Hello,

I am relatively new to the site and still very new to cake decorating. I always come here to search for answers and think you all are amazing and believe you can help me with a dilemma I'm having. I've been asked to make an Air Force promotion cake with cream cheese frosting. I've only done cream cheese frosting once and it wasn't for a special cake so I've never had to decorate with it, I always use buttercream. I've researched and found the recipe for the decorating c/c frosting (thank goodness). I've also researched info on whether or not you can use fondant or gumpaste with it, however, there's so many conflicting answers, I'm still not sure.  The ideas I have for this cake are very simple, nothing real elaborate. I'm making a 12x18x2 sheet cake with an edible image of the USAF seal (if it arrives in time) applied to the center and I'd like to use either fondant or gumpaste as accent pieces for an oak leaf, a small American flag, and a USAF symbol. So the edible image would be in the center and the accents would be offset near the 4 corners of the cake. Is this possible with the decorating cream cheese frosting? Is there a way to make it possible??? The cake is for next Saturday and if I can do gumpaste I'd like to start them today....Any suggestions or advice will be extremely appreciated. Thank you so much in advance! 

Stephanie

I think it really depends on your recipe.  Many cream cheese frostings lean on the soft side and aren't really designed for cake decorating.  I have used Edna De La Cruz's crusting cream cheese recipe with good results, as it is a crusting cream cheese buttercream.  Here's a link to the recipe from her website: http://designmeacake.com/crustcreamcheeseicing.html.  Hope that helps!. 

Thank you! That's the same recipe I found on here. I'm still a little nervous to try to add fondant accents though. Do you think a FBCT will work well on top of this cream cheese frosting? 

Using fondant or gumpaste accents on a crusting cream cheese frosting will be fine. I usually let the frosting crust, then add the decorations with a little extra frosting on the back to glue into place. 

AThank you Dayti! Should I let it crust at room temp like I would BC frosting or do I need to put in the refrigerator since its cream cheese? Also, if the edible image doesn't arrive in time, I'd like to do a FBCT as a backup plan. Will that work well with the cream cheese frosting?

You're welcome! The recipe you are using doesn't need the fridge since it has so much sugar in it, which acts as a natural preservative. The only time you need to fridge it is if it looks like it's melting, or if you need it to firm up a bit to apply your decorations. It will crust at room temperature no problem.

I have never done a FBCT but I would imagine it would work, the same as if you used normal buttercream, yes.