How Many Wedding Cake Dummies Do Ya'll Have?
Business By littlecake Updated 18 Jan 2007 , 9:09pm by Chef_Stef
i'm ashamed to say some of mine haven't been redone in 3-5 years.
they are looking tired....i'm thinking a need to redo them all....i've got 5...could prolly use more huh?
I have over ten decorated tierd dummies ----at least! They are in my room where everything goes to die!
I have 5 fresh from last weekend's bridal festival, and one 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 set that aren't decorated yet. No idea where to store the dang things....until I build a shop of my own...bleh
I have 11 and I am in the process of doing updates. Tonight I finished 1 of 2 that we started today (slow day)I'm doing them for the show in February.
mpc
I also have stacked 6" through 24" uniced styro rounds that are out front to play/demonstrate the different set ups. It is very useful for me, I am very visual but this way I can show customers what I see in my head.
mpc
I just got my own personal set today woohoo. Gonna do my entry for the colorado sugar arts show on it
ok this might sound like a dumb question/....but what do ya'll ice them with?
at the bakeries i worked at we just iced them with icing....and they got hardened eventually.
i did this at my place too....
since i don't take em anywhere they didn't need to be super sturdy...
or is there some special recipe i don't know about?
i know some people use perma ice....
I would ice them in royal. Then again, I don't have any tiered dummies since I'm strictly out of home lol. I have a 10" dummy and that's it - I really need to pick up some more so I can do some practicing!
I have two that are done... One of which needs to go into the repair shop because it got run into a drop ceiling At least it's an easy fix, a little spackle and black paint...
As for how many dummies I have that aren't done yet... I'd say about 7-9 at least... I don't know what I'm doing here right now when I should be over at the other table working on getting the spackle layers down for the bridal show next weekend...
I'll get them done... Right....
Thank heaven for Sam's using a cupcake tower on their Christmas brochure, that'll take up a good chunk of table for samples
I always put fondant on the dummies. They stay fresh along time and you can use a feather duster when they start collecting dust. I always use Wilton fondant for dummies because it's cheap and I can save my 40% coupons to local hobby shops and buy it discounted and save some money.
Andrea
I forgot that I have one that is fondant coated too, but that one's life is short in that I'll keep it through the end of the bridal show, but that's about it because of the situation I've got for my space. I can't keep iced (fondant or otherwise) dummies around because of bugs and critters. It sucks, but it's one less thing to worry about even though it takes about twice the amount of time to make because of the dry time.
I use both fondant and everyday buttercream, just depends on the look I want.
Perma ice is pretty costly, I 've been told it smells bad forever.
Couturecake
are you icing your cakes with spackling?
mpc
I currently have 4... I'm brutal though, I scrape off the fondant after I'm done, and re-use them
I currently have 4... I'm brutal though, I scrape off the fondant after I'm done, and re-use them
I do the same thing. I have some recently covered with saran wrap and then iced for ease of removal at a later date.
mpc
I have 1, and It really hurts my feeling when I put all that work into decorating it and then when I'm doing decorating, I take a spatula and scrap the icing off into.
Where do you guys buy your cake dummies? Also, what do you ice them with if you're going to cover in fondant?
Don't feel bad about scraping it off! It's better than eating it all yourself! Plus as long as you get some good photos and enjoyed the practice that you got out of it, it served its purpose. You have to appreciate the fact that this is a temporary art. Cake decorating works out great for me because I'm A.D.D. and can't stick to the same thing for too long.... new project every cake!
Couturecake
are you icing your cakes with spackling?
mpc
My cake dummies are completely covered in lightweight wall spackle... It ices on the cake just like frosting, only stinks while drying, sands well, doesn't yellow with age, and when I'm done with a style, as long as it's not piped on all I need to do is pull out the roller and paint and bada-bing, changed over to the color of the season.
Couture
I like this... How are you decorating the sides of your spackled cakes? What does the buttercream do to the cakes?
mpc
Couture
I like this... How are you decorating the sides of your spackled cakes? What does the buttercream do to the cakes?
mpc
I haven't used buttercream on dummies yet... As for the piping on the spackle, I have a set of tips that I only use for spackle that I picked up one time on super cheap clearance. That with disposable bags cleans up really easy.
heres a dumb question...is spackle the same thing as drywall mud?
i was thinking the other day when i was putting mud on the joints of the drywall how much it was like icing.
I do have one done with drywall mud... It's a LOT heavier than the lightweight spackle is in terms of hauling the dummies anywhere.. But, the biggest difference I found is that the drywall mud actually cracks, whereas the spackle doesn't. It's nice to not have to fix cracks once the thing is drying because that's more dinkering around time.
CoutureCake,
Will you provide a brand name for the light weight spackle you use? I am going to have to try the spackle. As far as tips, CK Products has some plastic disposable tips I think will work very well with the spackle. I've been trying to find a reason to buy some of those.
Where do you guys buy your cake dummies? Also, what do you ice them with if you're going to cover in fondant?
some local cake decorating shop, but here's an online place
www.dallas-foam.com
I use a cheap marmalade jelly. Nuke it in the microwave until it's runny and thin and strain. Use a large paint brush and paint the jelly on the foam. Let lay the fondant over the dummy and do your thing.
Andrea
CoutureCake,
Will you provide a brand name for the light weight spackle you use? I am going to have to try the spackle. As far as tips, CK Products has some plastic disposable tips I think will work very well with the spackle. I've been trying to find a reason to buy some of those.
The container says "Red Devil One time lighyweight spackle"... I just get it in the 1gallon tubs from Menard's... It's the only brand they've got. The one thing about it though is that you do need to water it down a little bit to get it to spreading consistency. It's light, but it's also meant for walls, so is too thick to spread right from the container...
As for the plastic tips, it's your call there... I guess I like using what I'm used to using for piping in general. But then again, for $8 for the small boxed wilton set, you can't go wrong with using that...
Couture how do you color or paint the spackling?
Why do you use it instead of icing?
mpc
Couture how do you color or paint the spackling?
Why do you use it instead of icing?
mpc
I answered that earlier... Because of the nature of the business relationship I've got on where my licensed kitchen space is, I have to be able to move the dummy cakes a lot plus, I just don't like sugar sitting around in the open to attract "critters" (and even talking to our pest control guy and my state inspector, dummies do have their "attraction" if you catch my drift).. There are a lot of people who have had them sitting around for years without issue, I just don't want to find out IF I'll be one of them or not. Plus, I'm a little OCD on the controlling risk factors side of things so I tend to look at my dummies like "how can I get that look with something not edible" and I've had a few experiments go down in flames (like the time I tried to use that Crayola modeling compound), but overall, at least I don't have to worry about pests with my dummies.
We get a lot of those lady beetle things and sugar or anything sitting out is like putting a strong magnet on the fridge...
As for the coloring... Just good old acrylic paint...
Dummies? Haha, I have been just making real cakes for practice. I mean, I can get a box of cake mix for as low as 80 cents on sale and whip up a cake and then either give it to friends/family, bring it to work, or let my boyfriend or I eat it ourselves. The trick with this last one is to go to the gym and burn it off. I generally burn at least 800+ calories/day... that way, if I DO want a piece of cake later, it will not end up on my theighs + butt. It's been working great too. Not only do I get to eat my cake (almost every day), get tons of decorating practice , I am actually LOSING weight too!
For future reference though, if I DID need to obtain dummies, where would you get them?
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