How to make a castle cake: Part 2

This is part 2 of 3 on “How to make a castle cake”. Part 1 can be viewed here.

How to make the princess

Step 1:
Start with the princess’ bodice. I simply rolled out some hot pink fondant, cut out a rectangle shape and made some curves for the waist. I planned for the hair to cover most of the body, so it wasn’t crucial to pay too much attention to the dress.

Step 2:
To achieve the skin colour I desired, I started off with pink fondant. I then mixed in some yellow and brown. You can use this combination for most skin types. The amount of colour to use will vary depend on the skin colour you wish to achieve.

Step 3:
To make the princess’ head, I wanted to try out a new mold, however, a head can easily be made without a mold by following this tutorial on Cakejournal. To use the mold, rub a little shortening inside the cavity before inserting the fondant.

Step 4:
Create two arms by rolling thin lengths of fondant as shown below.

Step 5:
Use the end of a ball tool to flatten the the tip slightly to create a hand.

Step 6:
Using a small knife, make some light incisions for the thumb and fingers. Stick the arms and head in place with a little glue (See pic in step 9 for guide)

Step 7:
To make the hair, use the sugar shaper to squeeze through some thin strands. Apply the hair around the head with some glue. I twisted the hair slightly (Pic Step 9)

Step 8:
To make the crown, roll out a small piece of fondant. Use a piping tip to shape the crown as shown.

Step 9:
Glue crown into place and make some small indents in the crown with the end of a small paintbrush or similar. Use edible pen to draw the features on the face.

Step 10:
Apply some pink petal dust with a small paintbrush to the cheeks. To make the hair shiny, paint on a little piping gel.

Decorating the turrets

Step 11:
To make the vines, use the sugar shaper with the semi circle disc. Squeeze out desired lengths and glue in place, working from the bottom up.

Step 12:
Work up the turrets in a wavy style.

Step 13:
Leaves can be cut out easily with leaf cutters. A little corn flour dusted on the fondant will prevent the fondant from sticking to the cutter. Glue the leaves in place.

Step 14:
Other flowers, leaves and birds can be added. The mold below is made by Wilton.

Covering the cake board

Step 15:
Roll out a some fondant large enough to cover the size of your cake board. You may wish to leave your surface plain or imprint it with something like the Graceful Vines impression mat I used. Again cornflour is useful to prevent the mat from sticking to the fondant. Trim away any excess fondant from around the edges.

Assembling the tiers – supporting the structure

Step 16:
Spread a little buttercream on the bottom layer, in the centre. This will prevent the second layer from sliding.

Step 17:
Place the second layer on top of the first layer. Make sure it is centre. Please note, I don’t have a cake board on my second layer as it was such a small cake. If you are using a larger cake, it would be best to use a cake board and cut out a hole to allow insertion of the dowel in the next step.

Step 18:
Push a dowel all the way through both layers, making sure the dowel is centered.

Step 19:
Using an edible ink pen, mark the dowel where the top of the second layer ends. Pull out the dowel and cut length, where the mark was made.

Step 20:
Insert the dowel back in, making sure it is level with the top of of the cake. If it isn’t level, pull the dowel out and trim again.

Step 21:
For the third tier, if you are using real cake (mine was another foam cylinder, cut to size with a serrated knife and made in the same way as the side turrets), you can simply place it on top of the second tier. You may not require a dowel if it’s a small cake.

I’ll be returning with Part 3 soon, to show you how to put the rest of the cake together and how to apply the finishing touches.

Happy Caking!

Wynona