I am new here and have found this place to be wonderful. My daughters 4th bday is in a lil over a week and I am having problem with the cake. It is barbie themed and thanks to everyones pictures I think I have finally figured out how I am going to do it but I want to do some sort of filling and am at a loss for what to do. I am new at the cake decorating stuff and though I am getting better I am still learning. I also want to give the cake height but dont necessarly need all that much cake, so is there a way to make like a "false" layer? One that can decorate but isnt actually cake.. like using styrophome or somthing like that? If anyone has any suggestions on any of my questions or know any useful tips for a new commer PLEASE I will be grateful for all input.

I am a newbie too so I can't help but here is a bump

If you don't need alot of cake; how about making a barbie cake with Wilton wondermold, sticking the barbie torso into the cake and decorating the wondermold shape into the dress...

sara28,

Here are some fillings/frostings:

http://tinyurl.com/ygug3u

http://tinyurl.com/ybz3lq

http://tinyurl.com/yjgj9x

http://tinyurl.com/ygpjjw

HTH

Maybe I can help with fillings...

But what flavor cake are you planning on making? If you don't know yet, but want to try and plan out more in advance, you can always fill the cake with the same buttercream you are putting on the outside of the cake.

OR, you can add flavorings to the buttercream for a filling, the flavors from a bottle.

But right now, one of my favorites is to take maybe 2 cups of buttercream and mix it with about 1/2 cup of preserves - Raspberry, Cherry or Strawberry. Then chop up about 1/2 to 3/4 cup chocolate in a food processor and mix it with the buttercream and preserves. You'll end up with a nice fruity buttercream with little pieces of chocolate that melt in your mouth. It appears more complicated than it really is to make!

You could also use any flavor of pudding. Or add stuff into the pudding, choc. chips, coconut, whatever you like!

Be sure to pipe a "dam" of stiffer icing (stuff you're using on the outside of the cake) just inside each layer you torte and fill. This will hold the filling in, and keep it from seeping out while you ice the cake.

Good luck! Most importantly, have fun.

As far as the "Fake" layer goes, you could use a styrofoam cake dummy to decorate if you wanted to. I haven't done this yet myself, but I have been wanting to try. I know that there are several people on her who have decorated dummies before.

How about using rice crispy treats on the bottom to give your doll more height? I have used them myself in cakes and the time it takes to mix up some rice crispy/marshmellows and butter would probably be faster than cutting up styrofoam and covering it with plastic wrap and tin foil...Plus most kids like rice crispy treats too so if you did use a filling and rice crispies it would be like having a double filled cake for little ones!

Good luck!

Kim