Ok... I know that this is a jumpy thread because I have questions on two different cakes. Starting to get very nervous! I am an at home baker for friends and family and havent really done a whole lot. Well, this week I have 2 cakes to do and they are VERY important. I am trying my best to just relax and have fun with them because I kno if I dont I will way overthink them and they will be a big disappointment to me..
Anyways, one of the cakes is a carved Patron bottle. I plan on makin 6 8" squares and carving them after i have stacked them and covering in MMF and painting the label. Well, my questions for this are
1. When I go to cover in MMF do I wrap it or do i try to cover as normal and smooth that way? I am worried that if I do it normally than it is going to tear from the weight, but I have never done the wrap method and that scares me too!
2. I plan on using RKT for the neck and cork of bottle, do i put the dowel through the RKT too or just the cakes? I had thought that I wouldnt even need a dowel but dont want to take the chance of the cakes just sliding off one another.
k... I think thats all for that cake
The other cake i am doing is a 4 tier cake for my husbands promotion... THIS CAKE HAS TO BE PERFECT!!! It is going to be square 12, 10, 8, 6 kinda twisted... and to mention the 6 is going to have to be shaped by me cuz I couldnt find a 6 square locally and dont have time to order... my fault I know.
My questions on this are
1. Though i wanted to cover in MMF to have the clean look, well, I just covered my first square cake in fondant yestereday anf needless to say it didnt come out clean, the corvers were not crisp like i had wanted. I have watched all the videos like a thousand times to prepare myself, thinking I will have to go with using BC to get the crisp clean corners... is that the case or is there a trick to getting sharp corners with fondant?
2. I wanted to drape a fondant flag down it but am not sure if that would take away from the twist effect... what do you think?
3. I plan on putting silver dragees on the first and third tiers... how do i attach those? will they just stay in place on BC or should i use piping gel? And if I choose the MMF do i need to make up some glue (tylose and water) to stick them with?
I kno so many question and so long, but I know that that you are all so helpful and kno so much... All the help in the world right now is SOOOOOO appreciated.
The only answer I have for you is the dragees...just wait till your buttercream has a nice crust on it and they will stay put.
Good luck on these two very challenging cakes!
Ok take a DEEP breath! You can do this.
Cake 1- wrap the MMF around it and yes dowel the RKT...at least use a skewer to attach it to the bottom. Covering instead of wrapping will cause you more frustration with tearing, so wrapping would be easier.
Cake 2- If you take a piece of card stock and fold it in half creasing it sharply, you can use that as a guide for the corners. Works great too. Just place the crease where you want your corners to be and use your fondant smoothers to work the MMF into the crease of the card stock.
Draping the flag would not seter from the off set design, if draped atractively. Attach dragees with a dab of piping gel.
Good Luck!
If you are stacking 6 layers, I would most definitely use a dowel to keep them from sliding apart. I would also leave enough of the dowel sticking up to go into you RKT to prevent it from sliding off the cake. Can't help you on the wrap method, I have never used it. As for you other cake, if you do the corners first, this will aid in get a sharp corner. Smooth your top first (It helps to have the cake elevated like on a turntable or a pan flipped upside down. This allows the fondant to drape and not lie on your work surface) Trim off excess fondant a little below cake. Using the crouch of you hand (between your thumb and index finger) Gently and slightly lift the corner of your fondant while running the crouch of your hand down the corner. Do two corners at a time and then smooth between the corners. Continue on around the cake. Once you have all the corners done, using two fondant smoothers, place one even with the corner while smoothing the opposite edge of the same corner. Once you have done the whole cake, trim off even with your cake board's bottom. I hope that makes sense. As to the draped flag, you may be right about it taking away from the twisted effect. It may be too much. As for your dragees, I would say any of those options would work. I held my fondant drapes in place on my fondant cake using just a little water. It was my first 3 tier, I was probably lucky they didn't fall off, but they never did. I think as long as you use something sticky you should be ok.
