Vintage Chic Wedding Cake

by Donna
(MT Pleasant, TN)

Vintage Chic

Vintage Chic

I made this Vintage Chic Wedding Cake design as a dummy cake before I actually made it into a real cake and let me tell you I would have rather made a hundred real wedding cakes than this one dummy!


I was making this as a show presentation for a friends' bridal ranch venue show. I literally wanted to throw in the towel on ever making a cake again. It was the most difficult thing I ever came across. Now mind you I have made dummies before but never experienced anything quite like this.

It was a last minute ordeal so I didn't have my regular Renshaw fondant (my to go to fondant) so I went to my cakery cabinet & there stood a bucket of Satin Ice. Never ever with my last dying breath will I ever use Satin Ice again.

Evil Fondant


I had my dummies all ready. I prep my dummies by lightly rubbing Crisco on the surface. I used a double sided tape to stick my dummy to the cake board (it doesn't tear it) I roll out my fondant very nicely and begin to drape it over my dummy and it begins to stretch and tear.

I gather it up and start over... rolling it out a little thinner (I like to go 1/4 inch on my fondants for strength and durability) I go 1/8 inch, it does the same thing, but it doesn't do it right away...it waits for me to just about get to the finishing & begins to separate away from the Styrofoam.

Now I have taken off the extra around the base after securing my top and adhering an inch down from the top but it tears anyway. I am not a very patient person and when it comes to my cakes I have what you would call OCD. I need my cakes as close to perfection as possible, after all people are paying for quality work. At shows
there are a lot of people examining your work which could be your future clients so it has to be done up right.

Tears over Tiers


After three tries, I was just about in tears. The design was calling for over 200 petals to be placed & I needed to get to that part, but I couldn't go any further. The worst part was the cake's center tier which was a barrel style. This made laying fondant even more difficult.

No Dummy is Going To Take me Down


I took a break and walked away, I had to or I think I would have placed that dummy in my driveway and run over it/. After about an hour I told my self... you can do this, so back I go for try number four and again the fondant tears. This time I was stompin' mad and I thought...THIS is war....NO dummy is gonna take me down. I was like a madman, I ripped the fondant off that Styrofoam, threw it away and rolled out some more, it was do or die time and I won the battle!

Five tries it took and I was not about to give up, I was determined. I finished that dummy, took it to the show and someone ordered the design for a real wedding cake. The first thing I did when I got home was look at that order slip, threw out any Satin Ice and went online. I ordered up my Renshaw.

Have a Cup Of Tea


My advice to anyone who comes across this dilemma is to walk away, take some time to gather your thoughts, have a cup of tea & regroup. Never ever give up!! You are in this cake business and people will request your artistic ability. You know your good at what you do and nothing can take that from you. You have the strength to persevere (even at the cost of gaining a few gray hairs..lol) Tally-Ho!

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