Let me just start of by saying that I would have NEVER chosen to do this cake. It was for my god-daughters first birthday and my best friend literally twisted my arm. She was very specific about what she wanted and that pressure alone was overwhelming. It didn't turn out half bad though. I can't remember the pan sizes off the top of my head but the whole cake fed 70 (!!) people. It was covered in buttercream, and all the purple accents were royal icing. The grass and flowers were also in buttercream. ****A warning about the Wilton Romantic Castle Set**** It's a lot of work! I expected the bottoms of the towers to have dowels, I expected the peaks to attach (twist/lock in) to the towers. And...I was wrong. Since I had to travel with this cake down 2 miles of a gravel/rock/dirt road, I needed everything to be as secure as possible. I ended up drilling small holes into the bottoms of the towers and inserting wooded skewers for extra stability. I piped royal icing around the bases of all the towers as a "concrete", and then decorated over that "concrete" with buttercream. And the royal icing also served to attach the peaks to the towers. I think this set would be difficult for a beginner and I feel that is who it is marketed to. I have been doing cakes for about 5 years and it had me in a panic! So...just a little warning :)