Ginn, Lovely as always. We have done pull cakes for Bridal Showers before but never a wedding...I really like that idea. Your truck looks great too! Brave woman doing all three cakes for one wedding! I would be SO tired! Hope you get to take a break now!

Marian, are the flowers sugar? Such a pretty cake! It looks like the center is piped? Hard to tell with the dark photography but I understand all about back lit cakes being hard to photograph! It looks very elegant.

Well, here is mine...finally got it done!

I deliver it first thing in the morning. You can't tell from this photo but the book is a travel journal with her initials on it and the sunscreen says SPF 30 on the cap. 

Now I get just a couple days break before I start on our grand daughters birthday stuff. Lots of details still to be made for the party and, of course, the cake!

Cat

Well I am doing my first ruffle cake. It will have a masquerade mask on top with feathers and little colored balls. I am attempting to make the mask right now out of fondant using the inside of a real mask as a mold. It is drying now and I am hoping to get it out without cracking. I used lots of shortening but now wishing I used PS too. I plan to alternate black and white ruffles with gold edge and a black mask with gold "paint". Have any of you done ruffles that point upwards?

BatterUpCake - I was watching an episode of Fabulous Cakes yesterday and they did a masquerade cake. They cut out a mask shape in fondant or gumpaste (can't remember which, sorry!) and they draped it over the top of a real mask, to get the shape, rather than pressing into the inside of the mask. It might be easier to get it off the top of the mask, if you have trouble with it cracking getting it out. I can't wait to see a pic of your cake, it sounds gorgeous!

I almost always do upwards ruffles, easy peasy.

Really? I wish I had seen that show. My mask has textured fabric and glued glitter on the outside so that totally wouldn't work Unless I can pull all of that off without damaging it.

So did theirs I think. Hmm. This is the link to the episode. It's in 2 parts and I'm pretty sure the mask is in Part 2, which is the one I've linked to. It's fun to watch anyway!

It's at 5mins 17sec on the video I posted. Hope it's helpful!

Wow!! I just ordered a pillow cake dummy. I can't wait to try that! Did you see that cake stand collapse? THAT is why a heavy duty sturdy cake stand is important. I am going to use that video on my cake stand site. Thanks! My mask is a lot more curved but I suppose that method would work. I hope I don't need to redo it or I will have to go buy more black fondant. Thankyou for the clip

You're welcome. You could even cover the front of your mask in foil first to try and take some of the sharpness out of the glitter and decorations. It would still give your gumpaste the right shape. 

Yes to the cake stand!! It was beautiful, but when they were stacking the cake I thought OMG those little legs are not going to hold that cake!!! And I'm an amateur! Mind you, I have learned a lot from CC in the past week :) It was an amazing cake though, the stacked pillows looked gorgeous!

Well I got up this morning and the mask was still not dry. I should have used gumpaste or added more tylose but I wanted it black without painting it so I used black fondant. The rose I made from the same batch is completely dry and much thicker. So I have the mask in the oven at 160. Sure hope that works or back to the drawing board!! I was so excited to get busy this morning!

ACat thanks I hope the couple like the cake I think it looks better in dark lighting it hides all the flaws. The flowers were real and the center tier was handed piped lace. Your cake just makes me want to go to the beach and relax.

Batterup good luck with your mask and cake can't wait to see pictures.

Well my patience wore this and I tried to remove the mask from the mold knowing full well it was going to break. SO I made a batch of gumpaste and did as Nadiaa suggested and placed it on the front of the mask. It killed my to pull the embroidery rope off of the original mask, but I know I will never use it for anything except a mold and it would have left lumps in the gumpaste. I think it is going to work really well this time. Thanks Nadiaa! I love CC

That is the only thing about using black fondant...it's SO soft and takes forever to dry. I always have to add a ton of tylose to it to make it dry hard and fast (and fast is still 3 times the amount of time it takes gumpaste/fondant mix to dry!)  I hope everything worked out for you in the end!

Cat

AWow! There are so many talented bakers!! I'm a newbie and have only been making cakes for about 8 months but I do love and enjoy it! Here's a cake I made yesterday for a friends daughters 3rd birthday. She wanted a girly Curious George cake using light pink, blue and yellow and with stars and polka dots. It was my first 2 tiered cake! [IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3086207/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

BatterUp, yup...I love using Duff's black (true black and it tastes like a tootsie roll!) but it's SOOOOO soft! I used a ton of tylose in it and it still took 1 week for the mickey ears hat to dry out for my grand daughters birthday! I have learned now to make any pieces like that weeks ahead of time to make sure they are totally dry.

Dg! How totally cute! We love CG here so I had to show your cake around to everyone! Brought a smile to everyone's face!

Cat

Dark chocolate, I'm sorry I did not measure the cake.  In fact until you asked I never even thought of doing it for the future.   I can tell you the board it sits on was an 18" board and I placed it caddy corner as you can see.  Not pictured very well is the second half of the truck (sorry I don't know the term for it) and it measured 4"x5"  The front part I would say measured about 3"x6"  Hope this helps.

Batter up, sorry your having problems with your mask, I'm sure you'll get it tho. Can't wait to see pics.

dg, that is so adorable.  Just love the little monkey.

Cat...your beach bag is too cute. Did you braid fondant rope for the handles or use a mold? Gin, that truck was only 4x5"? It looks so much bigger.... Mask part deux is drying under a heat lamp.

