Okay, reading all the post I see there are lots of dummy cakes. My question is is there a good dummy frosting that you can use to practice with? I need all the help and practice I can get so I'm trying to come up with a cheaper solution to practicing. Any suggestions out there???
Please help
Lisa
IMHO, if you're doing a dummy for practice, you need to use the icings you will be using in your real cakes. The reason is...how would you know iwhether a certain border will stay in place? Or your roses will stand up right? Or your writing will work out right? How would you practice smoothing if you're not using "real" icing? Unless you use the icing you're really going to use, you will be starting with "something new" when you do a real cake. You'll be dealing with an unknown quantity.
Now...having said that...if you're doing dummies to display or keep for a while, lots of people use drywall compound. You can get it in big buckets at places like Home Depot. It can be thinned with water to any consistency. It is grayish in the bucket but turns snow white when it dries.
My mother used to use a practice frosting which was basically shortening and flour. I tried it once and I don't think I mixed it right. She used this practice frosting a lot for doing borders etc. I just didn't have luck with it. I should probably try it again myself. This is the recipe from her 1976 Wilton class. (she had it stapled in her 1976 yearbook...my mom was a bit um...organized...unlike her daughter! 
)
1 C shortening - mix until light and fluffy
1 1/2 C sifted flour - add gradually
Store in a cool place.
(sounds delish! 
)
kos
IMHO, if you're doing a dummy for practice, you need to use the icings you will be using in your real cakes. The reason is...how would you know iwhether a certain border will stay in place? Or your roses will stand up right? Or your writing will work out right? How would you practice smoothing if you're not using "real" icing? Unless you use the icing you're really going to use, you will be starting with "something new" when you do a real cake. You'll be dealing with an unknown quantity.
Now...having said that...if you're doing dummies to display or keep for a while, lots of people use drywall compound. You can get it in big buckets at places like Home Depot. It can be thinned with water to any consistency. It is grayish in the bucket but turns snow white when it dries.
Thanks for this info Crimsicle! I was just about to post a question about using something other than icing for dummy cakes that will be around for a while. Another Q, would you happen to know if fondant goes nicely over the drywall compound? Would you wait for it to dry before covering with fondant or can you cover while the compound is still wet?? (don't you just love how someone's question turns into another question from someone else!!!). Thanks for your help!
And as for the original question , I agree about using the same icing you would be using for the real cake! There's lots to learn about the feel, flow, thickness/thinness, etc....
blessings everyone!
elly 
I take any leftover frostings that might not be enough for a cake and put it all in one container no matter the colors and use that to practice with.
if I'm just practicing a new technique, I do what fearless does, with all the colors mixed together.
kos, where on earth did you get that fabulous sounding recipe!? 
I must try!
Ellyrae -
I never thought about using drywall compound under fondant, but I see no reason why it wouldn't work. It sands really well. You could get it totally smooth. Just wear a mask, because that much sanding is going to create a lot of dust. There are sanding thingies just for smoothing the stuff - usually right there with the buckets of compound.
A lot of people put fondant right over plastic wrap on the dummies.
I've only done dummies with buttercream, so I dunno....
I did reuse the same buttercream. Twice. I kept making it a deeper color, because the leaves would get mixed in with the flowers and with the white, and I would have to go to a color other than white for the next go-round. I finally ended up going tan with it and making one final dummy before letting it go to its final resting place.
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