Hi Everyone!

I'm new to this site. I'd appreciate any help anyone can give me.

I've been doing a lot of research on the internet, and its only gotten me more confused and more questions!!!

My aunt is getting married. She wants me to do her wedding cake for her. Its going to be a dummy cake covered in white fondant. Pretty simple really. Just big and white.

Now comes the time for me to purchase the fondant. I want to use Satin Ice rolled fondant. The measurements for the cake is as follows:

4" x 6" Round
8" x 6" Round
14" x 6" Round
22" x 6" Round
32" x 6" Round

5 tiers, all 6" in height, varying in diameter as listed above.

I haven't the faintest clue as to HOW MUCH fondant I need! Its not the first time I'm working with fondant, I've done lots of cakes on smaller scale for my family and my friends... but never have I needed to cover so much surface area!

I plan to only cover the exposed areas of the 'dummy cylinders' plus an inch to 'tuck' under the previous layer to save on fondant... and just to avoid having to stab a dowel through the fondant.

Please Help!!!

Okay, I'll see if this link will work in a post - I know sometimes links don't show up or they block them. This has a chart that shows how much fondant to use by the pound - very helpful!!

http://www.cakesbysam.com/store/cart.php?target=product&product_id=21932&category_id=257

I am thinking this is an old member that was booted having some fun.in their own special way. I don't know of anyone that uses a 32" cake here in the US.

If it isn't I apologize.

I am not an 'old member'.

I found lots of charts similar to the one you linked above Renaejrk, but they are for cakes that are 4" in height. How much more fondant would I have to use for cakes that are 2" taller? Also, most of these only go up to a certain size (20" was the largest I found) and the bottom tier is 32" in diameter.

This is going to be a giant foam cake covered in fondant for picture taking purposes at the banquet and not for eating.

Where are you getting the 6" tall dummies? I would like a few of those too.

it is just a dummy cake. this could be real.

I agree, could be.

I think a good idea would be to contact satin ice. For buying as much fodant as you would need for that much cake, I am sure they would have a calculation for you. (I think I will contact them too and see what reply they may have!)

When is the wedding? Is the door wide enough at the venue to FIT a 36" cake board through?

I ordered it online. I got a few quotes from a few different sites. The cheapest seems to be Artfoam.com

http://artfoam.com/Artfoam_2009/Catalog__MAIN_files/Artfoam%20Cake%20Dummy%20Price%20List.pdf

Their prices are reasonable, and they do custom sizes (which is what I asked them to do. The shipping, however, usually costs more than the foam itself.

I have until April 20th to do this cake, but I just don't feel like having to run back and forth to the store to buy 5lb boxes of Wilton rolled fondant at outrageous prices because I didn't buy enough from GSA. I think a 20lb pail should be enough... and if its not, I just roll it thinner than 1/4 inch since its just going to be sitting on buttercream and styrofoam?

*sigh* I don't want to buy too much and have it go to waste, but if I don't buy enough... then this cake is going to be a fortune!!!

I just emailed satin ice to see what they say.

Do you know the door sizes?

btw, Loucinda? could you happen to give me the number to Satin Ice if you have it off hand? I just tried to google them, and not really finding any phone numbers.

Please and thank you.

This is going to be a banquet hall in Queens, NY. They've got huge double doors and its going to be on the first floor, so I don't even have to worry about it going into an elevator.

I plan to get a large piece of solid core plywood from homedepot or something and cover it with colored wax paper. But now that I think about it, maybe colored wax paper would look tacky. Any suggestions on what to use as the cake bottom board?

This cake is going to weigh like 60lbs by the time I'm done with it... LOL!

http://www.rolledfondant.com/contact.htm

Thanks!

Offices are closed =(

However, I emailed them as well. Now... the wait. *sigh* Patience is a virtue I wish I had more patience for... LOL!

I am thinking it is gonna weigh a lot more than 60 pounds!

Where are you going to roll out a piece of fondant that is 46" ?

Well, I haven't actually EVER had a chance to practice this, but from what limited experience I do have, I plan to roll it out on my dinner table that I'm going to cover in press'n'seal

My table is big enough, and happens to be round. But that will probably fail... thats why I actually only plan to cover the 6" outter edge and about 5" of the top thats going to sit exposed from the layer above it. So technically, I'm going to roll a 100-1/2" long by 13" wide rectangle and just wrap it around the outside of the cake.