ASince the point of this post is also to ask for help, I was wondering if anyone had any tips on working with gum paste? I use Wilton's Gum Tex mix and it seems that when it finally dries, it starts to crack and looks crusty and rough. Not cute and smooth like I've seen on some cakes. So what's the secret?! I put a light coating of shortening and work on a PS dusted surface. Is there a secret to making it look better and not crack?

I'm  late!  

What awesome cakes going on here. I've been off the computer most of the weekend, I've been battling this migrane since Thursday and the computer screen makes it worse. 

Cazza, Happy Anniversary! Your cake is amazing, I too thought a picture frame was on top of the cake. 

Dark Chocolate, you should be very proud of your cake. It is so cute. The lollipops are the best! 

Batterup, you certainly brought back memories. All the wedding I use to go to  when I was a kid had trinkets in the cake, and the brides maids would pull them out in a ceremony of sorts. I asked for trinkets in my cake when I got married, and I was looked at like I had 10 eyes. Where do you even find them now? I don't know if was a regional thing or what (I'm from New Orleans). One trinket was always bad luck, it was always funny to see who freaked out when they got it. 

Cat, a perfect cake as usual. The braided strap is so striking and nicely done. How did you get it to be so perfect? Did you braid three strands of gumpastes?

bg1248, seriously only 8 months of decorating? You are doing an awesome job, I love your cake.

I had three orders this week. First was a mustache smash cake. Buttercream, with a buttercream stencil. That was hard! A bit messy.

Did I miss something? Where did this mustache thing come from? Did I miss a movie or song? I don't get it. People are asking to put a mustache on their cake? I just find it odd because mustaches are hairy and the thought of putting it on the cake freaks me out. But the customer asked and I replied "as you wish". :D

Second up was some ballerina cupcakes. I made the toppers way too far in advance and they were just ashy no matter how much shortening I put on them. I made them 2 months ago. I'll know next time. When I went to get them it was too late to make them over. 

Last up, was my favorite job of the year so far. A rock star theme party with the colors purple, black, and turquoise. I did cookies, cupcakes, and a small 6" cake with a cereal treat guitar topper. I had to be creative with this one (no eggs, no dairy, no nuts, no soy). The cookies are done with rolled buttercream. Thank goodness Satin Ice fondant is soy-free.

Iwas wondering the same thing about mustaches? Especially on a smash cake...

Dg1248...don't ask me. I have been getting my butt kicked by a GP mask al day

With matching cupcakes (not pictured).  I was pleased, but the day I covered it, it was super hot and muggy, so there were some minor blowouts. I think I will only use ganache under fondant, no matter what!

SO many things to answer and talk about! 

BatterUp and TDove: I braided fondant ropes to make the braids. If you go slow and careful you can do it without them breaking but you have to go SLOW. 

DG1248: I never use straight gumpaste but rather a 50/50 mix of gumpaste and fondant. It takes longer to dry but, in my opinion, it looks better and dries better in the end.

Tdove: The whole mustache thing started with a Prostate Cancer Awareness program. The whole mustache thing was supposed to be like the pink ribbon for Breast Cancer Awareness. They used catchy phrases and jokes like "I mustache you a question...but I'm shaving it for later"..and a lot of other puns so it really caught on. I did a baby *** reveal party where you had either red lips or mustaches to pick between...whatever you are guessing is the *** to the baby. So it's now taken on a life of it's own.  BTW...your cakes are wonderful but I love love love the guitar cake and cupcakes!!! SO cute!

Erica, that super hero cake is great! I totally feel for you with the heat/humidity! We have had a real hard time of it out here on the West Coast this summer. We are not use to dealing with humidity and it's made caking really hard so believe me, I feel for you!

The Birthday Girl LOVED the cake! It is SO cool when I can show up and the person is there to see it when it arrives. I like the money but I love the responses!

I've been working on my grand daughters birthday stuff all day. It is hard when you have to go with a color scheme or party plan that you don't personally like. She and her mom (my oldest daughter) picked a hot pink and zebra print Barbie party theme this year. I am SO not a pink girl and really not an animal print girl and I have to do the whole party plan around this theme! UGH. I haven't done a doll cake since the Mom in question was a little girl so it's going to be fun, with my new skills, to see how that goes! LOL! I have grand plans but we'll see how it goes in reality! LOL! Either way I'll share Friday night!

Cat

Dark Chocolate, I made a half sheet cake, cut it and stacked it. then carved it.  bit of advice.  I didn't remember that you are supposed to put a cake board between each 2-3 layers of cake.  So at one point they started to fall.  I had to go back and do that. Because my cake was 4-5 layers high.

Batter up, There is another cab section behind the front of the truck, that in this pic is not as noticeable.  That section alone is 4"x5"

DG1248 I put Tylose in my fondant to make figures.  I save my gumpaste for making flowers.  Your cake is extremely appealing.

I also wonder where the moustaches come from.  Can't say they do a lot for me.

I use pre colored bought black fondant when I need it and add some tylose to harden.  I will then airbrush if I want it more satiny looking.

Love the bag Kat and the ballerinas tdove.

I think I figured out why my mask is not drying...Yeah, I know it's only been a day. What I am doing and what I did in the past with a sailor hat is heavily greasing the mask so it sticks tightly to the form. This doesn't allow air under there. Nor does it allow me to pull it off when it is dry enough the hold the form so it can finish drying. I think I am going to scrap trial deux and douse the form with cornstarch. Then when it is partially dry I can flip it off (hahaha, I feel like flipping it off in a bad way right now) and allow the other side to dry. Does this sound about right? Is this the wrong place to ask for this type of advise?