I have a cake that is going to be entered into a fair competition in a little over a week ... my goal is to make an ice dragon in white, blue and purple colors .. It is going to sit on a round piece of plywood and it will be out in some pretty humid weather for a week straight. I would really like to make my board look nice, normally I just use tin-foil type stuff from my cake supply store. I was thinking that covering the board in color flow would be a nice look especially if I did not mix the blue in all together with the white and made a swirly look, my only concern is that it would not hold up in the humidity .. can anyone help me make my board look good for judging as well as the week that it will be on display?

You are right to spend extra time on the cake board. I was at a competition where nobody received a blue ribbon because the judge didn't like anyone's cake board! I like your idea of the swirled color flow. I have no idea how it will hold up in the humidity, either. Maybe someone with experience in color flow will jump in with some answers. Good luck!

ok thanks gemini!

My RI and color flow boards have never been impacted negatively due to humidity; the only thing that seems to impact these is dropping and cracking these.

ok thank you .... but now do you cover your boards in RI or in Colorflow? And do you have a preference? And how early do you cover your boards?

If you're concerned about the RI or colorflow, you can marble your fondant and cover the board with fondant. You'll still get that swirly effect.

that is true about the fondant .... if I did use fondant instead of RI or colorflow, how does it attach to the plywood circle? And I am assuming that it would still look good after a week? Thank you for any and all opinions!

To cover a cake board in fondant I do the following:

Brush the board with a thin coat of piping gel (in a pinch I have used egg white)

Roll out your fondant (about a 1/4 inch thick) and using your rolling pin place it over your board. Then use your smoothers to smooth it done and help it to grip.

Trim the fondant, I find that I hold the board from underneath balancing on my hand and trim it with a spatula. Then gently using your cupped hand run it around the edge to make sure there are no rough edges. (Alternatively you can use a nail file when dry)

Depending on your weather it can take up to a week to set rock hard. Then just attach ribbon around the side. You can keep it covered with a piece of greaseproof paper to keep dust of it, and if you do think it is dusty just use a clean brush to dust it.

Just a thought though, is the plywood covered, if not you may want to cover it with contact or something. (I am a bit funny about placing food stuff just on wood.

Hope this helps

Cheryl

cherylweddingplanner,
Thank YOU for that tip on covering boards! I haven't done a wedding cake yet, but wanted to cover a board for another cake but wasn't sure exactly HOW to do it, but now I do! Thanks again!

cheryl, i have a follow-up question if you don't mind? so let's say i'm able to make the fondant-covered cakeboard set rock hard, exposing it to a week of humid conditions won't affect it anymore? because that was one of the concerns of cakerator.

and then i have an amateur question too: (sorry, this may be stupid) how do i keep the fondant-covered cakeboard clean while i'm working on the cake? i usually have cake crumbs, glops of icing, and powdered sugar falling onto the cakeboard at different stages of decorating. or should i skip covering the cakeboard with fondant until i am a better (more sure and less mess) decorator?

thanks for sharing your tips!

thank you cheryl that was very helpful information ... Maybe I will use fondant instead of colorflow I just don't know what to do ... I think I am putting to much pressure on myself for this contest! LOL I just really really want to win a ribbon!

Cosmicbear, the only thing I can say is practice, practice and more practice.

The only thing that will effect the rock hard fondant will be anything wet or coloured on it.

I know when I first started doing it I used to work with a paper towel nearby to get any mess quickly. Cake crumbs and powered sugar you can generally brush of with a brush. Coloured icing will stain.

And to Thecakerator; Just remember to breath and have faith in yourself, you can do this think lots of positive thoughts (brings good karma)

Just another thought to add, I have also used embossing tools, buttons, stamping tools while the fondant is still soft to add an extra dimension to my cakes. You can then fill these will colour.

Any other questions please feel free to ask. And good luck with it.