I'm seeing more and more cakes done with RKT for features, and on some cakes I've seen done on TV, a lot more RKT than I would be comfortable offering to a customer as a cake.

I think the finished surfaces of products made with RKT are rough and uninspiring, and that more cake artists are using them as shortcuts, rather than as a necessity (meaning, it would be darn near impossible to make the same feature from cake or mold it from chocolate or pastillage/gumpaste). If I order a cake, I want cake, not a lot of RKT that I never ordered.

I would like to know your opinions as to what trends you've seen, whether you use them, and to what extent.

Theresa

I've never used them on my cakes, but I have friends that use RKT for very specific decor. Specific.. As in.. Only for small portions of a cake that would otherwise be unstable or too heavy if a different medium was used. The last I saw was a HUGE castle cake.. The turrets were the only things made out of RKT, which actually helped with the cobblestone-esque design. The little girls at the birthday party loved it.. They kept saying it was like an extra treat

RKT can be smoothed by first firmly pressing the RKT together, than getting a pairing knife and smoothing, or a lemon zester. As far as when to use them I only think that it should be used when cake can not hold up, IMPOSSIBLE to hold up. I used them to sculpt a small thomas the train, a small prego belly, just because they were so small they would have been pointless to bake a cake just for those tiny elements that were on it. I did use RKT on the top dome of my son's birthday cake for 2 reasons. 1. we didnt have enough people coming to eat all the cake, even if every single person there took some home, and 2. RKT just was much easier than carving cake, I pressed it into a bowl and vwah la! a dome was made with no cake carving! I do not like seeing bakers making more RKT than cake, or a large amount of their design to be RKT. However, it it sometimes a good idea to use it!

I use rice krispie treats only when the alternative would be structurally unsound, too heavy, or take weeks to dry. There are plenty of things I can make out of gumpaste but it someone only asks you for a cake 3 days in advance that just does not give gumpaste enough time to dry. I always explain to the person if I am going to use RKT. Most children get excited about the RKT and end up eating that not the cake. Since I don't even like cake I would be the one eating the RKT too!

i used RKT on a deer mount cake i did...take a look at it, it is in my photos...where the base of the neck is is two 10" round cakes and then from there up i used RKT because the head and neck almost lay's parrellel with the table and cake would not have held up...

I have used RKT on some of my cakes. While I agree that the amount should not be excessive in comparison to the cake itself, I feel that it can be better than gum paste sometimes because it's at least another edible feature. Like so many others have said, some people really enjoy the special treat.

I use RKT for models-like tractors or cars-that are used as cake toppers. They're lightweight and they stay together well.