I Would like some ideas on letters to put on cakes....(happy birthday & such) I'm bored with traditional piping and fondant-stuck to the cake- letters. How do I do those stand-up letters that curl? Is it just gum paste?

I hope some one answers to this soon I need to do this for my niece's 1 st birthday I want to put the #1 standing up.

I make mine using royal icing which is wonderful because you can also trace all types of fonts and also make up your own... easier than cutting out gumpaste and lighter. Check out the number 50 on my flower cake. Super sturdy too to decorate!

I can tell you what NOT to use. I used Starburst type candies to make little cut-out flowers for a recent cake because I didn't feel like making a whole batch of MMF for the little bit of flowers I needed. It worked fine for the flowers that I stuck on the side of the cake except for the ones where I mixed the pink and purple together to get a different color. Only those, no other colors, looked like they were melting and sliding down the side of the cake after sitting for a few hours, yet they were still hard. I used the same candies to make stand up letters for the name on the top and some of them stood up fine and but a few kept drooping so I had to back them with several toothpicks. Next time I'll just make the fondant. From what I have read on CC I would go with Mikail's suggestion of using royal icing. I think it would be easier than the gumpaste.

Gumpaste is the way to go. Easy to work with. If you need it to dry faster, try putting it in the oven with the oven light on.

I wanted to do a number with the curly bits on the end for a cake this weekend and was wondering the same question. I have a dehydrator so that I can dry things faster, which is a brilliant way to go if you don't have time, which in my case is always the way.

However if you lay them down the back of them is going to be flat where the front will be rounded. I was wondering if I use crafter's wire to shape them and stand them up to dry as the picks etc will be too short for numbers like two and three etc. How do others do this? Thanks in advance.

Good tip about the oven... think will try it out today because am short on time and need to make a plaque. Forgot to mention that you may need to use support (depending on the size of letters/numbers). For jumbo sized letters I use small wooden dowels/toothpicks - insert them in the royal icing and let it dry out/set. Also, may sure you lay them on a padded surface if you don't want them drying out flat underneath.

I just use fondant + gum tex.

Mikail:

How did you get your RI numbers to stick up so high and onto the cake? Did you put tthpicks or something inside the RI when you made it or ?

Thanks and great pic

If you are making it by hand use gum paste (not so thick and heavy...flating it out some) and my a spike at the bottom of the number.

Hope this helps. It's in another language, but the photos show you a good way.

http://tortentante.blogspot.com/2010/09/buchstaben-und-zahlen-beine-machen.html

I use gumpaste with a little MMF and mold it around toothpicks or skewers. I have a few in my gallery that I did stand up letters.

Jenscreativity, thanks! Yes, I piped the numbers with very stiff RI and then inserted toothpicks at the bottom. I used more than one toothpick that I cut to size with each number to ensure they're balanced and sturdy. When I decorated the cake, I also used RI to reinforce them/glue them to the cake.

ok, great thank you!

Thanks for the replies!....I tried it out on my most recent cake for the first time. I used Gumpaste and then painted them....few things I'll do different next time for better results, but for the most part they turned out good

I cannot visualize stand-up letters that curl. Does anybody have a photo?

I think it's just the ends. It's just a curly font, basically.

I've seen this idea before. Have yet to try it so if anyone does, please let me know how it turns out...

-Get a piece of wax paper.

-Put ROYAL ICING in a piping bag with your desired tip.

-Pipe the letters as large as you want onto the wax paper. Make sure you make the RI atleast 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.

-Stick toothpicks into the bottom of each letter where you will have it sitting on the cake (the toothpick will be inserted into the cake to create the 'stand-up' effect.)

-Let dry overnight (may not take that long...depends on how thick you piped the letters).

-Carefully peel the wax paper from the RI letters and then stick the toothpicks into your cake.

HTH!