I have a request for a cake that has two different colors on the side but I have no idea on how to do this. I wouldn't mind using either butter cream or fondant... but I would prefer to use fondant. It is like the picture here.

I think they covered the tiers in the top color, then cut a strip and wrapped it around the base of the tier, then rolled (or used the clay extruder) a long tube of fondant and put it around the top of the strip. The plaid lines look like they were painted on.

yup thats what i would do and def use fondant - really cute cake

yep that is what i did for my dummy cake photo in my gallery. I covered it in ivory coloured fondant then cut a strip of chocolate fondant around the base.

The problem i had when trying to cut it into a straight strip is the fondant kept slipping around and stretching as i cut it so maybe wait a bit for it to get a bit more stiff so it doesn't do that when you cut the wavy bits but not stiff enough it cracks when you wrap it around?

I would be interested if other people have any better methods to cut a shape out of the top of the strip and not have it stretch out of shape while cutting it

Cut it with a pizza wheel or a little pastry wheel and it won't move around on you. I have a pastry wheel I got at Target for $4 and it works great. It makes nice clean edges too, as long as you wash it when you start to notice fondant on the wheel itself.

It might stretch a bit when you pick it up to put it on the cake though, but with this particular design with the wavy top it won't be obvious if it stretches a little anywhere.

thanks for the tip about the wheel texas_rose

Thank you guys so much! I was thinking the same thing, except that I was worried that when I put the fondant on top it would wrinkle and I wouldn't get the smooth edges.

Elise87 was that an easy fix for you with your dummy cake?

thanks again!

well i am guessing there are 2 ways to split colours on a cake:

you can either put a strip of wavy down the bottom or sometimes i see people cover the a fondant circle over the top with wavy edges hanging over the side but i have no idea how they get it so centered etc and not stretched so i would love to know if anyone has any tips for that too!!

So if you want it easier you can do what i did and just do the strip down the bottom in white. When i did that on my dummy cake and picked it up and then put it on it didn't stretch or crease etc just sits on the sides nicely.

Except since i couldn't cut it into a straight strip (now i'll try the wheel) i was REALLY REALLY lucky that i managed to roll it out into pretty much a near perfect even strip so i didn't cut it and popped it straight on LOL sheer luck!

Sorry i hoped that answered your question lol

...p.s are you worried about just covered the cake firstly all in fondant and it creasing? or are you planning you want to put a second wavy piece on top of that as i mentioned before instead of the strip down the bottom method? Just unsure about what you mean by ontop...

omg i bet i am totally confusing you lol sorry

The strip around the base will actually cover any wrinkles you get in the cake covering. I think that's why ribbons are popular around the base of a fondant cake

Brush the back of the strip with a little water or meringue powder mixed with water, or with gum glue (tylose mixed with boiled water) before you put it on the cake, and it won't get droopy or sag down and wrinkle or anything like that. You can also make the strip for the largest tier in several sections, and then hide the joins behind the decorations...I'd bet anything that if you looked behind the flower stems on the original cake, you'd see that the strips were joined there. Just make sure that the ends are the same height when you join them together.

LOL, Elise I was totally confused when I first read it, but I think I understand what you mean. And it helped. I'm worried about putting a second wavy piece on top. But you said that you put the bottom white first, and then you put the wavy piece on top? I was thinking that I could also maybe cover the pan first and then transfer it to the cake... ??? That actually sounds really scary... D:

I think I'll try your method first.

Ooohhhh, Texas Rose, I never thought about doing it in sections, genius!

I think I know what you guys mean now, but what I meant when I said I was worried about the wrinkles I mean like where the white and yellow meet. like on the bottom tier. But as you said I can simply cover any wrinkles with the line right?!

Yay, I think I got it

oh no now i am confused lol

Ok well lets take my dummy cake for example again:

1. I covered both tiers in the one sheet of ivory fondant like you would a normal cake.

2. Made the brown strip and then just wraped that around the bottom of each tier

3. covered the ledge ontp of the strip cause by the thinkness of it coming off the cake with pearls so it is sort of hidden

I didn't do seperate bits cose for my i find that harder to do but it's totally up to you

Is that less confusing? lol

It won't wrinkle where you stick the fondant on because you'll smooth the yellow part over the whole cake first, then cut the white strips and stick them on. The white strips will actually cover any wrinkles that the bottom of the yellow part might get.

The reason I suggested doing it in sections is that when you pick up a long strip of fondant, sometimes it will stretch, and if you've got a 12" tier then you'd have to manage a strip of fondant 37 inches long which would definitely stretch, so it would be easier to make 4 9" strips or 3 12" strips...if it stretches a bit, just cut the excess off of the last strip with a pair of kitchen shears while the strip is on the cake.

.....i tell you what, i am prob not helping the convo one single bit LOL

This is how I apply a bottom strip so that it doesn't stretch out of shape:

1. Roll out fondant and cut to shape - nice straight edge on the bottom and wave (or whatever pattern) on top.
2. Dust the top of the fondant lightly with cornflour.
3. Take a small rolling pin with flat ends (mine's basically a cylinder, 5-6" long and 3/4" across) and roll your fondant strip onto the rolling pin, making sure the straight edge lines up with one end of the rolling pin.
4. Once it's all rolled on, stand the rolling pin on it's end next to the cake with the straight edge of the fondant down. It will be level with the bottom of the cake. Use the rolling pin to unroll the fondant against the cake.

Of course, you will need to adhere the strip with something (water/alcohol/sugar glue), so do that before you start rolling and unrolling.

I hope that makes sense - it's probably simpler to do than explain.

Kind regards,
Cris.

here's what i learned from Elissa Strauss to apply a strip to your cake easily without worrying about it stretching out of shape...

Roll and cut out your strip...then starting at the end that you don't intend to affix to your cake first, roll it up like a coil (or a cinammon roll) and roll it all the way until you have a large rolled coil...(the fondant will not stick to itself)...then brush a little water or gum glue onto either your cake or the edge of the strip and begin to unroll while pressing it onto the cake...until it is completely unrolled... If your strip has stretched at all, you can trim it when you get to the join...