Hey Guys, Ok so Im making a cake for my Godchild this week and she is turning 4. I wanted to make the number 4 stick up on the top of the cake and have it be kind of big. I don't know the best way to do this. Im thinking using gum paste or fondant to make the number 4 and some how glue it on a stick and push it into the cake.  I also thought of doing chocolate mold number 4 and standing it up on the cake but the cake is fondant and I don't know if it will hold since the chocolate will be heavy. Any suggestions? And how do I make sure if I use fondant that it will be stiff hard and dry...how many days before should I make the number? Thanks!

Gum paste or fondant with tylose rolled very thin would only take a day to dry if there was no humidity.  I think this would be better than the chocolate because of the weight.  If you have a couple of days, I would make a couple of numbers in case one of them broke.  I would make little square pieces of the same gum paste/fondant to glue to the top of the sticks then glue the number to the top of the squares.  

I normally do numbers with fondant or gum paste by inserting a bamboo skewer into them , let it dry and then insert the skewer into the cake. If you want something light (although I don't see any issues with a  fondant number 4 crushing the cake ) you could pipe one with royal icing.

Wasn't done yet...

pipe it with royal icing, let it dry and attach it upright on the fondant using ri as glue.

Thanks guys! I'm going to make it tonight to give it plenty of time to dry. 

You could also cut the number out of a foam core board and cover that in fondant and poke a skewer through the bottom. 

i pipe pate choux and bake it -- works great -- light weight -- you can make a bunch in case of breakage no worries -- just stick a toothpick in it to attach

or spaghetti

@k8Memphis.  Thanks...that is an interesting method! 

i don't know why this is not used more - i've written out entire names to stand up on top of a cake - and I did a whole bible verse - it's fool proof - makes great scrolls -

best to you

@k8Memphis.  Do you happen to have a recipe on how to make pate choux? How long do you bake?

i'm going by memory then i'll double  check see how close i got --

• 1 cup water
• 1 little salt
• 1 stick butter

 bring just to a boil -- then add

• 1 cup flour all at once and stir

till it forms a ball remove from heat -- put it in mixer -- add

• 4 eggs one at a time beating well between each egg

then i bake at 325 - 400 depending on what i'm doing -- just bake it till it's done -- it's one of those especially if you're making lettering

and i did double check -- i got it right :)

Thanks!!!! This is great I'm going to give it a try! 

All of my numbers are done by loading up my word processor, using a nice font and size, and then printing it. I cut out the silhouette with scissors and superimpose that on top of gumpaste rolled out to about 1/4 inch. I trace the outline with an x-acto knife and then i let it dry overnight, turning a few times when I get the chance. I usually make sure that my number is at LEAST 4 inches high. 

Frank