Hello, I was just looking for advice on how to make a good sized fondant number for the top of my cake and how to make it stand up? I figured I should put a wire in it, I just am not sure how to make the number and get it firm enough to stand. Thanks so much for any help.

I bought a set of metal cookie cutters that are 3 inches high..I cut the fondant number out and let it dry really good and then attach a wooden skewer to the back with royal icing.It is a nice size...not too big or small.

Like Kiddiekakes I also have several different size number cutters. You can also find a font you like on the computer and make a template for cutting your #. Another way some people do it is to make a long snake out of the fondant and form it into the shape you need for the number or letter. You just have to make sure to make them far enough in advance to give them plenty of time to dry.

I have just made a number 7 for a little girls birthday cupcakes. I made a sausage of flower paste and then poked a wooden cocktail stick inside the long part. I then cut out tiny flowers from fondant and covered the number with them. When it is completely dry it should stand up on top of one of the cakes, with the cocktail stick stuck in the cupcake.

Or do it with gumpaste.

I did some just last night at around 8 oclock. I got up today at 7 and they were hard as a rock. I got some Wilton gumpaste from Michaels (at 40% off) and it wasn't bad at all (not like most of the complaining you will see about Wilton stuff) I even colored it with no problems.

I used the "roll em out into a snake" method.

I've tried with fondant before in the past for something similar to this, and I will agree, you better make plenty of time for it to dry.

As per my experience, the longer or bigger you make it, the harder and faster it falls.

I used 50/50 gumpaste fondant for most of mine of it's a dark color like black then I add a lot of Tylose to the fondant before making the number. I used the snake method. Then I found a chocolate mold that looks like the candles on kids cakes. I used that for the Cars cake in my pics and I really like that for some reason.

Don't forget to make extras. You will break one

I print numbers from the computer and cut out of fondant/gumpaste. I first transfer them from computer paper to parchment before I cut them out, though, because even partially dried fondant will stick to computer paper (don't ask me how I know!)

I made fondant numbers with my cookie cutters (I have a set of 101 cutters) on Sunday, stuck two toothpicks in the 8 and one toothpick in the 2 (I turned 28 yesterday), and left it out for a few days and it was hard enough yesterday to poke into the cake to stand up Didnt have any tylose powder or I would have used some of that.