I am looking for ideas for a Liberty Bell cake. I need approx. 15-20 servings. Any ideas?

wonder mold for the bell.

then either a brick of styrofoam or pieces of cake for the wood cross beam.

for bell -- EITHER

1) carve away cake to get bell shape

OR

2) add extra frosting at base to build out the bottom to get bell shape

-----

for cross beam

1) styrofoam easier and lighter to hold by multiple skewers down through cake and into board.

2) cake would have to be on a cake board -- and then I'd us at least three if not four dowels HOT GLUED to the board to get enough support to hold bar above cake.

then cover in BC or fondant.

And definitely crack the cake on purpose!

Doug ~ that sounds and looks awesome! Your creative mind is always at work Do you think I could put the bell on top of a sheetcake that is draped with a fondant flag on top?

Britton ~ The way you said that cracked me up . That will be a fun part

Thanks so much Doug You are such a valuable asset to all of us on CC

If I decorate this with buttercream, what would be the best color or color combo to use? (I have Wilton colors)

If I decorate this with Luster Dust, what would be the best color to use (provided they arrive on time in the mail)?

gray w/ some type of pearl.

the real bell is a dull metal color, but has a bit of shine.

the cross piece is just a big ol' chunk of brown wood.

I wish I could find a picture of the original. All the ones I find on the internet are copper. I ordered some bronze and copper Luster Dusts from CC but I didn't order silver.

I can color it gray and maybe sprinkle some silver shimmer dust over it.

here's a series of images that show way more than you really need....but show true color of bell.

http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/03/pr0337_images.htm

most pics make it look so yellow because of the color of the lights they use in the hall where it is (and that film has a yellow bias to begin with as well).

gray w/ the silver dust should work just fine.

I thought I saw every Liberty Bell pic on the internet but I sure did miss those. They're awesome! Thanks Doug! I feel better now

I did another internet search but this time I used Jeeves (ask.com) and found several shiny gray pics

IT IS FINISHED! WOOOOHOOOO

The bell is all cake. I ended up using the Wonder Mold pan plus a 10" round and carved it to get the shape. It ended up having (3) 2" layers. The crossbeam is foam covered in fondant and is doweled. The flag is all fondant. Thank you so much Doug for all of your help. You helped give me confidence to do this.

Britton ~ I remembered to "crack the bell". But after I set it up at church I was draping the flag on it and the flag began to rip so I had to work quickly. I ended up cracking the crack

The picture doesn't express how impressive the whole set up was. My DH set it on the table for me and so when I walked in the room it took me by surprise. I was like, "WOW"!!

Here's a link to the cake picture:

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=displayimage&pos=-341163

you're most welcome..

and left my comment w/ the cake!

I just saw your comment. Thanks so much. I am very proud of how it turned out. I had a hard time at the party tonight to not smile too much (but I just couldn't help myself) . Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever decorate a sheetcake, much less a carved 3-D cake. I can harldy wait to try another one. But until then ~ I need some sleeeeep!

Just wanted to tell you that I just took at look at the cake - WOW! It looks fantastic! I love the details and the colors and...well, everything! So cool. And good job with the crack! Isn't it wonderful when you finish a cake and feel so proud of it?

By the way, what was the occasion, if you don't mind my asking?

Thanks Britton! We had our annual birthday party at church. We set up 12 tables (one for each month). Several members volunteer to decorate either a table, a cake, or both. Then at the party each person sits at their birth-month table and eats cake with those who share birthdays that month. We also have a potluck dinner and play games. It's a lot of fun.

This year I volunteered to make the October cake. It's in my pics. I'm not too thrilled with the ghost. I used white chocolate clay and got it too soft when I added whitener to it. The Liberty Bell was for two other ladies who volunteered for the July cake and they hired me to make it for them.

In past years I made a Christmas present cake for December and a western cake for September.

I'd like to sign up for the January cake next year and do a Superbowl theme.

I have been asked for directions on how I made this cake. Rather than sending pms and e-mails I thought it would be easier to post the directions in this forum. That way it is easily available to everyone. This was my first time making such a cake so I am in no way an expert. But I am willing to share how I made it whether right or wrong .

Crossbeam: I carved it out of styrofoam while viewing a picture I had printed off the internet. I covered it in brown fondant and made various wood markings on it with the tip of a knife. Then I rubbed some Wilton brown coloring on my hands and rubbed it all over the fondant covered crossbeam to give it a more natural stained look (the coloring washed off my hands easily ). I doweled the crossbeam with 4 dowels for stability. I actually transported it to the party assembled.

Bell: I made 2 cakes (one from the Wilton Wonder old pan and one 10 round cake). The 10 round is on bottom. I torted the Wonder Mold cake in half. Then I stacked and filled all 3 layers. I carved the bell shape while viewing a picture I had printed from the internet. I then crumbcoated the cake. I colored the icing gray and after I iced and decorated the cake I sprinkled some silver Wilton Sparkle Dust on it. Decorating the bell was an eye-opener for me since history was not my favorite subject. I did not realize that half of the inscription is scripture from the Bible. ("Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof - Lev. XXV, v. x. By order of the Assembly of the Province of Pensylvania [sic] for the State House in Philada.") To make sure all the words fit, I printed the two sentences on paper. Then I folded each one to make 4 sections. This gave me an idea of how many words I could fit in each quarter section. I used a #1 tip for the wording and (I think I used) a #2 tip lines around the cake. The lines were very difficult for me. If anyone has suggestions on how to neatly do this with buttercream, I would appreciate it. I put the crack in the cake with the tip of a knife.

Flag: The flag is all fondant. The background is one large white rectangle. The rest is just fondant pieces cut out and attached with water. I made the flag with 13 stars representing the first US Flag. (For other ideas on making a flag, check out this post: http://forum.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=176961&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0

I would love to try this cake again but in all fondant next time.

Thanks for the directions! The cake was very well done...