did i butter ya up enough yet? *grins*

reading through the forums tonight i see ace of cakes mentioned off and on and duff etc which led me to look through some pics on charm city cakes website and saw this cake (camera cake)



if this link doesn't work just go to charmcitycakes.com and look at the camera cake pic

we have a local fair comingup and its about memories etc (at the risk of Being a bad pun i can't remember at the moment what the Exact theme is till i talk to hubby who irony has it- is on the fair board this year lmao)

keep in mind i've never covered a whole cake with fondant and i've had mild experiences with mmf (tomorrow will be one of my early experiences working with mmf btw- i'll be sure to post pics of that)

i'd consider doing it in buttercream but i dont know yet how cool or warm the place is kept and i cringe at thinking of leaving a buttercream cake over the weekend in those conditions- just so you know i do Not have access to hi ratio shortening or- to my knowledge- access to shortening with transfat. i Can add cornstarch or meringue powder, a store here sells Just egg whites (powder form) or Just egg yolks (not the brand name but thats what it is) though i know meringue is egg whites i'm always leary of not using THE right product till i get the hang of things lol

guide me gently i'm venturing into new territory here with fondant and entering a cake at the fair

i never did in the past because the ones entered were terrible and i didnt want to look bad by entering my worst would beat theres.

now dont think i'm being over confident or narcissistic (sp) because i Know my work is far from even equalling many here saddly they just never have any nice cakes in the fair here. i'malways so excited to go see the cakes because i'malways expecting to see some really fantastic cakes. its just like no one tries. even the other exhibits quality have gotten much worse fast these last few years. no joke... ah but i ramble

I know there are other ladies in town who Do decorate cakes and some pretty good too- i'm hoping by taking the plunge and entering this will draw them in to participating too..

first off, before going to all the work and expense, i would make sure you can even enter...if your husband is on the board, there is probably a clause not allowing family members to enter.

2nd thing to do before spending money on ingredients: read your fair rule book to see if you can enter a dummy cake. most fairs allow those in the "decorated cake" division. if so, then make sure you follow the rules if there are any about how big the cake board can be (18x18, etc) that can immediately disqualify you.

if all that pans out in your favor, then go for it!! here's what i usually do before/during deciding on designs. look at the picture, and break it down into pieces. imagine how you would put each piece together as cake, the supplies that would be needed, the final details. this had saved me from disaster several times...and before i started doing it, i had quite a few!!!

i will look at hte picture again,a nd post how i think i would do it...back in a minute!

btw: i'm in no way a wonderful expert, so you can take or leave my advice!!

it looks to me like the main part of the camera is the cake...i think the lens part is not, because the bottom part is rounded, so it wouldn't have a "base". it probably is just out of rice krispies or solid fondant. you could easily make it into cake also, though.

knead your mmf, and then let it rest in a ziplock for a few hours...2 usually at the least. that will keep it from stretching as much, which can lead to tearing. once it's rested well, then just roll out a big enough circle for what you need, then lift it over the cake and gently cover.

this particular cake doesn't seem to have a lot of raised details, but if covering a cake that does, such as faces, or the folds in a princess' gown, you'll need to use small pieces of fondant to add to those details over top of the buttercreme...the reason? when covering with your large piece of fondant over the whole cake, the small details like that get lost in the thickness of the fondant. if you overexaggerate them first, before covering, then they are much more obvious once covered up. (did i just totally lose you on the description? sorry!!! it's early, and i feel like i'm talking gibberish!!!!!)

good luck!

I just wanted to say that you should do a search here on CC because one of the members made a very similar camera cake and it was just as awesome........maybe they could REALLY shed some light on how it's done!

ouch!

i guess my advice really was gibberish! sorry...going back to bed now!

I agree with mixinvixen - check the rules first. While you're at it, see what non-edible supports can be used. Charm City Cakes uses a lot of non-edible accessories and supports for their cakes (wood, pvc pipes, wire, styrofoam).

If you can enter, I'd suggest practicing that lens first. The camera looks easy enough to carve, but the lens can't be cake - especially since it looks like it's not supported in any way. There must be some type of internal support (pvc pipe?) with RKT wrapped around it, then covered with fondant.

Good luck!

I checked out the gallery. WOW! There are some pretty impressive camera cakes out there. Some had the camera pointing upward so the lens was pointing up - which I think would solve the whole zoom lens weight issue. Others have the camera sitting on a base cake, and what appear to be edible image photos on the base cake.

Some of the CC crowd can give Duff a run for his money.

no harm done

oh i have listend to all this and i plan on re reading it again in the morning i just got done doing a wedding cake lol.

i will ask about being able to enter due to ken's position and yes it has to be a real cake not a fake one however i have to find out (i guess its being debated right now) about the decorated cakes having to be from scratch or mix (right now says scratch) but the decorated cakes are never eaten. just judged on appearance.

all good advice yes and listend to honest! i have also gone through the galleries here for camera cakes i did see the ones that looked just like this i posted here just asking for everyones ways of making this cake but true - good advice to go to the one who made it i only hope they aren't on hiatus and i hear back from them (hehe)

its all good.