i would like to try to start sculpting cakes and would like to know what are some of the basics, maybe some hint and tips, recipes that anyone thinks is the best to use. eveything and anything is greatly appreciated.

Can I ask... what's a madeira cake? I have heard about it on here but never heard about it anywhere else to find out what it is exactly.

A traditional English favorite that's like a simple POUND CAKE, the top of which is sprinkled with candied lemon peel halfway through baking. The name comes from the fact that it is usually served with a glass of MADEIRA. Some cooks also sprinkle the baked cake with Madeira before it cools.

source:www.allrecipes.com

Madiera is a recipe for a dense cake that has a nice flavor. It tastes better than pound cake.

I use pound cakes to sculpt, and the tools I use most are my tapered angled spatula and a brush. I rarely use fondant on my sculpted cakes because I prefer the taste and workability of buttercream. Crusting buttercreams work better than non-crusting ones. I also use my basketweave tip to lay icing on the cake as if it were a little bitty cake icer tip.

Do you have a project in mind? If you are looking for inspiration, try lawn ornaments. They tend to have chunky shapes and are inexpensive in case you decide to buy one and use it as a pattern.

Here is a link to our cake club's workshop on cake sculpture. I'm teaching it, and I'm using a lawn ornament bunny as a guide. I had several of them that the students passed around to use to help them with the shaping. Maybe you can get some ideas by seeing the in-progress cake I'm demonstrating.

http://www.sugarwonders.com/photosSculptureWorkshop.html

Hope that helps...

Deanna