AHi all! I have a cake to deliver a week from today. I've been experimenting with the best way to apply a music staff with notes to the side of a cake. It's real 4 part music, so it must be precise. I'm not good enough to pipe it, but I came up with this fondant application...[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3236886/width/200/height/400[/IMG] Here's my question... Can I do this on panels which I leave to firm up and then apply to each side, or do I risk drooping and falling? The other option is to do it directly on the cake which will take forever, but might be safer. Any thoughts are very much appreciated!!
Someone may have a better thought or experience making this in fondant or gumpaste (I have only handpiped something similar to this), but if this were me I would do it directly on the cake. I would let the bars dry on the cake first, then apply the treble clef and notes. Hope this helps a little!
AThanks for the help. I am pretty sure I won't pipe it... I just don't have the skill. What I did in the picture was take a metal ruler edge and indent the lines of the staff. Then, I used my extruder to create black lines and affix them in. I like the way it looks, but am worried it will be too heavy if I do panels. I might do a small cake for practice. Thanks for the input!
AOh sorry... I guess I was confusing. I wasn't suggesting you pipe it. I realize you said you weren't confident in that. I was suggesting you put each individual bar on the cake, let them dry and stick on there....then the other items. Maybe I misunderstood though.... are you putting the white background (that you made the indented lines on) on there also?
AI think I was the confusing one! I was trying to decide if it was better to put it all on at once (music, AND white background in the form of a fondant panel) or cover the cake first then make the indents and apply the black fondant. Mostly I was wondering that if you placed fondant on a cake in panels instead of all one piece, if there would be issue with sagging and drooping. Thanks for your concern, though.., I'm not at all sure what I'll do yet.
AI am not very experienced however I recently made a box cake and if I were to do it again I would ice th cake with plenty of icing (I tend to keep icing thin on fondant cakes) measure and make panels. I would let them set for at least an hour until quite firm but not hard.
I usually let my cakes rest over night to crust then lightly mist with water to get fondant to stick.
Good luck. You practice piece is beautiful!
ASince your cake is fondant covered, how about doing the staff with edible marker. This could be done with your imprint marking method. Made the notes in fondant let them dry, then apply to side of cake.[IMG ALT=""]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3148814/width/350/height/700[/IMG]
Here's one we did with marker.
I made this cake recently (the notes were on a side panel) with notes attached to fondant. Not as complicated as your notes, but hopefully some helpful ideas. Yours look great BTW!
I cut the figures out of fondant with an exacto knife. I had added Tylose to the fondant so it would dry faster. I covered the pieces with saran wrap to let them firm up a little, but still be flexible so they could be handled but still bed able to follow the curve of the cake. i think i actually left them overnight, covered. I attached them in pieces, just moistening the back of each one and holding it against the fondant until it stuck. Don't put too much water or it will make a nice colored drip. Also, be sure of your placement, because your notes will probably leave a mark on the underlying fondant. You can also make "glue" out of fondant by adding water and mixing well till it is a glue like consistency. Less runny. HTH
AThanks so much, everyone. Your cakes are lovely. I think I'll do a small practice cake ( the kids will be thrilled) and see if the panels stick without drooping. The edible marker is a good idea, and I like that having the notes in fondant will add texture. Also, making them way ahead is appealing. I'll post a pic when I'm done.
AIf you do panels and you want to let them dry some but still be molded to the side of the cake, you can make the panels, and use vegetable shortening to adhere them to a cake dummy of similar size to your normal cake covered in parchment. This will let them dry but still sit flush on the rounded surface. I've never had any drooping with adhered panels- ass long as your "glue" is sufficient. I use royal icing with my fondant.
Good luck! Looks like lots of fun and work!
Thanks Bethany.
If fact, this cake is square, so rounding the panels wouldn't be an issue. I'm glad to hear you've never had a problem, but I'm still to chicken to try it on this cake. It's a pretty important function. I made a template so I can score the fondant (already on the cake) and get it as perfect as possible. I'm hoping it works.
I appreciate everyones imput...truly!
I'll let you know how it turns out. It's for a few days from now.
A[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3240378/width/200/height/400[/IMG]
Thank you so much for your help. This is the end result after contending with some other issues that led to a much more uneven cake than I would have liked. In the end, I did make panels with a combo of fondant and royal icing. It took long time, but I learned a lot. Thanks again for the advice! [IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3240380/width/200/height/400[/IMG]
AIt looks beautiful. Now I want to sit down at my piano and play it!
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