I am making a 3 tiered Mickey Mouse cake for my son's second birthday, and I am wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to make the ears. I had planned on making them out of fondant, but I am worried they won't hold up. Any ideas?
I am also wondering how far in advance I can make the buttercream icing?
Thank you! I am new to this and so nervous to try!
I would use gumpaste for the ears and make them now. I don't know when the party is, but you can't do that too early...the drier the better in my opinion. As far as the buttercream, i often make it at least a week in advance and keep it in the fridge. Although I've never tried it, I don't see why you couldn't freeze it even farther in advance. I plan on trying that soon. Maybe someone else out there will have some tips about that 
I just made a minnie mouse cake for my niece, the ears were made out of fondant with tylose. I incerted toothpicks into the ears before drying to help hold them stay up. Once I placed them on the cake, I put a little fondant on under the outside of the ears to prevent them from falling off. I made the ears a week before the party to givet them enough time to dry.
Hope this helps.
Ears should be made as far in advance as possible- and stored somewhere out of heat and humidity. Gumpaste would be best-fondant is ok, better with Tylose added. As stated, use toothpicks or insert craft sticks to hold ears in place.
I am even making the little MM logos for the bottom layer ahead of time. (anything to shorten decorating time!) They can be dried on a shallow curved flower former so they fit the curve of the cake. Pipe a dab of icing onto the back to hold them in place on the cake.
And BTW- where did this design originate? Disney? A Wilton book? When I checked the galleries for Minnie Mouse cake designs, there were 15 pages of the exact same cake!!?? 
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