I have to make a mermaid cake similar to as in the following link

http://www.wilton.com/idea/Miss-Mermaid-Cake

The cake will be gluten-free. It'll be a 10" cake with the 8" wonder mold on the top.

My question is how to support the cake.

I was wondering if I should slice the wonder mold cake into two layers and support the layers with a dowel. Would the wonder mold cake collapse if I didn't do that?

I have made a few doll cakes now and have not used any internal support apart from the doll. I wrap her legs in clingfilm (I think this is called sarawrap in the US) and shoved her in the cake.

Should there be any support between the 10" and the wonder mold (i.e. cake board)?? Thanks.

Anjaligg

You do not need to cut the wonder mold cake, just do an opening for you to insert the doll, it is nicer to insert a complete doll instead of the pick doll(wrap in plastic film).
that way the child will also have a toy after they finish the cake. To be on the safe side, yes put support and cakeboard underneath.You will be decorating it, and will be heavier.
good luck
CIAO

I have made several doll cakes and haven't needed to use supports either.The cake is dense enough.I too also use a whole Barbie doll and wrap the laegs and waist in saran wrap and shove her down and in.If you just bake the wondermold and use a standard size Barbie doll the doll is too tall for the wonder mold.That is why I add an extra 8 inch layer as it allows for her full length.Works everytime and is sturdy.

I did a doll cake on top of a larger round recently and I did use an 8" cardboard round between the skirt and the bottom cake, with some cut-down lollipop sticks underneath for support. Just in case. I used a pick, not a whole doll, and put a thick dam and layer of filling underneath the wonder mold cake to increase the height of the skirt a little (the proportions just don't look right otherwise). But no, you don't need dowels, and the wonder mold cake itself won't collapse under its own weight.

I've done several doll cakes using the wondermold and always put a 1-layer round underneath for height. I've never used support and never had a problem. If I were doing 2 layers underneath I might think about it, though. Actually you'd have to make a hole in the cardboard round for the legs to go through, now that I come to think of it.

Recently I've been thinking about how a mermaid cake should be constructed and it seems to me that you'd really need Barbie's bottom (if you're using a real one, which looks better) sticking out of the cake so you can build up the tail and make it actually look like she's sitting on a rock instead of sinking into it. That means that you might not even need the extra height - at least not for the proportions to look right. If you need the extra cake then I probably wouldn't put her all the way down to the bottom.

Just my 2 cents' worth!


Just a little food for thought...