In my head, visually, it works. I'm not sure if you can exactly picture what I plan to do... I know my verbal explaining of my nutty mind is a bit confusing sometimes.

The top tier will have to be around 11" in diameter... full circle. That's easy.

The second tier will be a 26" long by 10" wide since 2" will be exposed on top and the tier is 6" tall-- I plan to 'tuck' one inch under the top tier and one inch under the cake.

The third tier will be 44" long by 11" wide-- 3" will be exposed, 1 inch over, one inch under.

Fourth tier will be 69" long by 12"-- 4" exposed, 1 inch over, 1 inch under.

Fifth tier will be the bottom... 5" exposed, 1 inch over, 1 inch under.

Much easier to do this way, hopefully... it works. Otherwise, I will have to find a really long rolling pin!!!

So I received a few PM's on this site asking me what this cake is going to look like. So I thought I'd post a picture that I'm using as my inspiration for this wedding cake.

It will be a much MUCH bigger 5 tiered version of this cake.

some people use the clear vinyl that you purchase a the fabric store to roll out such large pieces of fondant. you had better practice. you will be very frustrated if you don't. even if you order just a 2 lb bucket, or make mmf.
its not just rolling out fondant and slapping it on a cake. I think you plan on getting practice in, but be sure you do it sooner than later.

One more thing.....How big is YOUR doorway?

Oh, I PLAN to practice. Which is why I need to know how much fondant I need, so I can just order a bit extra.

I have double doors as well =) No worries!!!

Love that cake!

Just got the answer from satin ice......they say 2 - 20 lb. pails.

*nods* I received the email about 10 minutes ago myself. So I guess the cake will weigh more than 60lbs! hahah!

Have you thought about making your fondant to save $$$? With having to use that much and it's a free cake, I'd want to cut costs - but that's just me - and not everyone wants to deal with making it either

Well, yes, I will be making this cake for my Aunt as her wedding gift. It would be lovely to cut costs... But I fear that IF I were to make the fondant, that it wont be uniform enough in color and texture? Isn't it 'safer' to buy the fondant?

I've never actually made fondant after culinary school... So I couldn't even begin to tell you what the ingredients are...

Has anyone any recipes for cheap and easy (even if its nasty tasting) fondant? Cutting costs is a great suggestion... thanks!!!

there's an excellent, easy recipe for homemade fondant here on CakeCentral in the "recipes" tab that I use. It's "Marshmallow Fondant" posted by "Desirai" in December.
Sometimes that bought fondant can look dull & crack, but, since no one will be eating this cake, try spraying alittle Pam while rolling it out to add smoothness & elasticity and shine. I use it on the homemade. It really makes rolling, and handling easier. Good luck

melting marshmallows. sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. does all home made fondant have to use marshmallows?

i need 40lbs of fondant. does it even sound like its plausible to try and make such LARGE batches home made? and the recipe you recommended, alfiesmom, it doesnt say how many 'pounds' the recipe makes.

perhaps i should make homemade to practice with... and just buy it for the cake?

taste doesnt matter. its just for pictures.

the wedding is april 15th. holy crap. i just realized thats like a month away!!!

I will tell you that the best thing i have done for myself is purchase a digital scale so i can get exact measurements. I use the mmf recipe from here called alternative. I have changed it to make it work for me the best way possible. I have narrowed the powdered sugar down to 19 oz and i can add it all right in my kitchen aid. its loose enough, but strong enough for me to use. I will let you know i it can be a little more work. but you can add the color you want to make by adding it while its mixing. you should try a couple of recipes out and see which one you would like the best.

Michelle Foster's Delicious Fondant (recipe on this site) is really good. Has more of the traditional fondant texture, imo. I often mix it half and half with satin ice. Definitely buy a big piece of vinyl to roll out on, I fear press and seal would make wrinkle indentations in the fondant. Can't wait to see the finished product!

OP that is such a nice gesture you are doing for your aunt. I love the design of the cake. It's very classic asian but with a contemporary twist.
Good luck!

One batch of the MMF makes 3 lb. Yes, you could make it and it would be a LOT cheaper. I helped a friend of mine a couple of years ago, she had to cover 40 table cakes with fondant - and she made all of it. She stored in those GIANT ziploc bags (not the gallon ones, the HUGE storage ones) You could take one day and just make all the fondant and be done!