Hello, you guys are wonderful and have already answered so many questions for me. I want to make this cake for my DS 15th bday. It is really so perfect. How hard do you think this will be for a newbie. I am going to use Wilton Fondant for the people and the car, and will start them this week probably, his bday is June 15th. I plan on just making 2 large square cakes and stacking them, cutting out the pool hole and using piping gel for the water. Not sure yet abot the fondant stars and #'s, I may tweak them to make it more his personality. Seems fairly simple, any thing you all can see that may trip me up?

http://www.wilton.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=4&threadid=121919


TIA

I think you will do just fine! Just make sure that you make the people/car to the right size. Not to small, not to big for the size of your cake. You will do great! Good Luck!

Also make sure you ice the inside of the pool that you cut out in BC otherwise the gel will seep right through the cake layers and you will have an empty pool in the morning.

AHH great tip about frosting the inside, I proobably would have missed that. And the people AHHH I will be happy if they just resemble people HEHE!

That is one awsome cake!
Thats is alot of gel so be sure to buy enough.
Edit after a closer look the pool lining in buttercream is blue and the gel is clear.

Oh I think you are correct, it does look like blue icing, that will probably be easier than trying to dye the gel.

The gel actually dyes very easy..You only need a drop of blue coloring and it dyes well!!

What a coincidence.. I came on here to get ideas for a pool party cake. This one is great!! I do have one question though. I knew I would probably have to use piping gel to make the water look more realistic, but what about the taste? I haven't actually tasted a cake with piping gel... and it's going to take quite a bit since it will be a big cake. Does it taste ok?

Piping gel is pretty much gross from what I've tasted. BUT, you either have such a small amount of it on a cake from actual piping, or for a cake like this you've got such huge chunks you can just avoid eating it.

Just a thought on the taste issue. What would you think about doing the clear part in a clear jello? Like champagne?

Maybe have the opening of the cake cut to fit the size of whatever bowl you are going to chill the jello in.

Tastes better, just not sure on the execution.

It would have to be poured in over and around the car and people after it has cooled completely and just before it sets up. Then it would set up in the cake pool cavity. I am Not sure how that would affect the buttercream as I have never done it. But I bet someone here has.
As for the tatse of the jello you could use clear extracts to flavor it.
Or-Maybe one of those clear coolaid mixes and the sugar the jello recipe calls for. It would be making jello the old fashioned way. I think I remeber seing something like this mentioned somewhere in here.
But I am still not sure it would totally set up unless it was in the fridge for a while as that is the nature of jello.
I store left over cake in a cake taker in the fridge because we like cold cake. My fondant stays in place just fine but the extra moisture drawn out from the cooler temp makes it softer and sticky when cutting and serving before it comes to room temp. As it comes to room temp it gets moisture condensation on the fondant. It's fine as long as you don't try to wipe it away. It will evaporate if left out long enough provided your climate is dry.(It's monsoon season here in FL LOL raining every day)
All this to tell you that fondant can go into the fridge but you have to be carefull when taking it out not to touch it at all till it's dry again. If your party will be at your house then you could fridge the cake untill party time and set it out and it may work out just fine for you. But it's not a loss if the jello doesn't totally set up as long as it tastes good right..? Gotta be better then the tasteless piping jell.
Or maybe someone in here has flavored piping jell and make it good...?
Yeah way too many maybe's but that is how my brain works..LOL Wish I had personal experience that I could tell you about with this ... Good luck! Cake makes people happy and no matter how perfect or imperfect every one knows the heart that gets put into it. Happy decorating!

Thanks guys I hadnt even thought about the cleared Jello, I just figured we would not eat that part. I really love that cake and think my son will love it to.

The jello is definitely a great idea. Thank you all so much for your ideas and suggestions! I think I'll do some research also.. to see if anyone has a tasty piping gel recipe. If not, then the jello should work great.

Sadsmile, I think we're thinking on the same page on how to do this. I almost think it would be best to take something like a disposable container of some sort that will form the size/shape of your swimming pool.

Cut out a corresponding hole in your cake. Cut it bigger than you think you need it! You can always fill in with more icing or fondant or a stone border for your pool. May need to leave some cake on the bottom so the plastic container will be elevated and the hight will be same as your cake. Ice the inside edges of the cake with the blue buttercream.

Place your car in your container and poor the jello over it. Put that in the fridge to set. Don't place it in the cake until just before you're ready to serve.

How does that sound? I can't say I've done anything like it but that's how it works best in my brain!

I wouldn't pour the jello over the car. Wait for the jello to cool nicely, cold but not set up, then put it in. Otherwise you'll have beeding colors everywhere. From experience,lol. I did a post about jello on my blog (link in signature)

That was the one thing I was worried about. Just didn't know if there was a happy medium between pouring it in to soon and too late. Too late and it will be set and it will crack because of the car.

