Graduation Cap Cake Tutorial

Video By Craftsy Cake Decorating

1. Let's start by making the top of the cap with fondant. I am going to knead some Tylose powder into my fondant to turn it into gumpaste.  This will allow the piece to dry firm.
   
2. Rolll the gumpaste between spacing bars to acheive an even thickness.
   
3. Now move the gumpaste to a piece of parchment, this will need to dry for a couple days so you might want to put it on a sheet pan as well for storage.
   
4. Next, cut a square using a ruler or template. I am using a template I made from a piece of cake board, but you can use anything that is food safe.
   
5. Once the shape is cut, don't touch it!!  we don't want the shape to warp.  Just leave it to dry for 24 hours and then flip the piece over and dry for another day.  This will ensure that it is set on both sides!
   
6. Once the top is dry, we can build the cake!  Starting with a simple round cake, cover it using the same color fondant as the cap top.
   
7. Glue the top on using chocolate or royal icing.
   
8. Now for the tassel. Roll a log of gumpaste. To make sure it's even, you can run a cake board over the log.  
   
9. Now fold the log in half and twist in opposite directions at both ends to create a braid. 
   
10. For the end of the tassel, I like to use an extruder.  Just place a log of gumpaste inside and turn the crank 
    
11. Let's put it together. First glue the braid down using piping gel.  
    
12. Next you can fuse the tassel ends with the braid with a small piece of gumpaste.
    
13. To finish I will paint the tassel gold and cut out and add a tiny fondant button on top. And viola! A finished graduation cake.