hey everyone i got an order for a cake to look like the pic attached. i will be using a round 8" pan and covering it in fondant coloured grey and then using silver lustre dust painted on with vodka hopefully getting the chrome effect. the only thing i am stuck for is how to do the fan thingy in the middle. i was just wondering if anyone here has done a cake similar or has any idea how i can make something like it. thanks in advance

I would carve the fan into the cake before covering w/ fondant, rather than placing gumpaste on top as the fan appears to be inset. It doesn't look like you'd have to go deep w/ them. Once you've loosely draped your fondant over the cake, gently begin working down in between the "blades" and pinching the cake and fondant up slightly to get the thinner blade look on top. For the center of the fan, I would add a small circle of fondant and paint it w/ silver lustre dust and then paint just the tops of the blades and leave the darker grey inside . I'm sure there are other approaches, but this is how I would do it. Also, with the extension on the right top coming out, I'm wondering if an 8" cake will be large enough. It seems there will be quite alot of carving off on the right side, unless you've thought of another way to do it. Good luck! I'm sure it will be awesome.

thanks heaps for that. i will be doing this cake at the same time as my daughters 1st bday cake and as im doing hers as a 2 teir 8" on the bottom i will be trimming the top teir smaller so i will have left over cake to use as the extention bit.

im just really scared about carving into the cake as i havent done it before and ive only just started cake decorating so my skills arnt that great. lol but thats how i thought of doing it too

Awesome - I figured you had another plan for the extension coming out of it.

As far as carving goes, just do it w/ a light hand and don't get into a rush w/ it. Take a little at a time - you can always take more off, but putting back is not always fun. When I have a big carving project coming up, I look at the picture numerous times for days until it is basically etched into my brain. I can't wait to see the pic of your finished cake.

hahaha yer ive had the order for a week and im sick of looking at the pic trying to figure it out. my other option i was thinking would be to make the centre out of fondant and then cut a hole for it to sit in, but then i would have to make something for it to sit on while it drys lol. i wasnt going to ask on here but then i thought why not, i didnt join up for nothing hahaha.

but yer the cake isnt due for almost 3 weeks so i still have a little bit of time up my sleve to decide

That would work too. If you decide to go that route, you might consider using gumpaste instead of fondant or do a 50/50 mix of fondant and gumpaste. It will hold its shape better while drying. I turn a styrofoam plate upside down for flat surface drying. If its heavy, you might need to leave the plate right side up to avoid weighting the plate down and ending up w/ a dip in the middle.

yeah, i was thinking of making the fan part out of gumpaste then inserting it into a hole you could carve in the cake. would make it easier to get into the nooks and cranies when colouring..

good luck, let us know how it turns out. =)

hahaha yer im so scared of doing it, i may have bitten off more then i can chew :s but if i can pull it off i think im going to have heaps and heaps of orders for them which is good. another thing is im not sure on how much to charge for it...any suggestions? thanks again everyone

Aso did you do this cake after all