Hi all,

I am entering a cake into the cake decorating contest at our local fair! I'm planning on making a three tier cake (10", 8", 6") and the theme is "Teddy Bear Picnic". I would like to be able to carve the cake to make it look more like a hill/forest rather than three tiers of cake. Each layer will be covered with fondant.

1. Is there a recipe for a cake that is a good, sturdy carving cake? To be honest, taste/flavor doesn't matter as the cake is only being judged on its appearance. It does have to sit on display for about 6 days.

2. What sort of icing should I use, especially if the weather is humid?

Thanks for any advice,
Kathy

For competition sculptures, where they must be real cake, I use plain old box pound cake mix. It doesn't matter how it tastes, it just has to be sturdy and actually cake. For cakes to be eaten, I have a few recipes I use for sculptures, but for competitions, yeah, plain ol' box mix. It's tightly textured and firm and that's all I want. LOL

Most of my sculptures are covered in buttercream, but I'll otherwise do modeling chocolate. Sometimes fondant, but not as often.

HTH,
Deanna