Is it possible to reuse the styrofoam for more than one dummy cake? I really dont have the space to keep a bunch but would rather decorate dummies, take pics, and start over.

Thanks
melia

I reuse them. Just make sure you take the fondant off soon after or else it will harden and then good luck

Absolutely. The buttercream or fondant may discolor the dummy somewhat but it really shouldn't make any difference.

when i use buttercream to decorate a dummy.... i use press and seal wrap... smooth it really good.. then decorate... sometimes.. the buttercream hardens before i take it off... i just hold it over the trash can... knock off the buttercream.. take off the press and seal.. use it again... when i cover with fondant.... i mist the dummy... some people use crisco to cover then dummy.. then put on their fondant... i have taken off fondant on dummies that i have had covered for a long time. it is hard... i take to trash can.. use heavy knife... knock it off... and use again... i have never had any problems doing this at all. hth

what icer said ......

You can also soak the dummy in water and it will loosen all of the hardened BC, fondant, whatevah you used on it.

yeah, what icer and indydeb said with this exception...I usually wrap my dummies in shrink wrap. That way when it's time to take of the icing/fondant/what have you, I just go to the trash, unwrap and slide it off the dummy. Voila...it's ready to use again.

And before i discovered the shrink wrap, I just scraped off my icing and washed the dummy real good (and carefully so I wouldn't dent it too bad) and let it air dry for about a day to make sure it was nice and dry.

Thanks for the tips! Glad to hear I dont have to keep buying dummies just for practice.

Melia

I know this may be a stupid question, but bear with me for a minute....I'm still a newbie

What's the difference between a cake dummy and a regular piece of styrofoam that you get at Hobby Lobby or Michael's?

Dummies are made in exactly the sizes and shapes that you want for cake decorating. They are actually pretty cheap, although the larger sizes obviously get pricier.

I don't think there's anything special about the styrofoam.

I've found the dummies to be compressed styro. Craft styro is more open and will actually eat its way thru the icing after a little while. A few years ago at our State Fair, someone used craft styro on a dummy and as it sat there, less and less cake icing was showing and more and more of the craft styro.