Hi everyone,

I am mostly a lurker. Thank you all for the wonderful information. I have learned so much through these boards.

I bake for fun. I mostly make cupcakes and cookies. My best friend has asked me to make her brother and sisters (combined party) 50th birthday cake.

The cake is similar to one posted in the galleries. The circles will be pink and blue. The roses will replaced by initials.

I have used MMF some in the past and am comfortable making it. I have used the Planet Cake tut and am able to cover simple cakes. My concern is being able to cover the "5" and the "0" without the edges looking bad. The "5" I think I can do. How do I cover the "0" with the hole in the center? I just can't wrap my brain around being able to get the fondant in and smooth in the center.

Any suggestions would be wonderful.

Thank you all again,

Vonda

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Sorry the picture is so big. I am trying to edit the original, but the edit button is far to the right and I can scroll over there.
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theres a reason for the furry border in the 0 - to cover what i imagine is the join! most number cakes do have nice borders and crimping to disguides where its been joined up. so i would cover the 0, cut out the circle in the middle, and cut a stip to do the inside of the 0.

an other alternative is to have cake int eh centre of the 0, and cover that bit with black fondant.
xx

The only way I've found so far is to cut a strip of fondant, place it inside the 0, and then cover the rest of the cake. There will be a seam, but I stretch the fondant down as far as I can so it's less noticable.

I'd love to know a better way to do this!

Thank you very much for the suggestions. Does this cake look like its 2 stacked cakes or one torted cake. How big, generally, should the numbers be? I'm not concerned with how many people it serves, I just want it to look right.

Vonda

I think the height of the cake is up to you, and it's hard to tell from this picture just how tall this one is. But I imagine numbers (at least the 5) might be hard to torte, so I'd think about making it two layers.

Marianna,

Thank you. I didn't think about the numbers being difficult to torte. I will stack.

I see you are in Cancun. We have been there several times and it is gorgeous.

Vonda

i wish everyone make their pics that big. for once i could actually see the details !! thanks. I too would say they probably cut a strip of fondant for the center of the zero.

The first thing that I notice about this cake is that the "0" is smaller than the "5" - unless it is the angle of the photo. I would make sure that they were the same size.

Glad you liked it, Vonda. Look me up next time you come here - we can talk cake!

Peridot,

I noticed the size difference in the numbers also. I'm so much of a perfectionist, it would drive me nuts.

My friend wants her sisters initial (L) on one of the numbers and her brothers (M) on the other. I'm assuming the letters will be around 3" or so. She wants them in cursive. Think of Laverne and Shirley, with Laverne's "L" on her shirts and sweaters. I'm ok with using gumpaste. What would you all suggest to make the letters? I would like to make them soon and have them out of the way. They don't need to be edible. One will be baby blue and one baby pink.

Thanks so much,

Vonda

I often make lettering by extruding a line of gumpaste from my clay extruder and using this to shape letters. That way you can make any kind of lettering you want - block, cursive, gothic, whatever. For letters this size, I'd use the largest circle on the extruder. Of course, there are many other options, as well (molds and cutters in the shapes of letters, styrofoam letters to cover with fondant, piping with RI ), but this is one of my favorites, since I have no molds, very few cutters and no piping skills to speak of! On the second page of my photos, the one called "Victoria's Christening cake" has lettering made this way. (Actually, that was before I got my extruder - I just rolled out a long "snake" of fondant as evenly as I could to make those letters).