I have been asked to do a cake that resembles the below "castle" picture. I have never done any type of castle period ... so this to me looks impossible... any tips or help would be greatly appreciated!!

S

WOW!!! Could you stack several large squares and start carving away???

Can't wait to see everyone else's suggestions....

What about using the castle or haunted house shaped pan and make it lying flat?

"I HAVE THE POWER!!" Oops, sorry, just reliving the old He-Man days!

I would make a square cake with a little bit of carving, frost, then use fondant to cover. Use a viener to make the brick lines if you don't have an impression mat, and make the face by hand. Airbrush for color effect.

Try using 6" square cakes stacked on top of each other, using dowels in the middle to support the structure. Then carve the cake and mold out of Fondant. Depending on how many people you have to serve, you might want to use a larger size pan.

I would also say that stacked cakes, doweled, and iced.... then fondant that is airbrushed.

I would also stack some cakes...be sure to use dowels...and carve. I would use buttercream and then fondant decorations. Please post when you are done.

hmm... Maybe you can do 3 cake bottle methods.. (its here somewhere.. gotta find it).. then pushing them together.and then adding your fondant to it.. The front of the castle (skeleton face).. use a big round bottle.. Maybe a three liter bottle.. lay it down and make your face on that from gumpaste or fondant.. so that when it's dry it will have that rounded look then add it to the front of the cake.. ..You can either use the impression Mat for the brick look, or Just get yourself some sponges and different colors and sponge it to death! LOL Good Luck!!!!

Hey briansbaker,
I don't mean to be such a newbie, but what do you mean about the 3-bottles and the sponge castle thing? Thanks for your help everyone..getting some great Ideas.

S

You are all more adventurous than me!! I took one look at it and said there is no way in hell I could do that!!! LMAO!!

Bwhahahaha Mummy!! That's good stuff!

I don't know about the main body of the cake but I would make the skull out of gumpaste or fondant ahead and dry it. Until he changed his mind and wanted a Harry Potter birthday this was what my son wanted so I had given it a little thought.

I wouldn't even know how to start a cake like that.

I am glad you all know what advice to offer. I would never attempt it but GOOD LUCK!

I'm with Mummy. Holy Crap! Where would you start?????? Edible image anyone??

LMAO It's definately a pass for me!!

Hey.. Well here somewhere Doug had a site that showed how to make a wine bottle cake.. It basically looked like a paper towel holder.. and cake were round with a hole in the center.. they were placed on the wooden stick and iced in between and layed on top of each other until it was as tall as a wine bottle.. the sponge method.. you can get you some paper towels or sponges, get your colors in a bowl.. diluting it a little with water.. and sponge paint the colors onto your fondant.. to get that mixed color look.. am I making sense??

I would suggest for any piece that juts out, like the teeth, to build that up with fondant on the cake first, and then cover with fondant as usual. That way you don't have to try and carve that shape out of the cake. I hope that makes sense, it is a technique I have seen Debbie Brown use in her books, so if you have any or can get your hands on one, maybe check it out.
Good luck!

I second meghanb's suggestion. Try not to carve too much or you will lose stability. Build out any parts you can by sticking on pieces of molded fondant, and then cover the whole thing with a sheet of fondant to make it all seamless. Then add in the veins and such. I probably wouldn't try this cake personally, but if I had to, that's how I'd go about it!

I'm a newbie, and if it was me I would CHEAT!
Put a cake up on pillars, surround the pillars with a 'wall' of cake. That would give you the opening. Then try to cover the whole thing with MMF.
But that's just a newbies take.

What happened? Did you make the cake?

thank you my wonderful, amazing, talented friends here on cake central. As it turns out I turned down the offer. I felt like it was way too complicated and that I really didn't understand enough to take it on. Also, this cake was for a friend and as it turns out..they don't have any money right now. So I am happy to report I am not spending days and days on a cake and not getting paid for it (even though cake decorating is not about money for me... it is about art!!)

I am keeping this thread close though ... just incase something else comes up. Thank you all so much for your continued input. You are all awesome!

S