this was a practice for a wedidng next year. i was trying to get the rounded look of fondant with BC...but it looks kinda UFOish to me how can i get that rounded look? i cut off the sharp edges on this one, but im not happy with it. im also not thrilled with my first attempt at scrollwork. i freehanded these..is there a better way?

Hello! I like your cake idea and design!

For the scrollwork, Wilton sells a template set that work sort of like stamps and leave an impression in the icing to trace over. I do not own one (yet!) but it looks like it would work.

Maybe the top corners of the cake were cut at too sharp of an angle?

I really like your scrolls and dots design!

ty looking at the pic made me remember that i need to smash my dots down..looks like the cake of death right now! lol

I think your off to a great start! I agree with czyadgrl, you might have cut the edge off a too sharp an angle. You really only need to round the top edge a little bit. Also, the scroll presses from Wilton work great! You just have to let your icing sit a bit to crust (or put it in the fridge for a while if you use butter in your icing) and then press it lightly into the side of the icing and then just pipe over it. On my first wedding cake in my photos and the one that looks similar with the purple roses I used those presses. And actually even on my SIL's wedding cake in my photos I used the press that looks like a vine.
Keep it up!
HeatherMari

I agree with czyadgrl maybe a little to sharp a cut. The general design looks good to me too.

Can I ask why you want it to have a curved edge? Just curious.

To get the rounded look of fondant you can use parchment paper (like the viva method of smoothing) to smoothyour icing and round the edges. Works good and then icing looks like fondant.

Your cake looks better than you think. Gets better with practice and as czy.. suggested the stamps work also.

In this tutorial, she explains how she uses a rounded piece of plastic cut from a soda bottle to round the edges:

http://www.cakecentral.com/article10-How-To-Create-Faux-Fondant-The-Paper-Towel-Method----Viva.html

My Michael's sells a 9-inch round contour pan that would work great. It was in with the character pans.

This is it: http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30AC61-475A-BAC0-576DFD7F18559E1D

Good luck!

its at the brides request the pic she gave me looks like fondant, but she doesnt like fondant, so i told her id play around with the BC.

thanks for the help guys!

You can buy a set of contoured pans and just bake the top layer of the cake in them, the bottom layer in a regular round pan. Here is a sample cake I made that way, it is iced in Italian Meringue buttercream. It is almost impossible to get a faux fondant look with powdered sugar based buttercream, it can be done but it takes hours of work.
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=displayimage&meta=allby&uname=ShirleyW&cat=0&pos=172

I love Wilton's scroll impression set! really helps! one of my cakes in my photos uses it. I also agree with the contour pans - they will save you a lot of time.

The only thing I think I could add to what everyone said is I think it would look better if both the top and the sides had the same tip used for the scroll work. I really love the top look better.

That being said, I think you are off to great start. I'm sure once you do the real cake you will step back and look at it and say "Wow! I'm good!"

yeah personally i like the smooth scrolls......like the ones on top......i have the wilton press set and yeah its great for this......im sure you could do it free hand but the press just helps speed it along

I think it's pretty. You're off to a good start. The only thing I thought of when I saw it was what about not putting the dots around the top? I like the scrollwork and the dots on the side.

Good luck!

couldn't find a dancing pumpkin!

It's an original. I love it!!

Hi ShirleyW,
You make beautiful cakes. Please give me the recipt for your Italiam Meringue Butter cream. I would love to try it, yours looks awesome & I'm sure tastes awesome too.
Thanks
June

I once made a strawberry cake in the 8x3 inch pan and the edges on one side stuck. I couldn't "glue" them back on so I cut the rest of the edges instead. The ones that tore off and what I cut was pretty much at a 45 degree angle. Once I iced it, it looked exactly like it had been baked in the contour pan! I personally like using viva for smoothing round edges.

For scrolls there's the wilton press set. Someone else on here mentioned she used thin cardboard (like a cereal box) and rolled half around a dowel and then the other half the other way and would end up with a scroll design on the ends. Did that make sense at all? I thought it was neat because you could really customize it and get it to look the way you want.

I used the Wilton scroll press set on a simple wedding cake I made. It is in my pictures. They were very easy to use.

Freehanding scrolls just takes some practice- if you practice doodling scrolls just on paper while you're talking on the phone or watching tv or something, maybe that would help you without needing to buy anything extra.
You'll do great!