I can't answer all of your questions, but I can answer a couple. First, you won't get crisp corners with fondant, it just doesn't happen from what I've seen. They will round out. Maybe someone else knows different, but every fondant cake I have done has had the rounded corners. Also, you can attach the dragees with buttercream to fondant, or directly on to the BC if it hasn't crusted over. If it has crusted, just pipe a small dot and place the dragee. I would suggest this over the piping gel to ensure strength. I generally use royal icing to do it, but the buttercream will work find. HTH and hopefully someone can answer the rest of your questions.
Thanx all! K, so I am gonna wrap the fondant around it... How do I do that without it falling as I am trying to wrap it?? Cant find any tutorials or anything like that... I think I am going to try to do one of the layers on my tiered cake in fondant and see how that looks and if it doesnt turn out just go to my bc. What is card stock Mnsnow? Is that cardboard or construction paper? And i am still trying to figure out about the flag, I have never done one of those and with all the military ppl that are going to be there, it needs to be perfect. So, maybe i could put some swags or scrolls on tiers 2 and 4... but it has to scream manlegance... Manly but elegant. Any ideas??
first thing first - no cake is really perfect. it it looks perfect, you can bet that flower or fondant accent is covering the problem! watch closely, and you will see cracks, wrinkles and elephant skins on proessional cakes too.
yes, you need to try your best. but to expect perection when you are doing new techniques, without much experience in general, you will end up stressed out to the max, and disappointed. although i must say, the cakes in the gallery look good - including the square fondant one!
cake one:
1) i wrapped my meerkat cake, it was an experience! thicker fondant helped, i think, thin it just ripped too much when i was manhadling it. i just went for it. then started again. then went for it, and had relative success! my seams worked, as it fitted into the smoking jacket pattern. hid yours at the back. you may blend it with some crisco, or make a gummy paste with some fondant and hot water - i have read this works, and think il try it if i have to. or royal icing the same colour. i just went for it, had the ondant draped ove my arms, and rolling pin, i dont remember which method was the final one i used though. but i suspect it would go easier if it was rolled out on a mat, then applied to the cake using the mat.
2) to be neat, i would put in support for the rkt - wont need a dowel inside it, unless you like putting one right through the whole thing - so dowel the layer below, and put a small bit card under it. remember, you should dowel and support every 6 inches of cake.
cake two:
1) fondant takes practice. square corners take practice. leave your self plenty of time, and fondant, for this one.
nice sharp corners on the cake itself will help, and with the crumb coat layer. the nature of fondant is to soften corners, but you can make them sharper, work with your fondant smoother. and there are plenty videos on youtube. (this might be more than you want to cope with - but some people prefer to use ganache rather than bc, as it sets hard, it makes good corners, and works well under fondant. personally, il take bc, and less sharp corners - but with experience, the corners will get sharper anyway!)
2) fondant flag - i think it might go with the design, but it will depend what the cake looks like in the end. like i said, that flag might be what distracts from/ hides any problem areas! how detailed is the flag?
3) dagrees - water, bc, piping gel, royal, chocolate, edible glue, they will all work. i tend to go for water, ri, or edible glue - it depends what i have handy.
xx
I will try and walk you through the wrap around method i use and hope you understand.
this was for a 6" high cake. but will work with any hight.
place the cakes on individual cake boards.securing in place with buttercream/ganache. dowel the base cake and middle cake if using three or more dowel them all.spread a thin layer of buttercream or ganache as the fondand glue.
Roll fondant to approx 5mm thick (thicker fondant will help stop it tearing as you roll) and cut into a rectangle slightly longer than the cake is high. turn fondant over so that the upper side is the side to attach to the cake.Place the cake on its side and position it with the base edge against the edge of the fondant and roll up, trim the fondant as nesessary to creat a neat edge. straight join and rub closed using the heat of your hand. ( if a join still shows you can always try and make it part of the design)
Stand the cake upright on waxed paper and fold fondant over the top of the cake. cut away excess and use your hands or a smoother close the edges until neat and smooth.
Like someone previously said fondant on square do not give perfect squared corners but to get the best corner possible use a bent piece of cardboard. i use scrapbooking card stock. and work on the corners first. work on a raised platform so that the fondant draips lower than the cake board and so helps it to lay better.
To stick degrees i use royal icing or just a piece of sticky wet fondant.
You can do this 
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