I'm still very new to this whole cake decorating thing. I've only made a handful of cakes. I really want to practice more, but really don't need to have all the cake in the house. I've heard of dummy cakes or fake cakes before. Where do I find them?! Are they worth buying?! What are they made of?! Any advice y'all can give me I'd really appreciate it TIA
-Becky

www.**********online.com

has the best prices & selection. They're made out of high quality Styrofoam. If you do a search for threads with the words "cake dummy" or "cake dummies" in the title, there are a LOT of posts about how to cover them & use them for practice.

Have fun!

I too use www.**********.com and they have a large selection of cake dummies for pretty good prices. Also, for carved practice cakes, you can use scraps of styrofoam that may be left over from packages. The carved cakes in my photos are all carved from styrofoam and decorated with fondant. (You'll soon be wanting to hold on to all of the styrofoam scraps you can find! )

And when you get your dummy cakes... they cushion the dummy cakes with pieces of scrap foam that I use for drying leaves and/or anything that has to dry up/straight or wired....

Yep, thats one of the best places, especially if you want ot buy a bunch. They do take a bit to make them so if your in a hurry there are other sites that sell them like Global Sugar Art. Their still pretty cheap.
I find the best way to cover them is either royal icing, piping gel or crisco. Before you cover them though you want to take a nail file or a sanding block and lightly sand the edges so it doesnt make your fondant rip. Then use your choice of the above and the roll out your fondant and cover. I like to use Wilton because its thicker than most fondant and cheaper (not to mention it tastes nasty so its great for this!) or make your own. Have fun! And when your done playing you can either peel off the fondant, soak it in some hot soapy water and you can reuse it.

has anyone bought the pillow shapped ones? I cant seem to find a price on them..

You can also buy the dummies with already rounded edges so they'll be ready to use for fondant.

so this may sound stupid, but when you are done with can just peel it off and reuse them!? how do they work with BC?! I've got a bday coming up and they are on my list, as my mom is supporting my every move in this whole cake decorating career switch from teaching. I'm so excited to get them to practice whenever I want!!!

Thank you all for responding to me! Really helpful!

Yes, you can just peel off the fondant decorations, clean it and use it again (I even reuse the fondant for my dummy cakes). If you use buttercream, just clean it in hot water and make sure there's no residue. I bought a set of round cake dummies and have used them over and over again.

awesome! thanks soo much!!!! Can't wait to order them and start practicing!

lilyankee5688. If you are in or near PA, there is a place in York that is cheap. You can call a day ahead and they'll have them ready for you to pick up. It really helps not having to pay the shipping costs!
www.guildcraftfurniture.com/cake-dummies.html

I prefer www.taylorfoam.com

I get mine from www.taylorfoam.com too

I would NOT suggest getting them from www.**********.com . I had a large number of problems with mine, including square blocks that came with round corners, lots of dents and dings.

TF has super fast shipping too! Compared to some of the places I order their shipping is great as well as the packaging. I LOVE the ballpoint pen they put at the bottom of the box! I'm sort of a pen stealer!

T h e D u m m y Place, CT 860-875-1736 way cheaper on product and shipping. His name is Larry

E-Bay! Do a search for cake dummies and a great company comes up.

Thanks for all the info on the cake dummies. I just ordered from Taylor Foam. Next time I'll check these forums first before I buy certain products 'coz I paid way more for my original round cake dummies!

I've been ordering from www.**********.com for years. Never had a problem.always happy.

Thanks, leah_s!
I've been searching for cake dummies for a few weeks and just ordered from them. I found many sites, but the prices were a little too high. I don't know know WHY I didn't check for reviews on CC before I ordered (Duh!)
But you just made me feel a whole bunch better! Thanks!