Good morning all,
I am at a dilemma right now. I have a baby shower cake due on Friday next week. Instead of giving a gift, the mother requested that all guests bring in a book for the baby. I think this is great idea! So, I was thinking of making a book cake for the shower. My problem is I'm not sure how the bottom part of the books is constructed. I plan to use fondant. Here are my questions:
1) Should the cake be on a board before I put it over the fondant?
2) I'm assuming the book cover should be slightly bigger than the cake, right?
3) Can I make the covers in advance?
4) Would this make the cake hard to cut since the fondant will get stiff after a few days?
I know I could have PM'd people who have done this but I'm looking into several ideas/techniques on how this can be done.
TIA!
I tried using chocolate clay and I slipped it under after the cake was on place. It was very easy to do.
This is how I did the book cake in my photos.
That book cake is a double layer 11x15. By my charts it feeds 70. I assembled and completely iced the cake as normal and then used a decorators comb along the sides. Then I rolled out my fondant and cut it to size. (Measure your iced cake and add a little for the cover to hang over the pages.) I layed the fondant on the cake, starting at the edge of the cover, adjusting and making sure it was even. I then layed it on the cake and down the back (spine). If it's not even, trim it even to the board and then smooth and tuck slightly under. Use tiny strips of fondant to border the bottom of the cake and give the illusion of the bottom cover.
I'm not sure about how you are trying to design your cake, but if you let things dry ahead of time, how can you be sure that they will fit the cake? Are you just drying the covers and will apply the spine on the day of? I'm just wondering if you dry all the pieces and then what if your cake is taller or shorter than what you expected and they don't fit? The book really didn't take that long and with it being fresh, it was easy to cut and serve the fondant. If it's dried, I'm sure you can take it off before it's cut. Do you need to do it ahead because the cover decorating will be intensive?
I don't really need to do the cover ahead of time but I'm having difficulty picturing covering the cake in fondant. What if it doesn't lay down right? I'm worried I might have crooked edges once I transfer it on the cake. 
I'm just being paranoid but can I bug you again and ask if you have any good tips on laying it on top of the cake?
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