I am making a cake for my sister in law's baby shower that is Saturday. If I cut out my fondant polka dots today to go on a white cake, should i let them sit until Saturday morning before putting them on the cake or if I put them on now, will the color bleed onto my white icing??? I'm also making a wrap around fondant brown polka dotted ribbon with bow to go around one of the layers. Again, do I wait till Saturday morning or can I put it all together today?

Then I am using the baby's initials and standing them at the top of the cake. Do you think royal icing letters will hold up ok? I just don't want the "bulkiness" of the fondant initials.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am fairly new and need any help you all can offer.

Thanks
Tammy

I'm not an expert on RI, so hopefully someone who is will chip in. You can use very thinly rolled gumpaste and stick a toothpick inside the base (bottom where it'll touch the cake) so it dries with the toothpick inside. You'd then insert the toothpick into the cake - that's what will hold up the letters if you want them to stand upright on top of the cake. Again I hope someone who's done initilas in RI will chip in.

On the polka dots, it depends on the shape of your cake. If it's round, or even if it's square and you want some of them wrapped around the corners, you have to do it while the fondant is still soft enough to be malleable to take the curve of the cake. All you'll need to do to make sure there's no bleeding is make sure not to put too much water (if your cake is covered in fondant) on the back of the polka dot when you stick it on. Just a dampness in the middle will suffice. You don't mention whether your cake is covered in fondant or buttercream.

Sorry, it's covered in buttercream.

Here are some links to cakes I've done using these same techniques.

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1676759
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1671064
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1659600

You shouldn't have any problem with your colors running. See the sporty baby shower cake. To adhere these circles and dots, I dampened a paper towel and draped it over a platter. Then I let the circles and dots rest on the damp towel just for a few seconds and I placed them on the side of the cake. They were put on the day prior to delivery....

As for RI vs. gumpaste letters... The 17 is RI and the 18 is gumpaste (that 18 cake also has fondant adhered to buttercream). Both work fine, but the RI is far more delicate. You'll want to build up the initials with several layers of RI to make it sturdy enough to stand on it's own.

Tricia