So, I have this babyshower cake that I need to make for this Friday and they want baby blocks on top of the cake. Originally, they wanted them to be cake, but I talked them into doing a large sheetcake with these non-edible baby blocks on top. I purchased some styrofoam blocks and I researched the posts and thought I knew what I was doing? I covered the blocks in plastic wrap and decided to try covering them with RI. So I got them covered but when I was trying to smooth the RI, it was drying too fast and kind of balling up. So I tried to pat it smooth with my hands and just let it dry really good overnight so it was all nice and hard. I thought ok, I'll just sand them once hard to get them smooth. Well that was easier said than done. When I was trying to sand them last night, the RI cracked and broke off! So, I ended up removing all of the RI and now I am back to square one. At this point, I have to get these suckers done tonight because I have 2 other cakes for Fri/Sat that I need to start working on.

What do you think the best way to be? I am not that experienced working with fondant, but I thought I could roll it out and cut squares to fit each side of the block and then pipe a RI border on the edges? (Being inexperienced, I dont think I should attempt covering the whole block with one piece of fondant!) Or, should I just ice them with crusting BC (I was thinking the Wilton recipe with just crisco and no butter)? I was then going to cut out letters/numbers/animals out of fondant to put on each side.

I still have the plastic wrap around the styrofoam (I had secured it with packing tape)....will the BC or fondant "stick" to it? I would assume if I use the fondant, I will need to do something like piping gel to get it to stick, but I am still afraid it will slide off?

Does anyone have any suggestions or two-cents to offer?

Thanks!

Since you are in a bit of a time crunch and not used to working with fondant, my suggestion is to use the buttercream with fondant accents. The buttercream will stick better if you remove the plastic.

If you do decide to go with fondant, then the piping gel will work well. Just use a very thin layer.

HTH

Michele

Thanks for your reply.

I read some post about the styrofoam bleeding through or something like that..which is why I covered it....do you think it will be ok without the plastic? It is not that white dense stuff and it is not the green floral foam...it is the white other kind of styrofoam (got it at Michael's)?

hi i use styrofoam all the time as base for my figures and fake tiers, if you eant to cover in findant just either use fondant glue of diluted jam in boiled water and brush on then lay out your fondant and leave to dry, it works great!!