I am making a wedding cake for a friend who wants black scrolls piped onto white fondant. I am so nervous!!!! I am new at this and have never piped black onto white! What kind of icing should I use?? Buttercream or RI? Will it bleed? I need helpful suggestions on coloring the icing (If I use buttercream - I will just buy it pre-made from the local cake store) I also need tips on piping on the sides of the cake. I thought about buying one of those tilted cake things but I am new at this and just do it for free for friends so I am not sure if the expense of it would be worth it.

She also wants ribbon attached to the bottom. Do I attach it before stacking or after stacking?

Another problem I often have is with my fondant sagging around the bottom sometimes. I am a bit confused on the whole 'settling' thing. I understand that this is what is causing the problem but how do I fix it? I need to know the time frame for: Crumb coat & fill (does it go in the fridge after that?) How long do I wait to put on the buttercream? How much buttercream goes under the fondant? After the buttercream does it need to go back in the fridge? If yes - for how long? When exactly does settling begin? And how long does it need to settle before adding the fondant? Is it in the fridge while settling? Does it have to be stacked before it is settled? If so that may be a problem for me because I cover the cakes with fondant before I stack!

Her wedding is three weeks away. Any advise you have would be greatly appreciated!

No responses? Please, please?? surely some one has some ideas that would help.

I am by no means an expert but what I do is fill my cake and crumb coat and then let it "rest" so that it will settle. Some people at this step take a ceramic tile and put on top, using parchment paper or wax paper in between to weight the cake so that it will settle. After this you should be able to smooth your cumb coat then if you want another coat of frosting then you fondant this would be the time. BTW, the about of buttercream under your fondant differs from person to person. I personally do not like a ton of frosting, so I do a thin crumb coat and then a thin coat on top of that, then cover with my mmf. And my cakes are all covered before stacking.

As for the piping black onto white, have you thought about cutting the design out of either fondant or gum paste and placing that on the cake? That is what I have done and had no problems with bleeding. I don't have a steady hand, so this was the way to go for me.

If you want to practice piping, take a cake round and cover it tightly with plastic wrap making sure the wrap overlaps in the back. Turn your oven on to warm (or as low a temp as you can) and place the covered cake round in the oven with the door open. This will shrink wrap the cake round but DO NOT walk away or take your eyes off of it. You will be able to actually watch the plastic shrink. You want it to be tight but if you leave it in too long it will start bending the cake round. Use a pair of tongs or a hot pad to get it out of the oven. It will not be hot but it is easy to touch the rack trying to pick it up. If the oven makes you nervous you can use a hair dryer. Make sure it is cool, stand it up, lean it against something sturdy and hold it in place with some fondant or gum paste. Start piping. Since the board is covered in plastic you can wipe off any mistakes and start over. If it gets too bad just change the plastic wrap. You can also draw straight lines on the cake board before you cover it and that will give you a guide to follow. I use this method to practice writing, piping scrolls, piping borders, etc. and it works great. You can use it with chocolate, royal icing and buttercream.

I recent had to pipe black scroll work onto white fondant. I used RI and added a ton of black gel color. I mixed it up the day before so that I would be Abe to see the true color before I started working with it. The color thinned the royal out just enough for piping. I then drew my scroll pattern on trace g paper and then place that on the side of my cake and used a straight pin to punch the pattern in my fondant. The small holes will be covered by the frosting. You can then just connect the dots. HTH! I was very intimidated about piping black onto white and this process made it much easier. As far as when to attach the ribbon, do that after the cake is stacked if the tiers are stacked with no separation. Good luck!

Thanks for the great suggestions! I am just very nervous!

Your cake looks adorable and I think you can cut them to fit better in the boxes too I'm going to give this a try. I've never wanted to cut circles out of foam core...too much work. I did read someone recommended using a dry wall cutter to cut the circles.