I am entering a cake contest at our local fair. I am covering it with fondant. Do I need to cover the dummie with buttercream or can I just cover with fondant. I have never used a cake dummie before. If anyone could help me I sure would appreciate it. Also how far along ahead of time can I make this cake. I am covering it with fondant. and the decorations are fondant molded flat roses with royal icing writing.

Some people cover their dummies with buttercream, but I don't see why you would want to waste perfectly good buttercream!

Other options are to rub a very thin layer of Crisco/shortening or piping gel on your dummy, or (my fave) just lightly spray the dummy with water.

You can make your cake as far ahead as you would like. Just be careful if you're using dark colors as they may fade. Other than that, you should be fine.

One more thing, make sure you smooth your edges of the dummy so our fondant does not tear. You can do this by rubbing the edges on a countertop or rubbing your rolling pin around the top edges.

Good luck!