I need to make a cake for my geeky husband that looks like the Tardis from Dr. Who.
I have a couple of questions:

1) How to I cut the sides of the cake so they are all level vertically?
2) Should I make the fondant sides as panels and put them on as pieces since I will be adding long vertical strips to the corners to cover seams anyway?

Any other advice on how you would make/decorate this cake (how to do the panels of the doors/windows)would be very helpful, this is only my second fondant cake.

Thanks for any help!

Marushka

Are you planning on filling it?

I'm still very new, sorry I'm not sure what you mean by filling it. I was just going to layer maybe 4 cakes with frosting in between and then cut the sides to form the rectangle.
Is there an easier way to go?
Thanks!

Funny - you know that looks EXACTLY like my USB hub? It does the typical Tardis whirring whenever you plug something in...

The geeks shall inherit the Earth!

As far as your questions go, I've never done something like that but I'd also be tempted to do panels, dry them and then assemble. Unless you're a fondant goddess and can get the ultra smooth look that some people seem to be able to get!

If you're worried about getting the sides straight, why not use one of those L-shaped rulers you can get at the hardware store? Just make sure you allow for a bit of extra to be cut off!

Good luck! I wish I had an excuse to make one for somebody!

Jenny

Im with Jenny - i would cover the sides in panels rather than once piece.
Also, before carving the cake sides, pop it in the freezer once you have filled it to harden up a bit - this will make it much easier to carve.

HTH

Katie

Jenny, I got the USB for my husband so it's sitting on my kitchen counter as a model
Of course! I didn't think of the L shaped ruler, thanks! Although I do have my quilting ruler that might work just as well so I'll try that and will probably find myself at the hardware store anyway.
Yeah, I'd love to decorate the panels off cake and then "glue" on and reinforce at the corners but I have a fear of all the panels falling off as the cake is in the car on the way to the in-laws. Hmm, I still have a little more time to decide.

I was going to say to maybe begin assembling it and carving it in the horizontal position, this way you could use a loaf pan or maybe 2 squares which you cut into long rectangular cubes and then join 4 together to make a tardis shape. Later you would stand it upright to complete decorating it.

I would assemble it all (either joining 2 carved flat rectangular cake prisms, or 4 square rectangular prisms) with a dense filling like ganache. Using a set square get your dimensions for the tardis body (without top triangle). Crumb coat or brush with warm strained preserves, or sugar syrup. Cover the horizontally-lying tardis in a tardis blue fondant and use your fondant trowel tool to get it all nice and square, checking with your set square from time to time. Let it set firmly.

While you have it horizontal, measure your panels to apply OVER what will be the recessed parts of the tardis that are in place already (blue fondant). You can get a cake board and a couple of wooden skewers and drill a hole to poke the skewers into the board (blunt side down) which will poke vertically into the tardis to stabilise it.

Then cover your board in whatever fondant you like - I would do black with glittery stars on it! Make sure you have the skewers in place by first digging out the black fondant from the hole(s) them pushing the skewers in (MUST be a tight fit - I used this teachnique for a competition spray of sugar flowers). Cover the edge of your board with your choice of ribbon or whatever.

Trim the top and bottom of the tardis squarely.

When the tardis has set firmly, carefully impale it onto your skewer(s). The bottom should sit flush with your covered board. The top you can fiddle with making your triangular prism however you like out of fondant, then glue with royal icing or wet fondant onto the top of the now-vertical tardis. The panels - decorate them when they are dry using non-toxic food markers or paintbrushes and food colouring (depending on your neatness!) I would get a much-reduced photocopied sign for the front that sits on the door, and simply cut it out and glue it onto the door. If you need the exact words they are to be found online easily.

Use royal icing to glue your panels on. Voila! A cake Dr Who would be proud to eat!

BTW - my son has a money box exactly like the pic your posted

I would just cover the entire cake with fondant and then all you have to do is measure the height of the corners, choose your desired width of the corner strips, cut them and then glue them on to the cake. There is no need to do the panels.

For the carving, you can use a leveler to make sure that it is straight or something straight as a carving guide.

It looks like a fun project....good luck!

Too funny!

Did you search the galleries yet? Do a search for the Tardis and you can see how other people did it. I find that helps a lot - I pick and choose the elements I like or don't like and figure out how to copy/avoid each.

There's one in the gallery that looks great and is set on a cobblestone-covered cake board - looks like it just materialized on some European street!

jenny