AWhy do I keep using inedible ‘edible’ materials??! Gum paste/Sugar flowerer paste… rock-solid RKT (rice Krispie Treat squashed and hammered brick-hard), Fondant+typlose… in fact even pure fondant figures no one really ever wants to eat and when used for covering I often watch them peel it off the cake no matter how thin I roll it… wired flowers, skewered flowers, figurines and toppers with internal support… all admittedly gross to eat if you tried but made unsafe to do so with all the internal supports!

Modelling chocolate and marzipan with dried pasta (spaghetti) supports are just about acceptably edible in my opinion if you don’t add too much fondant, although stronger inedible internal supports are still an issue and I have had some worryingly close near disasters with warm days and sagging MC figures/flowers this summer… AC is not standard here so even a 20 min delivery on a hot day can be risky!

Maybe I need a project, a 100% tastily edible something to work on, my caking mojo is lacking these days and I despise all my orders at the moment :-( hmph…

A lot of the "inedible" items are never intended to be eaten...but SAFE to put on the cake without worry and to create "things" that can't be bought.   I made a replica of my sons mud truck to sit next to his groom's cake.   It was 99% fondant covered Styrofoam..with RKT/fondant wheels.   It was never intended to be eaten...but it was a replica of HIS truck...along with him, his bride and their 3 dogs in the back.   It will sit on his shelf for years to come.

I think you need a fun order to get your mojo back in check!

AAm i the only one that eats fondant and gumpaste?????!

I don't eat gumpaste....I like fondant on cookies...but not with my cake.    I don't like the chewy contrast with my cake.  

I hated fondant until I started baking. i don't know what all of those other bakers were using but it was horrid

I think there's a line to what we do because we have to, and what we do to be just silly.

Some people make figurine toppers out of gumpaste, and other toppers are polymer clay so they can be a memory.

My position on this is simple.  If it looks better being made of non-edible, I plan to make it out of non-edible and the client is well aware ahead of time.  Just like a dummy tier in a cake.  It's not edible, but the client wants height and we provide it.

Event cakes are productions.  They are "show stoppers" that become a focal point of a party.  The client can choose all edible, or WOW factor with a mix.

I plan non-edible features as an easily removable part so serving is not an issue.  Often they are covered in gumpaste so it has a continuous look.  That's part of the WOW factor.  But being silly for no reason is not sensible.   

I really prefer all edible parts of my cakes, but since I am a hobby baker not professional, it's all to my specs not someone else's, so I understand it may be tougher for others.  But I enjoy figuring out how to use candy and other sweets to accent my cakes, whether it's Tootsie Rolls or Starburst for flowers or fruit rollups for ribbon.  And in my family they eat the RKT parts too!  The good part is that everyone knows all the parts of my cakes are edible so I don't have to provide 'disclaimers' first.  PVC pipe belongs in my brother's plumber's truck not in my cake!

Theresa

There is no way some cakes could stand up without PVC supports.

A

Thanks everyone :-)

I’m just somewhat frustrated having spent soooooo much time on GP flowers and figures lately which will only end up in the trash, but you’re right, they are essential for the wow factor, for continuity of theme/materials/look, so many cakes just wouldn’t look god without them!

I think I’ll set myself a challenge; teach myself just how hard it is to go all edible and cheer myself up with a fun project both at the same time :-) if anyone has any ideas I’m up for it lol! How about jokes; any good jokes that could be good in cake form?!

Not all gumpaste ornaments end up in the trash.  When I did my sisters wedding cake it had a bride and groom mouse on a toadstool and a flowergirl mouse on a toadstool, surrounded by field flowers.  Whilst no means a masterpiece my sister loved it and would not let them cut the cake until I had very carefully removed the toadstools, mice and flowers from the cake.  She then set them up on a plate and kept them on display for 15 years before they become so dusty that she had to throw them away.

I also had a friend that on her birthday each year I would wire her up a spray of sugar flowers, which she would put in a vase.  We would regularly argue about throwing some of the older ones out as they faded but she wouldn't.

AI recently gave a £10 box frame to a customer to display their topper in, figured it would last well in there and wouldn't get dusty :-)