I'm planning to attempt my 4 year old son's birthday cake along the lines of this cake... (except I will do a regular 3 tier instead of like this one to save on buying a special cake platter)....

http://www.wilton.com/idea/Happy-Landing

I've never worked with fondant but have watched enough Cake Boss to kinda know a little about what I'm up against.

I plan to make my own fondant to save money and have found some great recipes. I want to do a test cake before his birthday in a few weeks. ANy suggestions on something simple to try?

Anything to remember, tips, suggestions on making his bday cake??
I'm planning to make it all the day before and find a large box to store it in. Any/all info would be awesome. I'm not doing the cookie space ship. I got small astronauts, and space shuttle, and a flag to place on it. I will do the stars on lollipop sticks all over, and the moon/crater look on all 3 tiers!

I'm soooooo excited.

How experienced are you?

In cake making? None at all! But I think I can do it!

I am a "newbie" I guess, only been making cakes since February. I have learned SO MUCH on CC and other sites. I'm assuming you already know what kind of support you are using for your cake. As for the fondant....you may have great luck with it but I am still struggling with putting in on a cake without ripples on the sides. It did work better for me with ganache underneath instead of BC...but still not perfect. I suggest you practice, practice, practice. I was ready to throw my last practice cake against the wall! It may help to hide any flaws with the "crater" look though.

I would make the fondant a few days before and let it sit (covered in crisco and wrapped in saran wrap). It's better that way plus you don't have to do everything in one day.

Best of luck to you!!!!

You need to know I am an sculptor and I don't want to be a snot, but back 6 years ago I was watching a Cake Challenge on Food Network and was really intrigued. When the show ended I said to myself, "Self you can do that it is just a sculpture out of food." Not thinking of course that these people were experts in their field and made it look really easy. So that first year, I made a cake a week not missing any for 52 weeks. Well now six years later, I am finally turning out cakes I don't hate. It is very much harder than it looks.

I don't want to burst your bubble, but my advice to you, which is the same advice I give to my students, is to start smaller, start with buttercream, perfect that and then start making stacked fondant cakes. You got to get the basics down in the minor leagues before you get to the majors. That is a nice design so I would make each tier separate like it looks in the photo, but would use buttercream. Then to get height put the cakes on different size boxes and cover with a bit of fabric and practice, practice, practice.
HTH

Practice!! But I think you can totally do it just the way you're envisioning.

I'd go out and pick up some Wilton fondant and play with it. If you have never worked with fondant, never touched it, then you don't know what you are really looking for consistency wise when you make it. With a lot of the recipes for fondant you have to go by feel.

If I was practicing, then I'd just do a small cake either to look like that one, or just a basic look. I wouldn't worry much about the decorating of it.

I'd also start on the cake more than must the day before personally.

Suggestion: I seem to remember on one of the cake boss competition episodes, they did a cake with a space theme, planets, rockets, etc. I don't remember the specifics. It seems to me that rather than using fondant, the baker used a gray tinted bc and used his gloved hands to "smack" at the bc to give it the coarse, raised texture of the moon. I think he then took a rounded tool much like a ball tool, but larger, and pushed in areas to get the deep, smooth crater look in some different sizes and in different areas.

Maybe this technique would be one you could practice? Might save you some time and frustration working with fondant - especially when it is so important to you. Just a thought. Good luck no matter what you decide.

I would deffinitely do a practice run! I make MMF and it is very inexpensive, kind of a pain to make, but it's cheap! It's also very easy to work with. This is a great place to get tips and advice! Good luck!!

Thanks so much everyone! My mom informed me today that my day (who use to cater) has a cake stand just like the one in this picture so I won't have to stack them which will be SO much easier! Yay!

I'm thinking I may just purchase the fondant for the actual bday cake but may experiment in making some until then. My friend gave me a good recipe.

Cake making is one thing I've never tried but would love to be able to do my kids birthday cakes for fun without spending a lot from a bakery when I am perfectly capable!

Hobby baking is what many of us do and you ARE perfectly capable. I find that I can do any cake when I'm excited about the project. Making cakes for your kids will always bring you joy - and the great thing is they are very forgiving of any small flaws (usually you are the only one that will notice!). The most important thing is that you are making memories for your children that will last a lifetime.

You will do a great job! Good luck!

Well I attempted to make fondant today. FAIL. As someone said above, I wasn't positive on what consistency I was going for. Not to mention I could not get the color to blend into a gray like I wanted! Ugh.

I decided I won't be making my own for the cake. I don't have time (I run a daycare in my home) so I ordered Fondx on sale online. Hopefully it colors easier.