Display Cake Questions

[celenes]

Hi All,

I recently made a display cake using royal frosting and needless to say it is already becoming discolored.

Anyone have suggestions on some other covering to use? I spoke with a company yesterday who specializes in making display cakes and they said they use something like spackle. Apparently the covering they use stays flexible.

Also how much would be fair to charge for a display cake for example 3 tier with swiss dot design? I have a customer who has interest in purchasing a display cake from me and I have been dragging my feet on providing a price because I don't want to over or under charge for this item.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[chefpeon]

I've always used fondant. The kind you roll out...not the pourable stuff. Smooth...easy to use.....no discoloration. If I want my fondant to resemble "buttercream" I just color it to match the off-white shade of my buttercream.

Another bonus is that I can remove the fondant from the styrofoam "cake" and reuse the

styrofoam when it's time to make a new one. You can't do that when you use royal icing

or "spackle" or whatever.

Edited December 18, 2004 by chefpeon (log)

[JeanneCake]

The "spackle" is probably something along the lines of a fake icing called PermaIce. I've never used it, though. Like Anne, I always cover the styrofoam with fondant (usually a cheaper brand for store displays, the good stuff for when the cake is due to appear in a magazine!). You need to charge a sufficient amount to cover materials and a little of the labor - consider also what the buyer intends to do with the display cake. Some area florists use my dummy cakes in their windows - they add the silk flowers to match the season, but I've given them the fondant-covered tiers in exchange for displaying my placard and a portfolio. In those cases, I didn't charge them because the exposure brought in plenty of business. Same for the jewelry store. I also don't expect to get the dummy cake back, but if you're loaning it out, you need to recognize it won't come back in the same shape it left in. Something always happens to it.

So, figure out what the styro costs, the fondant, the cake drum, etc. and how long it took you to do it and go from there.

[Wendy DeBord]

No way around it, royal does turn yellow in time. *With this exception: I've noticed that purchased royal icing roses don't seem to yellow. I don't know what they add to prevent that OR I never kept them long enough to see them yellow.

I've used permaICE. It remains white over time. At first it was impossible to handle straight out of the bucket. Then I added some water and mixed it to a normal frosting consistancy and it handled perfectly. In fact, it was easy to use. I'm not certain who sells it, but I believe any cake decorating company would carry it.

Using rolled fondant also works well and it remains white after it dries. But you still have to figure out what to use for any piping on the fondant that won't turn yellow. You can use the permaICE on fondant.

[Anni]

PermaIce Supplier: http://www.kitchenkrafts.com/product.asp?product=CD0200PA

Anni

[chefpeon]

No way around it, royal does turn yellow in time.

How weird. It's never done that to me. I make my royal for cake dummies with meringue powder, water and powdered sugar. I wonder if the meringue powder prevents yellowing?

[chefcyn]

Has anyone used actual joint compound for making up a dummy cake? It's consistency is like frosting and it dries exactly as you shape it--I've used it with pastry bag and tubes for art projects but never for a cake. It can be colored with pigment powders, or used white.

There is also Liquitex acrylic modeling compound which is more plastic, being made of acrylics. But it's also pretty pricey in quantities for large projects.

The joint compound is cheap by the 5 gallon pail, but perhaps it would end up too heavy.

[celenes]

Sounds interesting. Joint compound. Never considered that.

On the topic of covering with fondant don't you have to cover the styrofoam with something so the fondant will adhere.

Also I failed to mention the customer who I will be delivering this display cake to intends to rent it out. She does floral arrangements and also the decor for the reception and apparently has an customer segment that has asked about renting the cakes.

I know you are probably thinking why doesn't she just refer the business to me? I thought too but just not a battle I choose to take on right now. I am busy enough with my own customer and to be quite honest I never considered the rental of dummy cakes until she approached me. I will have a few designs made up and if the customer is in need of something elaborate but can't afford it then that can be the backup plan. Also since I teach cake decorating it will be a nice way to show off various cake designs to I think.

[Anni]

On the topic of covering with fondant don't you have to cover the styrofoam with something so the fondant will adhere. 

←

I've used a little royal icing for this -- just a couple of drops in strategic spots to get the fondant to stick. (E.g., top & sides, or for a square dummy, I'll make sure to put a drop on each of the corners.) I don't use much royal icing if I want to reuse the dummy at a later point (ya need to be able to get that fondant off the styrofoam). So, the amount of royal icing you use depends on whether you intend to reuse the dummy later.

