How Do I Get The Balloon On Cake To "float"?

Decorating By punkin90 Updated 22 Nov 2014 , 3:59am by Bobeba

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punkin90 Posted 30 Dec 2012 , 12:24am
post #1 of 42

I was asked to make this cake. I can't figure how to make the balloon look like it's "floating". Does anyone know how to do this? I think it's on a wire and it looks like it's stuck down in the cake. I think the balloon is made out of fondant. It looks to me like the balloon would weigh too much and sink into the cake. Any ideas?

 

 

 

41 replies
-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 30 Dec 2012 , 12:42am
post #2 of 42

Maybe cover a malted milk ball with thin fondant.

 

That wire might travel down to the elephant's toe too. And just look like the balloon string's showing.

Does look like it goes into the cake--but I would build it into the elephant.

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punkin90 Posted 30 Dec 2012 , 1:11am
post #3 of 42

What a good idea! Do you think the balloon is held up by the wire?

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-K8memphis Posted 30 Dec 2012 , 2:12am
post #4 of 42

Yes and so I'd construct the wire to anchor into the elephant's foot and travel up through his leg and body and trunk poking out to hold the balloon then have the other little fake out squiggley come out like the balloon was just being held in his trunk and that it's the end of the balloon string, With my luck it would be top heavy so I would also plant a skewer into another foot so I could anchor the whole thing into the cake.

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AZCouture Posted 30 Dec 2012 , 2:53am
post #5 of 42

Fondant or gp covered foam ball...easy peasy. Almost no weight.

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punkin90 Posted 30 Dec 2012 , 6:36pm
post #6 of 42

Another great idea! Do you think floral wire will hold the balloon up?

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-K8memphis Posted 30 Dec 2012 , 6:38pm
post #7 of 42

Yes if it's stiff enough.

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punkin90 Posted 30 Dec 2012 , 6:40pm
post #8 of 42

What gauge would you use?

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-K8memphis Posted 30 Dec 2012 , 6:46pm
post #9 of 42

I can never keep the numbers straight.  I just go by feel. 

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punkin90 Posted 30 Dec 2012 , 6:58pm
post #10 of 42

Thanks so much for the replies! I love CC!

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punkin90 Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 8:02pm
post #11 of 42

I tried to get the balloon to float using a small foam ball covered in fondant with 16 gauge wire. It gets off balanced and keep falling over. It looks like the wire may be down in the cake. I can't figure out how to tie that in to look like the balloon is floating. Sorry for all the questions. Any help appreciated. Thanks!

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-K8memphis Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 9:17pm
post #12 of 42
Quote:
Originally Posted by -K8memphis 

Yes and so I'd construct the wire to anchor into the elephant's foot and travel up through his leg and body and trunk poking out to hold the balloon then have the other little fake out squiggley come out like the balloon was just being held in his trunk and that it's the end of the balloon string, With my luck it would be top heavy so I would also plant a skewer into another foot so I could anchor the whole thing into the cake.

 

did you do this?? and it still falls?

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by punkin90 

I tried to get the balloon to float using a small foam ball covered in fondant with 16 gauge wire. It gets off balanced and keep falling over. It looks like the wire may be down in the cake. I can't figure out how to tie that in to look like the balloon is floating. Sorry for all the questions. Any help appreciated. Thanks!

 

 

get the balloon up over the back of the elephant so it will balance

 

maybe take the wire and spiral it so there's more oomph to it

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-K8memphis Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 9:20pm
post #13 of 42

in fact the foot plant skewer should go into the cake at an angle

 

angling back under the elephant a bit to keep the balloon air born

 

but yeah if it's too late to hide all the engineering

 

stick the wire down into the cake

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punkin90 Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 9:26pm
post #14 of 42

I am making the elephant ahead. It takes me a while to get things right sometimesicon_sad.gif . I haven't put a skewer in the foot yet. I did try to run the wire down through the elephants leg. The problem is the "balloon" keeps rolling around. It will not stand up. It has fell off the wire and when I finally got it back on it started leaning into the elephants trunk and messed it up so I started over. I added more gum paste and I am waiting for the elephant to firm up a bit.  I am really afraid to mess this one up to

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-K8memphis Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 9:35pm
post #15 of 42

use some glue on the wire

 

it's a covered wire yes--not a slick uncovered wire

 

either a bit of gum paste made into a paintable substance

 

or i use egg white

 

the glued wire needs to be moist not wet

 

forget the balloon--put that on last

 

get everything going elephant wise

 

leave enough wire hanging out to become balloon string at a later point but do the big guy first

 

16 hmm--i'll go see if i got any like that

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-K8memphis Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 9:41pm
post #16 of 42

just stick a hole in each rear leg at a bit of an angle

 

so that later you can re-slide a long toothpick or a bamboo skewer into there to counterbalance the weight and pull of the balloon

 

i'd poke the bottom of the leg and twist it up in there

 

you can remove it while it dries then reapply it to assemble it

 

so long as you have the hole there to counter balance you'll be able to float the balloon

 

or you can dry it with the skewers stuck into foam too

 

do this in stages

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punkin90 Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 9:44pm
post #17 of 42

I did not cover the wire. It didn't look like it was covered in the picture. If I put it into the cake I was going to put it into a straw. I do not think the elephant will get eaten. Would you cover it with fondant?

