Hi all.. I'm pretty new here, but have been oogling at the picture gallery for quite some time now. I have 2 questions... any suggestions much appreciated!

1) I wanted to make an italian flag with gumpaste and just color in the red and green areas with the edible writers and write in the happy birthday message as well. I know that gumpaste is fairly similar to fondant with a slight difference, but my question is should I wait to color when it is all the way dried out after a few days? or should I color while it's still a bit soft? I've never used the edible writers before.

2) I'm making a pizza cake & I'm much more of a fan of the actual cake to look like the crust rather than the overly smooth look of the fondant in a tan/brown shade to represent the crust... any opinions.. or suggestions on what looks better?

1) I'd wait to color the gumpste till it is dry.

2) A little creative use of color will give you a realistic looking fondant pizza crust:

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1923475/pizza-and-milkshake

Thank you cakeyouverymuch! your cake is absolutely beautiful! So you did use fondant to cover it? and I totally love your idea of melting the "cheese" a little bit! I will attempt this for sure!

omgosh! ignore my question about using fondant to cover it!! I just reread your statement about making the fondant look realistic!

To give the edge a bit of puff I built it up with rice cereal treats then Covered the top with white fondant and used a combination of brown and ivory mixed with vodka and a half inch paint brush to color it. Then I wrapped the blue flecked with white for the "pan" to make it look like a deep dish.