Anni

Edited December 19, 2004 by Anni (log)

[chefpeon]

On the topic of covering with fondant don't you have to cover the styrofoam with something so the fondant will adhere.

I just dip my hand in water and coat one side of the fondant with it just enough to make it sticky

and tacky. That side goes against the styrofoam. Works like a charm and makes the fondant quite easy to remove when you decide to re-do it.

[Wendy DeBord]

Ah, I use real eggs verses meringue powder.........

Joint compound, can you pipe a detailed border with it?....also I thought that was a grey tone, no?

[bkeith]

Ah, I use real eggs verses meringue powder.........

Joint compound, can you pipe a detailed border with it?....also I thought that was a grey tone, no?

←

You can add acrylic paint and make it any color you want. The major difference between joint compound/spackle and PermaIce is that PermaIce is washable. Joint compound will dissolve out it gets wet - especially if you scrub it (if you don't intend on washing your display cakes when they get dusty, then joint compound is the easier to find and cheaper alternative). I've used joint compound for prop cakes for the theatre, and it works great. I could never get it the right consistency for piping roses, though. Resorted to royal icing for those.

I believe the acid in the meringue powder helps keep the royal icing whiter longer. Adding a bit of cream of tartar or lemon juice to your fresh egg whites would probably have the same whitening effect (just speculating here -- haven't experimented).

[Wendy DeBord]

I add cream of tartar in my royal icing.

Formula:

3 white

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1 lb. xxxsugar

The work that I saw turn yellow was in a full sun window display showcase, so perhaps the sun has it's effect. I've done other display items that didn't turn yellow, but I'm not sure I kept them as long.

[K8memphis]

...Joint compound... I thought that was a grey tone, no?

←

Yes - both white and grey color spackle is available.

[MeDeMi]

(Dead thread resurrection warning!!)

I have to make a dummy cake to be displayed at a pretty important event. I don't like fondant and don't use it in my shop. In fact, it's a marketing point of mine that I don't use it. So, my dilemma is what to cover dummy cakes with? Well, I stumbled across this thread and loved the idea of using joint compound and acrylic paint to "frost" the dummies. I just frosted 5 dummies and they looked fabulous and I was so excited. Well, as they started to dry they also all CRACKED!!! Why? What do I do to fix them? I mixed the paint right into the joint compound; was that the right thing to do? Was I supposed to use the white joint compound to frost with, let it dry and then paint the cakes the right color? That didn't seem right. Please please please help! It's really important that this cake be nearly flawless, and right now it's pretty flawed! Thank you!

[alligande]

(Dead thread resurrection warning!!)

I have to make a dummy cake to be displayed at a pretty important event.  I don't like fondant and don't use it in my shop.  In fact, it's a marketing point of mine that I don't use it.  So, my dilemma is what to cover dummy cakes with?  Well, I stumbled across this thread and loved the idea of using joint compound and acrylic paint to "frost" the dummies.  I just frosted 5 dummies and they looked fabulous and I was so excited.  Well, as they started to dry they also all CRACKED!!!  Why?  What do I do to fix them?  I mixed the paint right into the joint compound; was that the right thing to do?  Was I supposed to use the white joint compound to frost with, let it dry and then paint the cakes the right color?  That didn't seem right.  Please please please help!  It's really important that this cake be nearly flawless, and right now it's pretty flawed!  Thank you!

←

I have never used joint compund for cakes, but I have done a lot of home renovations with it. When you apply it thickly the compund will crack, thin coats help with this. But........ all is not lost you can apply additional compound to fill the gaps let it dry and then sand smooth. To keep the dust down you can use wet/dry sand paper and this will help you get a nice smooth finish. Works on walls!!!

[MeDeMi]

It's definitely possible that I put it on too thick-I wanted to be sure to completely cover the white styro with my "choc frosting". Should I be doing several thin coats (next time) so it doesn't crack? This time I will fill in the cracks (thanks for the tip) and sand it down.

I highly recommend this to anyone who makes dummy cakes (once I figure it out)! It was CHEAP to do. The 60 pound bucket of joint compound cost about $10 and I only needed about 4 1/2 lbs to cover five styros! To make a choc frosting look-a-like I used 1 lb joint compound + 2 oz of dark brown acrylic paint. (It's the color of a whipped choc mousse.)

[Squirrelly Cakes]

I find fondant yellows over time also. You can cover a cake dummy with Stretch and seal before applying the icing of your choice and remove it to re-use.

If you purchase Perma-Ice you must purchase the colouring products meant to be used with this product.

Hugs Squirrelly Cakes