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-K8memphis Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 9:50pm
post #18 of 42

no not fondant--they come covered with paper--you can buy them that way

 

or they flip around on you

 

no worries--

 

if you make a spiral out of it down in the leg it will not flip

 

you have to anchor it somehow

 

the straw is a good idea

 

depending on which route you take

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AZCouture Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 9:57pm
post #19 of 42

Sounds like we're doing the same thing this weekend! I have a little GP elephant sitting down with one leg extended into the air, and there will be about 5 balloons floating above him. Already have everything done, but won't make the illusion of the balloons floating away from him until I assemble the cake. Not sure what I'll be doing to accomplish that quite yet, but it will involve using extruded fondant string to fool the eye into thinking that the elephant is holding the balloons, but really the very long wires will be anchored into the cake. I just kinda figure that out as I go. This time, I just rolled balls of GP into balloon shapes and stuck paper covered into them.

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punkin90 Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 10:02pm
post #20 of 42

It does sound like we are doing the same thing. I feel lucky I just have to worry with one balloon. Let me know how it goes!

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punkin90 Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 10:19pm
post #21 of 42

Maybe I can give the balloon 2 strings. That may be what they did in the picture. It looks like one goes into the cake and the 2nd goes through the elephants trunk. I was just hoping to be able to do the one. Thanks so much for all of your help. If anyone else has any different ideas that we do I would love to hear from you. Thanks so much!

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AZCouture Posted 28 Jan 2013 , 10:30pm
post #22 of 42

Ok to me, I see one string, and it goes straight into the cake. I think it's just an illusion of photography that fools the eye into thinking the elephant is holding it at all.

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punkin90 Posted 29 Jan 2013 , 12:04am
post #23 of 42

Goodness! I think you are right. I have looked at that elephant so long I must have started seeing 2 lol!

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AZCouture Posted 29 Jan 2013 , 4:43pm
post #24 of 42

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yuma_couture_cakes/8254614793/in/photostream

 

This has some floating balloons. The balloons on the front are actually anchored straight in with wire, and the very top one inserted into the top of the manger. All the "strings" are just for show.

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punkin90 Posted 29 Jan 2013 , 7:31pm
post #25 of 42

AZCouture Thanks for the idea!

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ibeeflower Posted 29 Jan 2013 , 7:51pm
post #26 of 42

haha, wow AZCouture. I'm sure you have solved the mystery. I have seen Naomi's cake before and always wondered how the balloon stayed upright looking like it was floating. But your idea makes so much sense. 

 

P.S. The cake linked is the bomb! Wow. 

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Relznik Posted 29 Jan 2013 , 8:00pm
post #27 of 42

When I did this cake, the balloons were fondant with CMC added, which were then put onto wires.  To stop the balloons moving around, the end of the wire in the balloon has a tiny 'hook' bent into it.

 

In the UK, we're not allowed to put wires directly into a cake, so they're inserted into a 'posy pick' which is then put into the cake.

 

http://www.patacake-parties.com/Birthday/files/page5-1060-full.html

 


HTH

 

Suzanne x

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punkin90 Posted 29 Jan 2013 , 9:51pm
post #28 of 42

Very Cute ! Thanks for the info. I planned on inserting the wire into a straw in the cake.

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Aztec98 Posted 3 Aug 2013 , 10:26am
post #29 of 42

AHi punkin90! I was wondering what you ended up doing to keep the balloon afloat. A friend of mine asked me to make this exact same cake for a baby shower, but I couldn't figure out what the balloon or elephant were made of. Thank God for Google! I found this thread but didn't know what the final result was. Did you make the elephant out of fondant too? Any tips greatly appreciated coz it's the first time I'll be working with fondant. Also, I'll be making the cake pale blue.Thank you!

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punkin90 Posted 3 Aug 2013 , 11:34am
post #30 of 42

Hi Aztec98! Thank goodness for all the wonderful CC members that helped me with the balloon. If you read the thread you saw where I thought the balloon was suppose to look like it was floating. A CC member pointed out that it was an illusion. Sure enough after I looked at the picture really closely, I could see the wire was hidden beside the elephants front leg to the back of the cake. I felt so silly for missing that. Anyway, I got a little Styrofoam ball and covered it in fondant also. For the wire, to keep it from rolling around make a hook on the end and insert the balloon. You can  insert a wire into the cake and fill it with melted chocolate and insert the wire into that. You could make the balloon out of fondant, but I think that might add too much weight to it. The elephant I did make from fondant also. I had a hard time with that little guy, getting his tummy smooth. I used a small carving knife to help me get the shape. I believe some of my problem was the fondant I was working with. Last, I used lace like the picture I was given around the bottom of the cake and then piped dots above the lace. Good Luck!

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