the shap where I have attached one piece of cake to another. I find the carving bit is not that difficult - it's the fondant that I'm still struggling with!

Here is a link to a good dense mudcake http://www.cakesandmore.org/blog/2008/09/chocolate-mud-cake-with-ferrero-rocher-filling/ It is a good one to use for carving

I have carved a few cakes (hobby) and I do it at room temp but my sister has said it is much easier doing it once it has been refrigerated. I have also found that a serated knife makes it much easier - I have a small sharp one which is great to manouvere. I put bamboo skewers through to hold the shap where I have attached one piece of cake to another. I find the carving bit is not that difficult - it's the fondant that I'm still struggling with!

This thread is awesome, thanks for all of the valuable info!!
I love that car cake and the tutorial was great
I am making a purse cake for my sister's birthday next weekend. Not a lot of carving but it's my first time!

save

I just found this thread...I carve my cakes room temp, not frozen or cold. I find that if they hold up at room temp they're less likely to collapse or "flex" when they're moved, know what I mean? If they're frozen I can see how they'd be easy to shape, but wouldn't they also be more likely to shift when they thaw out? I don't know...

For larger carved cakes you should dowel them the same way you would do a stacked cake, and you might need to use long dowels that go all the way through for support on taller pieces.

Here's a time lapse of me carving an otter cake. The first part is a wedding cake, the second part is the otter. This was all cake, no rice krispies or styrofoam. The otter cake starts at around :35 on it.

Okay, so I've read through all of the pages on this thread, plus many other threads about cake carving...and I still have questions!

1. Is WASC the best cake to use? Seems like most of what I read here indicates that it will hold up okay if frozen/chilled before carving.

2. I'm planning to make a sheet cake with a 6" round on top. I'm going to carve the round to look like a train tunnel. Do I need to dowel the sheet cake where the round will sit on top?

3. I want to carve a tunnel through the round cake...is this really stupid? Should I plan to put RKT inside the tunnel to hold up the cake, or will it just stay up with little to support it? I was thinking of doing 4 layers of cake on the round, carving the top to make it look like a hill/mountain, then carving the tunnel. Is this too much for one little bitty cake?

Thanks for any answers you may have!