I've searched the forum and found a few threads, but incase anyone has had new ideas.... What works best for attaching dipped strawberries to  a fondant tiered cake. The strawberries will start as the 'topper' and cascade down a 4 tier cake.

If I dip it and stick it - and put a fan on it - will it hold? I also read about using toothpick 'shelves' and that sounds like a good idea. I don't want to pierce the strawberry, right?

i would just bring them dipped and mound them from the bottom up so you can stack them up on each other--you can use more melted choco for glue --and yes you want to avoid piercing them 'cause strawberries pee-- i would set the cake up on the table as it will be displayed at the reception and attach right there--not move it after so none will fall off--

sure you could use two toothpicks per strawberry to add some support to a few strawberries per tier -- like set the berry in between the two toothpicks or something--i cut popsicle sticks in half & use those to set fresh piped roses on for cascades--then i'd cover any part of the stick that showed with leaves--

and for a strawberry cascade i'd pipe tendrils and use strawberry blossoms--

and you know of course you'd be dipping as late as possible--like the morning of as close to go time as possible

Thanks for your response.

Wedding is at 6 on Saturday. They are supposed to let me in at 10:30am. I have to set up, stack and dip, on site, so I'm not sure how long all that will take. But  I think the strawberries should be fine, I told her the reception area needed to be well air conditioned, lol. I hope that will be the case. She has gold accents, so I got some of the old timey gold leafs to add in, and the tiers will be bordered with gold ribbon.

Glad you mentioned popsicle sticks. I have some mini ones that would be better to use than toothpicks.

Did I mention I'm driving 5 hours tomorrow? and then another hour on Saturday with the cakes. I'm sure it will go fine. Really. It will be fine. I'm not stacking til I get there. I'll take a jacket and keep the car cold...

Bases covered, hopefully. Nervous ramble. Sorry.

AI would love to see a photo of the cake when it's done. Dipped strawberries cascading down the side of the cake sounds beautiful. Good luck with everything xxxx

strawberries left at room temperature all day--idk--get super fresh ones -- dip one this morning at 10:30 and see how it's looking at 7 & 8 pm because if the wedding is at 6 they'll be serving the cake at least an hour after that unless there's a meal it will be even later

they need to be held well at a good temp if they are traveling in the five hour car ride--like in an ice chest or something--i would not depend on the air conditioning myself--

the leaves and the looks are the first to go--berries can get withered looking if left out too long -- they irradiate the life out of everything now but still this berry has to look like you just picked it-- and it's like once you wash it it speeds up the downhill ride--

so keeping things cold will help slow that down a bit over these lengthy times you're working weith

My sister is getting the strawberries there and prepping them for me this evening.  So they should be fresh. clean and dry for tomorrow morning. She does some catering, so she'll know to get the freshest ones.  But they will only have to travel that last hour and I'll dip and set them on the cake, after it is stacked and on the brides table.

I think the fondant covered cakes should travel fine in the car air conditioner. I've done a 4 hr trip before with fondant covered unstacked tiers and they did fine.

I'm in south Louisiana and today the humidity is at 93%, of course! So I'll be sure the car is nice and cool before I load them, and I will be wearing a jacket!! Keeping the air cranked and no stopping long enough to turn the car off along the way!

Do you all think double dipping the strawberries will help them last longer? If possible, that's what I'll do.

What about coverage, just normal? Do you think I should cover them as high as possible? or leave as much as possible uncovored? Guess I'll have to let 'enough' of the red show through.

I'm depending on you all and my sister with these strawberries... lol.. it's my first time to do them.

I did do a test batch last week. They were fine overnight sitting on the counter, but I realise putting them on a cake is a different ballgame. The second day they were getting juicy for sure.

Thanks for your help.

I'll be sure to get  a picture. :-)

wwhewww--good plan!--hooray for your sister!

i'd never double dip them--once and done is enough time spent for me--

as far as delivering cakes-- i always box mine--

best of the best to you -- can't wait to see that delicious mouth watering cascade--leave some red showing to make it interesting--unless your doing tuxes and bridal gowns--you using white choco or brown or both?

Thank you. People just don't realize the stress involved with wedding cakes! lol or the planning and time involved!

Honestly, I enjoy the creative outlet and the challenge.

Strawberries just dipped, no tux

It will be wilton white candy melts, mixed with white chocolate. I did a test batch, I had to add a touch of oil, but it came out pretty good.

