I have looked through the forums for the past two days and haven't really found an answer.

I am making a Swimming Pool Cake and want to know if there are any other options besides using piping gel and/or blue jello to fill the pool as water?

Any ideas will be appreciated.

not if you don't want a royal mess and you want it to look like a liquid.

i suppose you could use real water or even alcohol (Blue whales anyone?) but-- just how would you be sure it would not leak into the cake (well, I doubt any one would care if it was blue whales leaking into the cake)? nigh to impossible to guarantee no leaks.

so, piping gel (ick) or blue jello (blue whale jello shots?) are the safest way to go.

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and yes -- I know -- the suggestions for using blue whales is for an ADULTS ONLY party!

children present = normal boring jello.

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hey - it's summer -- time to PARTY!

How about blue icing sprinkled with edible glitter or clear sprinkles? You could use blue icing and just give a thin gloss or a few swipes of piping gel. It wouldn't take much to give the impression of wet.

Thanks for the great ideas guys. No blue whales for me though (unfortunately). It's for a 5 year old's birthday party.

Why don't you try whipped topping with a little color blue, it gets a different consistency than regular BC and looks great, check my aquarium pic

I always use piping gel for water because I like the look. The whipped topping just does not look as realistic to me (only my opion). But miny your cake is so cute.

Thanks Tona, but not as cute as your cakes!

You can always add flavoring to the piping gel, just like you would add color. I did one for an 8 yr old and added watermelon LorAnn flavoring to the gel. The girls mom said that they loved it! Just a thought.

Try the piping gel from the recipe section. It tastes like lemon Italian Ice...
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-6998-Piping-Gel-That-Works.html

Why are you opposed to the piping gel? I made a swimming pool cake for my mom's 60th Birthday (it's in my pics) and I used piping gel. The nice thing about it is that it's only about 1/4 - 1/2" thick to get the effect. It doesn't take a whole lot at all and looks like water. Because there was icing and fondant under it, it didn't affect the taste at all. In fact, my sister in law stuck a spoon into what was left of the pool after the party ended just to get a spoonful of the stuff. Cracked me up!

Wilton does have this flaky blue glitter stuff also. I used it on my 4th of July cake (also in my pics) and it is very shiny. If you just iced the area and made it a little wavy, you could use that glitter. It's real shiny, flat, and flaky. So it isn't as heavy as sugar crystals.

Good luck!

What about boiled sugar, why not make hard candy and form it?

http://www.baking911.com/candy/101_intro.htm

there is tons of sites and videos on the net about candy making

I'm not exactly opposed to using piping gel, but I am a little concerned about the taste. It seems yucky.

I really just wanted to know what other options were out there, so I could make an informed decision.

BTW, shill, I ADORE your mom's pool cake! You do fantastic work!

Thanks Diane! The look on her face when she saw it made it all worth while. She's still talking about it! It's so awesome to do something special like this for someone and see how happy it makes them.