Draping A Fondant Christening Gown On A Cake
Decorating By moralna Updated 9 Jul 2007 , 6:43pm by MillyCakes
When draping a fondant/gumpaste christening over a cake - how do you get it to have that soft draping look - i am asking becasue i will be making a christening cake and want to make the gown ahead of time but know that the fondant/gumpaste will harden and i don't want it to crack or break when trying to have that soft drape affect.
I don't know all your answers, but when I was taught to do draping, here's what I learned:
- mix fondant 50:50 with gumpaste to help it hold its shape better
- use crisco when rolling out the fondant/gumpaste mix. this really helps it stay pliable long enough to get nice soft folds (with cornstarch it will crack)
- we pleated it first on our boards before attaching to the cake, so I'm not sure how you would do an entire dress.
Hope this helped a little.
Ellen
the dress cake in my pics, I made with plain fondant, not gumtex added. I did the bodice 1st and then measured the end to see how wide the top of skirt should be. just rolled out a rectangle of fondant and pleated it so the top matched the bottom of the bodice. I simply placed this on the cake and added a piece (belt) to cover the joins.
HTH
i did a christening gown cake a month ago (in my photos) and i can tell you what i learned. as much as i tried to think everything out before i draped the dress, there's still a thing or two i would do differently next time.
here is what i did;
i was going to be laying the gown over a 12x18 sheet cake. so, i cut out my fondant (i only used fondant, not 50/50 because i wanted to be able to play with the folds and pleats without it hardening too fast) in the shape of the entire gown. i then turned the 12x18 sheet pan over and covered it with saran wrap - with a little crisco on it so that i could get the gown off once it dried. i laid the gown down over the pan in the same way that i planned on draping it onto the cake. i played around with how i wanted it to drape and fold. then i used crumpled pieces of saran wrap underneath the folds so that they would dry in the form i wanted.
i let the gown dry almost completely and then laid it on the cake. it did crack in a few places but that wasn't too much of a problem for me as i was going to be covering it with royal icing embroderie anyway.
i just filled in the cracks with a little royal icing 'cement' before i started piping.
here is what i would do differently;
i would definitely cut the top or bodice of the dress separately from the bottom and then place them together on the cake. this might save it from cracking so much from the weight. also, i'm sure it would be easier to work at getting the pleating and folding the way you want it to look.
i hope this helps. good luck! 
Thank you all so much!!! I was also going to drape the dress over the pans I was going to use so the thought of using the seran wrap so the dress will not stick is greatl Also great is the idea in making the dress in 2 pieces - I was going to make it as once, but now I will do as you guys suggested. thanks so much!! I just hope my dress comes out 1/2 as beautiful as all of your dresses did!
One question
Do you crave the cake out like a dress first and then assembly?
I made one as well - it is in my photos. I made the dress out of paper first and drapped it over the pans to check for size etc. Then I used this as a pattern for the dress. I rolled out the fondant, cut out the dress, and did all the details. However, I did this about 2 hours before the cake was to be delivered because of the cracking/drying. I also used Satin Ice instead of MMF which, in my opinion, holds up better. I then just laided it on a crusted cake using dots of piping gel.
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