I've been commissioned to do my second wedding cake. I am doing it as my gift to the bride and groom. The cake she's picked that she likes the best is this one:
http://www.decorcakes.co.nz/cakes/Wedding/images/IvyRose.jpg
I'm going to put it on the Wilton floating tiers cake stand so I don't have to worry about pillars and such, and just do round cakes with buttercream, not fondant. But how would you do the ivy leaves? And the deep red color on the roses? Would you pre-make the roses and then put them on later? What would you make the roses out of for that matter - buttercream or something else? How would you attach the ivy leaves to the cake?
Oh and the other thing... I'll be transporting this cake 5 hours away and assembling it. So I also need tips on how I should transport it and what I should assemble in advance and what I should assemble there.
You said you were going to use BC instead of fondant. Will you be covering the cake drums to the edge with it also, then wrapping red ribbon around? That's what I would do and freeze them up for the ride. The ivy leaves are made of gumpaste and wire and can be bought pre-made. They are a little pricey though. My suggestion is to use silk red roses and scallop small ivy leaves around the cake. You could just use the leaves and draw your own scallop vine. I never use BC red roses. They just don't come out looking right. Good Luck
You can make b'cream roses from the "Air-dry b'cream". Just make royal icing, then after it is whipped to consistency add 1/2 cup Crisco, mixing well. This is perfect for flowers. They will dry (in about 24-48 hours) enough to handle them but still be eatable.
I would wait to put them on the cake. When ready, pipe a circle of b'cream icing on the back of each flower (w/tip 3 or so) and push onto the cake.
For ivy you can either make the leaves from fondant or gumpaste to place on cake after transport or you can pipe on cake w/b'cream. You won't get the perfect two tone leaves if piped but it still will look nice.
If using b'cream and choose to use ribbon or 'silk' flowers there will be an issue w/those absorbing grease and having dark stains
The dk red color in b'cream can be a problem. Adding that much paste color will cause the icing to be a bit bitter and soft. Make your color at least 24-48 hrs ahead. Start w/a deep pink or orange; let sit at least overnight, then add red paste. Hopefully you have some Americolor (it's the best for these deep, dk colors) and let it sit at least overnight again. If not dk enough, add some more red and let sit again. It takes time for those deep dark colors to develop. HTH
Dark red can be a problem, does she like pink or coral? If you do use butrtercream, freeze the flowers before putting them onto the cake. Make and "emergency kit" for the transport, so then you won't need to use it! (you will if you don't have one!) Plastic sheets work well for icing curves for the petal shape cake. Good luck! <<<Cheryl
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