in another thread, i promised i would take pics of the helmet that i had to do yesterday. i wasn't really happy with the final product, but the customer went on and on about it...ahhh...the beauty of rose colored glasses!

***bottom= 3" high/8" round.
***second layer= same, but only an inch tall.
***third cake= started out as a 10" round.
***i also baked a wonder mold pan (just moved, couldn't find my ball pan), but only ended up using the bottom 2 or 3" of it that i just set on top of the 10".
***i doweled each layer with 7 dowels, and had two going from top to bottom, all the way down through to the countertop.



the client really did not want fondant, so i went with icing; after the final layer of icing has crusted, we noticed the helmet starting to slide/lean. i think the humidity was just wreaking havoc on the fillings. i put a second dowel all the way down into the cake board...that did the trick, but it was too late to take out the all bulges, which is a huge pet peeve of mine! darn it!




my recommendations:
other posters have suggested using 8" rounds for the helmet. by looking at the pictures of their awesome helmets, i thought they were larger and would make a nfl regulation size helmet...but it doesn't. if you are like me, and was sitting there looking at a larger helmet for reference, you will be pulling your hair out trying to figure out how to carve it. finally, i admitted that it just wasn't going to happen, so i went smaller but if you want to make a regulation size helmet, i strongly recommend baking 3 10"rounds, 3" tall (at least).

do not take this cake on short notice!! the gumpaste needs to be very strong...with more drying time, it would have taken a load of stress off of me. i used my husbands small vintage helmet, covered the mask with parchment paper, and then layed my gumpaste strips over it. i made it 36 hours in advance, and kept a fan blowing on it. since i had originally assumed that i was making a regulation size helmet, i went to a sports store and bought a quarterback face mask for $13. i will be using that from now on to lay my gumpaste over.

i also recommend getting edible images of the logo, wording, etc. it would just be much more professional looking.

i really want to do this helmet again, using the things i've learned to make a kick butt cake...after i recover from the fatigue of this one!!!!!!!!!!

starla

wow this is fantastic!!!! i guess it that time of year cause i will be making one in about three weeks!!!! thanks for all the tips and tutorial!!!

Thanks so much for posting your pictures and what you did, that is most helpful. I too would have thought 8" rounds would make a larger helmet.

I truly wish I could say I liked the cake itself, but I can't bring myself to say anything nice about anything UT related. Just kidding (sort of). It is great work though, you did an excellent job and I will be thrilled to death if mine ends up looking half as nice.

Love it.... thank you for this!!

I think you did a great job.. i hope mine would be as good as yours when i get a chance to do one... i think i will do one for the Super Bowl if the Steelers win this weekend against the Ravens......thank you so much for doing this for us CC's people

thanks again
shaddi

Thank You, thank you, thank you, thank you thank you

Just found this tutorial. Awesome cake and thanks for posting the instructions.

Thank you!