I am planning on making a large cake for a Halloween party. I want to make a tombstone that will be approximately 2-3 feet tall. I have never done this before...so I'm not sure what materials I should use.

I was thinking to just shape a tombstone out of either gumpaste or pastillage....just not sure which is better for this sort of thing...

Any advice would be appreciated!!

Do you want the tombstone to be cake? If you don't, I would use styrofoam and cover it with fondant. If you do, just be sure to dowel it well for supports. Also, I would put the cake over a dowel screwed into a board so that it doesn't tip over. You can also do the bottom part cake and top half styro or visa versa. Those are my suggestions. HTH

a gumpaste tombstone 2-3 feet tall would be really heavy. I would also use styrofoam.

No, the tombstone would not be cake. It's more or less a backdrop. I really wanted to try to make it without using styrofome...but if I have to, I can. What about pastillage - I know it's lighter...but would it be much lighter and how much would I need?

Otherwise I'll just go with the styrofome idea - thanks everyone for your response!

How about RKT? You could make them in sheet pans.

Rice Krispie Treats - great idea!!

I think I might just do that because it will be much lighter and I can coat it in fondant as well.

Thanks so much for everyone's input!