i'm getting ready to do a cake for a show and just wondered if you all use anything in particular for your buttercream for show cakes. i just kind of realized i don't need to add in the flavorings i normally do...right?

also, do you normally cover your cake dummies with the BC first then the fondant, or do you just cover the dummy with fondant directly? of course i would cover the dummy with saran wrap first.

any help would be appreciated, tia!

when i try and cover the cake with just fondant it always rips. I use royal for covering it and the put the fondant over it while the royal is still soft.
( just spray water on it).

To cover a dummy with fondant, I sand the upper edge of the dummy to round it (just like a baked cake would be and this helps to stop tearing on the upper edge) and then I spray it with a little bit of water and apply the fondant--no fuss, no muss. If there's a need to remove the fondant because of a flaw, etc., there's no stuff mixed in with it so I can re-knead it and re-use it.

To cover with buttercream, no prep on the dummy is really necessary and you can use a decorator buttercream of crisco and powdered sugar. To avoid mold, you may want to add a mold inhibitor to it (they sell it for adding to latex paint at the hardware store or from some cake supply shops--postassium sorbate).

No real need to cover dummies with anything first--you can soak off both types of icing in hot water. For buttercream, add some good degreasing detergent like Dawn.

Rae

I don't use buttercream on dummies because it yellows so with age. Permaice or royal icing, and some with fondant. On the fondant covered dummies I brush them with clear corn syrup thinned with a little water, just paint it on, then cover with fondant.