I've been asked to make a 3-D M & M cake to feed 80 people. What would be the best way to make one and secure it so it doesn't tip over?

I'm not sure yet if she wants the M & M to have hands and feet or if it's just a plain M & M. Her husband asked if I could make it. I just thought I'd start getting ideas so I'd know what I could and couldn't do.

Thanks!

Sounds like great fun!

Could you use thicker dowel rods and cover with fondant for the legs and arms? Kinda like Duff does on ace of cakes. Maybe that would support the weight if it was 3D.

I hope she wants arms and legs. I would be more fun to look at.

What instantly came to my mind was first making a bottom cake (either sheet or 12" round. Then making 3-D M&M on top (maybe with the 3-D pumpkin pan, stem cut off). Dowel the whole thing so she (IDK why I'm imagining the green girl M&M) is secure to the bottome cake. It could be designed so that she is "sitting" on that bottom cake. (Then you'd also have somewhere for any writing if they want it.) The arms and legs could be made from fondant (the arms would have to be secured with skewers at the top and the "hands" resting on the bottom cake- the legs could just rest on the bottom and maybe be made to dangle a little off the bottom depending on where she is positioned.) I wish I knew how to do drawings on this here 'puter contraption! But hopefully, you get the idea. Hope I helped a little...

or how about a few round cakes, to feed that many would be quite a few because you can't really layer them. Each round cake is an individual M and M-different colour, each cake- either BC or fondant covered with letter M in fondant on top.
So either have the separate M and M (cakes) placed around the table ,or have stacked, 10 8 6 or whatever combo sizes would feed 80 people- not sure lol

I am going to try to attach a couple of pics of cakes I have seen on CC. I cannot give credit for them as I don't know who made them. I just saved them in my files. I was going to look for them in the gallery but I can't get the pics to load there.[/img]

That is the first time I have attached a picture in the forum so wasn't sure of what I was doing. All my friends have promised to make me the three tiered cake if I ever get married again (trust me, won't happen--tried it 4 times--not again). I collect M & M figures and have over a thousand!

Good luck with finding what you want. I just think this tiered cake is wonderful. I'm sure there are more in the gallery but, as usual, I am having trouble getting them to load.

Diane

I'm imagining the yellow M&M reclining in like a beach lounge chair. You could do stacked rectangle cakes for the base of the chair and a wedge shaped cake stacked toward one end for the reclining part. You could use the 3-D easter egg pan for the peanut M&M and just modify the pointy end a bit. IDK...I can picture it in my head but it's hard to put into words. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

I have one in my pictures you can check it out, it was a whole' M&M' land sort of thing.

Found the one cake this morning.

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=75352

Diane

Aha! Found the other one. She also has a link on this to show how she put it together.

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=415413

I know this isn't 3D but is cute and could have something t3D used as the top tier.

Hope these are some help and give you ideas.

Diane

Wow ~ you all have certainly got some great ideas!

I did a lighthouse cake last weekend and a lady saw it and wants me to do an M & M. It will be set up in the middle of the room on a round table like my lighthouse was. She was envisioning a large M & M on the round table.

I'm thinking that the smaller ones like oceanspitfire mentioned would be cute. But she wants them standing up. Maybe 3 or 5 in a circle facing outward that way everyone in the room could enjoy them and see at least 2 faces.


But the one on the couch like lionladydi posted was cute too. I may be able to talk her into that. I could have 2 couches back to back with an M&M on each. That way they could be enjoyed all around the room. Then the cakes wouldn't be so large and there would be less chance of them falling over . That was one good thing about the lighthouse. It could be enjoyed from all around the room.

It's been about 5 months and the time has finally come to do this cake. I'm a bit nervous and very excited.

The M & M will be 24" tall and 9 " deep. My sweet DH built a frame (which I will take a picture of and post it). It should work very well. Here's my plan:

The top half of the M & M will be cake. I am using my oval pans and sheetcake pans to bake them. I am going to split the oval cakes in the middle and cut a piece from the sheetcake to insert between the split oval shapes. This will help add length to help me get the 24" (like putting the leaf in the middle of a table). It will be a total of 6 layers of cake from midway up.

For the bottom half I must first say that I absolutely LOVE Cake Central!!!! I have been so stressed over what to use for the bottom. I didn't want to make the whole thing out of cake since it was going to be sooo big. That would have fed 200 people to do the whole cake like that. So anyway, I prayed while I was in Hobby Lobby today and asked God to show me how to make the bottom so it would be stable and food safe. After finding nothing at HL I came home, got on CC and finally came across something that will work. It was a duh moment like, "why didn't I think of that a long time ago"? The answer: Rice Krispy Treats! They can be packed tight, molded, trimmed, and a lot less expensive and workable than the ideas I had.

For the arms and legs, I think I'm going to make them out of Rice Krispy Treats and cover them with fondant ~ hmmmmm ~ Marshmallow Fondant would be good for that. I wonder how stiff they will get fixed like that? I would like for one arm to be up like he/she's waving.

Does all this sound do-able. Thank you all for your help!

Amazingly it is done and arrived in one piece. I don't know that I'll ever do another one like it, especially that size. It took my DH and another man to carry it in the facility. I wish I could have weighed it - LOL.

Wow, that is a HUGE M&M....he looks great!!!

GOOD JOB!

Yeah it was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. 2 feet doesn't sound big but it sure is .