Help! I am supposed to be making a 3-D Hot Air Balloon Cake for a bridal shower in less than 2 weeks. I know this can be done with Rice Kripsies, but want to do it with cake. I have already baked a cake in the Wilton Ball Pan to use as the top of the hot air balloon, and will cut down a 6"layer cake to make the basket. However, I have still not figured out how to support the "balloon" so that it is "suspended" in air above the basket. I thought of using 4 dowels and wrapping fondant around to look like rope, but I don't think that will support my super-dense chocolate cake ball. Any suggestions? I may have bit off more than I can chew!
(There will be several layer cakes under the basket - clouds, mountains, trees and grass).

There's a semi-complicated drawing of how to do it in Sylvia Weinstock's first book. The basket is cake, the top of the balloon is cake, and the bottom of the balloon is a styrofoam egg that's been cut in half and has an 8" cake trimmed to size on top of it. There are 4 wood dowels that go from the basket into the styrofoam egg, so that's how the upper cake is supported.

Basically, the bottom part of the balloon is styrofoam and is supporting the top part, which is cake. The wooden dowels are the "ropes" that connect the balloon to the basket.

I went looking and found one here on CC that may help you. http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-forum-userprofile-60833.html

Maybe you cn get some help from them.

see these two threads:

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=277643&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=balloon&&start=0

and

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=359013&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0

and then contact kitagrl for more advice.

Wow. I was not expecting to get any replies so soon. The Cake Central Community is wonderul! I wish I had discovered you all years ago!!!

The welded base idea is a great one (Doug)...but I don't think I have the time or resources to pull that one off. (Maybe next time!) However, I have found a few other options. We will see how it turns out!

Be sure to send us pictures!!!

Thanks to everyone who gave suggestions for this cake. It evolved a bit from the original plan, but with the help of CC'ers I was able to pull it off. The bride-and-groom-to-be loved it.

I ended up using rice krispie cake for just the bottom half of the balloon. It was firm enough to hold the dowels in place and support the cake top. I assembled it on site and when I tried to wrap my fondant rope around the dowels, the "rope" broke. (I guess it had dried out a little overnight even though I had it in a sealed plastic container.) Still, I thought it looked okay.

Thanks again to my CC friends!

I am not sure how to add an attachment, so look for the picture in the photogallery under "Wedding Shower 3-D Hot Air Balloon"

Okay. SO, I just figured out that you can click on the "photo" icon at the bottom of this post and see my cake. Cool!

Now I am looking at everyone's cakes who has posted replies. Great feature.