I don't like the taste of fondant and I don't use it in my shop. In fact, I use the fact that I don't use fondant as one of my marketing principles. So, now that I'm getting bigger I have a need to make display cakes, and I think it would only cause problems if I covered my dummies in fondant and then have to explain that I don't actually use fondant, etc. I was doing some research on the internet for some ideas and read about using joint compound as fake frosting. Right now I have to make a dummy cake that will be displayed at a big event so I'm trying out the joint compound idea. I read that you could color the compound by mixing in acrylic paint. I needed my cake to be frosted in "chocolate" so I mixed in some brown paint and it really looked like choc frosting! The compound is a pretty similar consistency to buttercream, the clean-up is a breeze and it was fairly simple to apply. I was really impressed... until they started to dry and every single cake cracked!!! Has anyone tried this? What were your results? Any ideas on how I can save the cakes? I really need for them to be nearly flawless and right now they're just flawed!!! I'm not a do-it-yourselfer with home improvement stuff so I've never used joint compound before so I don't know if I'm using it wrong. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!! Thank you!
Bump
I would like some more info on this also.
Thanks everyone for any info.
I don't know if joint compound is different than "Dap", but there was a thread earlier and someone said to use Dap.
Here's the link:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-34158-dap.html
Can you sand it? I know if you put royal icing on a cake dummy, you can sand that smooth. Maybe you can put another layer of royal on top of the current "icing" and sand it smooth that way?
Just wanted to give a quick update... I did sand down the rough spots and the cracks. Then I went over the cracks and any imperfections with more joint compound. I spread it really thin and let it dry. When it was dry I re-frosted the whole cake, but this time I put on a very thin layer. They're dry now and crack free! They really look like cake! I think that I put it on too thick the first time around and that's why they cracked. Once I finish assembling and decorating it I'll post a picture. I highly recommend this method to people who make display cakes. It's super simple once you get the hang of it!
That's what I was thinking, it was too thick. That's why you have to put multiple thin layers on walls so I guess the same would apply to a cake dummy.
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