I need to have several cake dummies for some upcoming fondant classes. How are they used? Do you put buttercream on before fondant just like a real cake or do you cover the cake dummy with something to preserve it for later use then put fonant right on that?

I use rice crispy mixture to form my dummy cakes, you don't need to ice the outside unless you want to (for practice). I think it is a much more economical way for a cake dummy. Plus, at the end of the lesson you can eat the treats. rice crispys and melted marshmallows, cheap and easy to manipulate into any size.

I've heard of people brushing them with water or piping gel and then laying the fondant right on top of that.

To clean, just soak and rinse.

Whenever I had to cover a cake dummy at work with fondant, I'd brush a thin layer of piping gel all over the styrofoam. The fondant stuck really well to it. We didn't bother recycling them, so I don't know how well it washed off. I have heard of others covering their dummies in plastic wrap first so that the icing doesn't actually touch the styrofoam.

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I've taken many classes in which I've had to cover dummies.

I sand the upper edge of the dummy with sanding paper, an emery board/nail file, or I roll the edge down with a wooden roller or pin. This prevents the edge from tearing the fondant. If there are any large defects in the dummy, I fill those in with some softened and moistened white fondant or royal icing. I let that dry completely and sand it a bit if it dries rough.

I mist the dummy with water and apply the fondant. I roll the fondant about as thick as I would for a real cake--1/6 to 1/4 th inch thick.

I don't like to use piping gel because it's very sticky and if it gets on the fondant it doesn't come off. With water, I can roll damp bits in with more fondant and a bit of PS and it's good as new.

To re-use the dummy, just soak it in hot water --the fondant or royal will soak off--or run it under hot water and peel the fondant off. Let the dummy dry well (several days) before reusing.

HTH
Rae

Here's a thread on cake dummies:

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-55887-.html

HTH