I'll have to check out your blog in case I ever want to do something like this.

One suggestion about the fondant. People love to eat the figures, however, I was like you and used Wilton fondant even though it is gross. After reading all these great posts on cc, I decided to make my own fondant. I used MFF recipe and it came out great. Easy and so much cheaper than buying Wilton, and tastes good. You can make it way ahead of time too. Good luck

1.) Don't put wilton fondant anywhere near your mouth! It's horrible. But if you've never used fondant before it is a good material to practice with. Just don't eat it.

2.) I have done the jello pool before. Don't frost the inside of the pool. When you make your jello, let it start to set before pouring it in. It has to be thick, but not completly set to the "wiggly" stage. I used blue jello and white cake. It tasted pretty good. If I were you make up a small round cake and some jello before hand to practice the consistenty. The $3 you spend on the extra practice will be priceless. You will save a lot of frustration and you won't mess up your final cake. Good luck! And please post your final product!

Thanks sarahpierce. Do you happen to have a pic of your jello pool cake? I'd really like to see the difference between the jello & the gel. I have to make 2 pool cakes w/in the next 2 weeks & ... well.. I'm sure you guys know what it's like to be a perfectionist when it comes our cakes!!!

I was thinking jello too. IMHO I think it's much better to have jello to eat and enjoy than piping gel to avoid and waste But just for future reference, can you flavor piping gel?

If your are running out of time or having a hard time making the figures and the car you might think about just buying a toy car since it will be submerged. Just a thought if you feel like you have gotten in over your head.

Omgosh that cake is hilarious!

What a cute idea for a pool party cake. In my opinion since piping gel works so great for themes like this with water in it and it takes to dye so well that I would use the piping gel and just scoop most of it out before serving the cake. I would ice the inside of the pool but still add a dot of blue paste to the gel. It really looks so much like water it makes for a incredible water themed cake. Good luck and can't wait to see the pictures.

Well, I just finished my pool cake. I decided to try frankyola's piping gel recipe & just add a little vanilla extract for flavor... but... had a little mishap. Guess I didn't let the gelatin dissolve all the way, not sure. Well, I ended up with a big blob that looked like something from a sci-fi movie! So I had my roommate run & get me some berry blue jello. I thought it looked great, but as soon as I put my fondant figures in they started "dissolving". Not a whole lot, but enough to stress me out! Another thing... it was butter cake & french vanilla cake, filled with BUTTERSCOTCH pudding!! Not sure how the berry blue/butterscotch thing's gonna work out!?! Oh well.. my friend just LOVED it! It was a rush job, since (as usual) I procrastinated & didn't get started on it until last night! Though it was fun to make, I'm so glad this one's done! Thanks to everyone for all of the great tips and ideas! Here's a couple of pics...

It came out great! Awesome job on the figures. Sorry they started to dissolve. Something to remember if I ever have to do something similar.

Did you get to taste the original piping gel you made with the vanilla? Wondering how that tastes. The Wilton stuff smells foul. I made a cake with a little bit on top of it and I told the people not to eat it.

Thanks! And yes I tasted it. It actually tastes pretty good. Since it has corn syrup in it, it really didn't even taste bad before I added the vanilla. I'm definitely going to try it again for next time.

I will have to try it. Did you get the recipe on here?

I really like the border around the pool but the little feet sticking up are just the best!!!

Thanks! I actually got that idea from a couple of the pool cakes on here. The bikini girl was suppose to be floating there in that spot but I didn't want her to dissolve, so I made those legs & stuck them in there like 10 minutes before my friend picked up the cake! Ha!

Yes, I searched the recipes for piping gel & only a few came up, so I picked the one with 5 stars. Frankyola posted it. Let me know how it works for you... I still don't really know what I did wrong. I guess next time I'll buy extra ingredients! It's just light corn/karo syrup, unflavored gelatin & water... then vanilla or whatever flavoring you like.

I have a recipe for piping gel that is easy to make and works well. I copied it from a thread quite a while ago.

Piping gel (BCJean)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water.
Combine sugar and corn flour in a small saucepan, gradually add juice then water. Stir over high heat until mixture boils then thickens. Color as desired.
Last for a month or so in the fridge.

Hi All - I am really tickled you like the cake so much. And very impresed most of y'all were able to figure out how I made it. The pool is iced with blue buttercream. I did tint the gel a little with blue - I didn't like the original color. I tasted the gel - it wasn't horrible. Very sweet. But it was for teenagers. I figured they would probably eat just about anything. I made the cake and filled the pool about noon on Friday and it was served at a Saturday evening party. The gel did not leak through. The cake was fine. I was a little worried about that (since I had not done it before) but I checked with the client and they couldn't have been happier.

I y'all have any questions I'll do what I can to answer them.

Cakermom