The rest of my post is missing. Let me try again
I’m making a retro games cake. It will be a cube. Probably 6x6x6. Each side will have a different game: Pac-Man, space invaders, donkey Kong and Tetris.
Can I decorate each panel before applying to the cake? I guess they will have to be quite firm to avoid stretching when I apply them. So this should give me extra time to work on them. Does this sound like it will work?
I would cover the cake with fondant and then make sure the decorated panels are very firm before placing them. The cake is going to have to be perfectly square and the panels will need to be the perfect size - - depending on how exactly you want them to match up.
yes what cakefan said — surprisingly, perfectly square cakes can be a royal pia — baby blocks were all the rage for a while — seems easy enough — ha! and man it was one disaster after another —
so measure carefully — be very precise — or be prepared to pipe a snail trail at the joins or even something wider — for example use a basket weave tip and just pipe straight lines down each side of each corner — and make sure each panel is created with that edging in mind — or make some fondant corners in advance that are also nice & dry that can tighten up any slight differences — can be tricky to pull off — but it does come natural to some people —
best to you
Like cakefan said your cake would have to be perfectly square for your pre-made panels to line up. If it were me I would fill and stack the cake, put the cake in the freezer for like 20-30 minutes so it gets really firm and then trim the sides so that everything is even and straight. Then proceed with the rest of the decorating.
I would also be tempted to keep the panels slightly larger than the dimensions of the cake so that once applied to the cake you can use a really sharp knife and straight edge to trim away any excess to really guarantee that everything lines up nicely. So you would want the panels dry but not rock hard so that you can cut through it without it cracking.
Also fondant paste (fondant in the color of your panels mixed with alcohol to create a paste) would be helpful to hide any seams or fill in any areas that may not have matched up 100%.
Thanks for all the replies. I think I will make all the little elements of each panel in advance rather than the panels themselves. I’ve seen a similar cake where they made a feature of the edging so I’m not too worried about having perfect edges. http://images.app.goo.gl/bhwFhGU4NJ2dNPUPA
For moving pieces where you need them to stay the exact shape you cut them use a piece of baking paper to do the transfer. If you google 'Jessica Harris baking paper transfer' or similar it should pop up. It stops anything from stretching out of shape :-)
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%