Hi CakeCentral members, I would like to ask if someone can help me with drapes please. I have made a traditional fruit cake (we Aussie's use fruit cakes a lot for wedding cakes) and it has been prepared and iced with traditional plastic icing. The cake is round & measures 15 inches across. Today I have made 2 drapes and both have been very heavy, I rolled the icing out to about 1/4" thickness, I put non-stick separators under the strips which was about 22" in length - to help with the folds. The drapes need to start from the middle of the left side of the cake drape across the front and slightly raised up onto the top right side of the cake. Both times the drapes held for about 15 mins and then dropped to the cake board. I'm getting frustrated here unfortunatley. I have the moulded roses all done so the drapes are the last part to go onto the cake before the final flowers are attached. If I get it right I'll put a photo in the gallery in about 10 days time.

The weather here in South Australia is very cold - our winter -the icing is pliable and not drying out quickly so I have time to manipulate the icing for a few minutes. As I haven't had the need to do drapes before I'm assuming this maybe a 'practice thing' hoping you can assist. Many thanks Aussie

Possibly are they too heavy?Maybe you could try toothpicks or something to help hold them? If the icing is dry ( or fondant I am assuming ) then dampening it a bit and sticking the end of drape to it and kind of smoothing it together to fuse it ...is what I usually do.

Hello KayDay, thank you for the reply. I have been thinking about it since reading your comment and I reckon you are right the drapes must be too heavy, I'll thin it down a bit more. I also hadn't dampened the sides or the inside of the drapes to adhere to the cake so I'll tackle that as well and give the the toothpicks ago also. I'll keep at it - have to succeed with them sooner or later, many thanks Aussie

Hi CakeCentral members, I had a problem with drapes for a fruit wedding cake about a week ago. Thought I'd send an update. I finished the 2 tiered cake tonight and it looks great. I'll get a photo done tomorrow and put it in the gallery. Many thanks to KayDay, the drapes worked well when I rolled it out thiner. I thought it would break/stretch but was just fine.
Cake will be delivered on Friday night for a Saturday wedding, hopefully it will be a bit warmer day in South Oz and she doesn't get rained on. Aussie

I am so glad that helped! I learned the hard way myself not too long ago... mine looked so pretty but were far too heavy and I finally had to redo them. I am glad your cake turned out so well and cannot wait to see it!!

When I do drapes I knead some gum paste into the fondant. You can roll it a bit thinner so it's lighter and it dries quicker. Dn't use too much water to stick down or the drapes can slide off. If I'm at all worried by this I use edible glue to stick them down

I never put more water on than, will come from a small detail paintbrush after it has been dipped in water then shaken off, so that it is barely damp. I should have been more precise.

Hi CakeCentral members, thank you for the tips with drapes. I certainly will take note and get some more practice in. I have placed the photo of the wedding cake into the galleries under 'Traditional Wedding cakes'. As the bottom cake was 36 cm across I still found difficulty in attaching the drape to the side and I did use royal icing to hold the edges of the drape and pinned along the top for extra support. I'm sure the next one will have more of a flounce. Thanks all for you help, kind regards Aussie