I was worried about them looking a bit yellow, as the white candy melts and white chocolate look in the package, but they looked pretty white. Her wedding white is a creamy white and not a stark white, so they looked good.

omg that's gonna be crazy beautiful--

when you post the picture--also post one of those scratch 'n sniff things so we'll get a whiff of it too 

lol ! Will do. Praying it will be beautiful.

The tiers are in the fridge. Up til 2 am last night covering them and doing the "tackle box' grooms cake.  I did all my tricks to get the fondant with no bumps and bulges, but it's still a bit bulged.  Not bad, but I have the worst luck at perfect smooth fondant.

I torted, filled, simple syruped,crumbcoated at let it sit at room temp over night, From the time I filled them til the time I went to bed, I had a 12 inch tile sitting on top of them to help them settle. I took that off before I went to bed. Yesterday I iced with buttercream, smoothed that with the viva method til they were about perfect. Chilled them a couple hours, then fondant.  Used a fondant smoother. The tops are nice, but the sides just are not flawless.

What am I missing? Or is this another thread? lol

AWell so far so good. I'm at my sisters house. Cakes traveled fine. Now one more hour to the venu. :-)

AOh my! Brought my 28 yr old son to help carry stuff and assist. We are at the ER! But about to go. He passed out this morning. They did a cat scan. It was normal. He has a terrible headache - they gave him something for pain and we should be able to leave the hospital in about 30 minutes. His whit count is up. My family is going to keep an eye on him for me while I go on that last hour with the cake , :-/

omg--i hope he's going to be ok--think he was just dehydrated or something? so glad he's been released--oh my

praying for him/yous

ADone! Came out good. Strawberries were not as fresh as I would have preferred. But ok. Here is a phone shot. Left venu at 4:30. Wedding is at 6. Whew! [IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3240757/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

AAnd grooms cake [IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3240759/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

AMy sin is ok. Sleeping. They think sinus issue.

Both cakes are AMAZING! Is the fish cake??

AMy son. Lol. Not sin. Thank you. The fish is not cake. I had originally planned on making it edible. But I found that fish- it's made of something like styrofoam. I sent the bride a picture and asked if it was ok and she loved it. She liked the idea of being able to keep it. :-). Saved me TONS of work.

you did a really nice job on both...especially with all that travel! well done!

wow you did a great job notwithstanding a scary trip to the er and so glad that it's probably sinus related -- i really like that you offset the cake on the bottom board to maximize the gigantic strawberry chocolate lava flow -- bet it smelled amazing too -- and the groom's cake is spot on -- you didn't miss a beat as far as the cake is concerned -- hope all are continuing to recover well

AThank you. I probably could have went with less strawberries. I still brought a nice pile home to share with my family. I got a text from the wedding planner today. She said the bride loved them and they were delicious. The wedding cake was French vanilla. I marbled strawberry preserves with chocolate buttercream for filling on the bottom tier. The next marbled the strawberry preserves with almond flavored buttercream. 3rd was Bavarian cream and the top just chocolate buttercream.

Grooms cake was chocolate on chocolate. Always a hit. :-)

My son had another episode this morning. We had to get up and leave church! Sudden severe headache and passed out. :-/ I'm wondering if it's related to the fact he quit smoking regular cigerattes last week and has been using an electronic cigarette. I don't know. Just hope it stops soon!

Thanks for y'all's prayers and thoughts.

ABtw. As far as attaching strawberries… my sister had dipped them all while I was setting up the cakes and she laid them on freezer paper to dry. -so thy had flat backs - but buttercream actually held them pretty well. I did use toothpicks in pairs as shelf supports or put one on either side of the narrow ends. Not as hard as I had feared. :-)

my daughter has vasovagal syncope -- which the symptoms sound similar to what is happening with your son of course there's a ton of things it could be but i'm just saying--she had head aches and she would just plain pass out -- she was diagnosed early on like early teens or maybe preteen-- so sorry he's/you're going through this--hope it gets resolved asap -- i hope he is drinking enough water --

take care

AI talked to him today, he is feeling ok. But when he was having his episode, he was having seizure like jerking in his legs. Really strange. Also talked to the doc that saw him in ER. She suggested an MRI, but he has no insurance. Unemployed at the moment, so he probably won't go.

Just glad that weekend is over. lol.. all is well at the moment!