Wow....It looks like individual squares to me, and l.o.t.s. of work!! But what an accomplishment, if you can make something that cool!!!
Good luck with that!! 
i think when she was on the show she said that they covered it with an initial sheet of fondant and then applied the squares individually to the cake, then sprayed it with the gold.
Definitely individual pieces. TONS of work. Very cool cake though. For stability I'd make it 1/3 - 1/2 styrofoam. Cover it with black fondant and then the little pieces. Wow.. very cool indeed.
I made this cake a few years ago (and I couldn't find any disco ball cakes anywhere at the time). It's in my gallery if you want to see it.
I did over 300 little squares, let them dry and add them on...one at at time and airbrushed with edible silver. I've actually done this cake 3 times now. Lots of work (and fun!)
-Michelle
I made this cake a few years ago (and I couldn't find any disco ball cakes anywhere at the time). It's in my gallery if you want to see it.
I did over 300 little squares, let them dry and add them on...one at at time and airbrushed with edible silver. I've actually done this cake 3 times now. Lots of work (and fun!)
-Michelle
thanks! cool cake!
it looks like i will be cutting out little squares of fondant. few questions
*how far ahead can i make the squares. i know you said you let them dry, but dont they need to be a little pliable to bend to the shape of the cake
*how did you determine how many squares you would need. or did you just estimtate?
*is the cake just crumbcoated or is this fondant under the squares
*was this a paid cake? if you do you mind sharing how much you charged? im not charging but would like a reference if someone asks.
I cut the squares several days ahead because I knew it would be a daunting task. I covered the entire cake (sports ball) with a thick layer of buttercream. I used a paintbrush and some vodka to attach the squares to the buttercream (starting around the belly of the cake). The alcohol and the buttercream helped to soften the squares just enough to get them to lay down a bit.
What I didn't do for the cake I posted, but have done every time since then is offset the tiles in lieu of trying to keep them in straight rows across and down. You have more "forgiveness" if you do it this way. Am I making sense? Do a row of tiles and then the next row you should try to center the tile over the seam of the two below it...like bricklaying I guess...
As you start getting to the top (more curved areas) you will need to take your cutter and customize many of the pieces to get them to still appear square, but allow for the curve. So, many of the pieces will be wider at the bottom and more narrow at the top.
As far as price, I would charge HEAVILY for this cake. It is a PITA to cut all those pieces- not to mention adding them to the cake...one at a time. The cost of silver...you know...
Since it is 3D and serves about 12 I would chage about $85.
Did I answer everything? Hope so! Good luck!!!!
You could cut them out as early as you wanted to. A disco ball is covered with many many little pieces of mirror.. none of which are curved to the shape of the sphere. It's what gives it that faceted look. The small size of the pieces makes it so you don't need to have them curve at all. So get started now if you want. 
I have no idea how to arrive at a number of pieces.. but you will need a LOT.. there is 20 pieces in the loop of the "P" alone.. so lots.. 600 would be a good place to start and you will probably need more depending on how big you make it.
I would cover the cake with black fondant and then apply the squares to that. This way they will have a nice solid surface to cling to and they won't fall off.
Pricing will depend on the size of the cake, but I'd start it at $250.00.
And this is how I'd assemble it..
jkalman & msauer - thanks for the input!
i think i will start doing little by little now. thats why i started asking this early just incase.
im just going to use my sports ball pan for this one, but thanks for the pic on how the assemble/carve - that will come in useful for other sizes if i do one again in the future.
I will cover the cake w/fondant first!
And oh yes im starting to learn - 3d/specialty cakes need a starting/minimum price!
for making the tiles i would think that a pastery cutter with multiple blades would work. like this one....
http://www.countrykitchensa.com/catalog/product.aspx?T=4&ShopId=40&CatId=542&SubCatId=164&productId=628644
i think this would help in cutting down time? not quite sure about the price, but i'm sure they are cheeper somewhere else.
chris
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