[*BluePinkie*]

I have this picture of a cake I found but have no idea what icing to use. Would I use fondant?

[dreamstoreality]

I would say it is fondant and then to stick the smarties to it, they have used minimal amounts or royal icing or something similar as the smarties wouldn't stick otherwise.

If you are really unsure, take the photo to a local cake decoration centre and ask them for advice.

It looks like a great cake!

[ECsMum]

Maybe you could make them out of royal icing then paint each one?

[pinkplane]

It definitely looks like fondant.

I would do as PP suggested and use royal icing to stick the smarties on, using a small paintbrush.

You could also use buttercream instead of fondant as the smarties would stick to that, but buttercream is pretty hard to get completely smooth, as you would need it to be with that cake.

This post has been edited by pinkplane: 21/08/2012, 12:52 PM

[Alacritous~Andy]

I personally hate the taste of fondant, so unless it was for something where it needed to be SUPER perfect (such as a competition), I would go buttercream every time.

You can get buttercream fairly smooth, though it will never come up as "perfect" as fondant. I like the finished look of buttercream, because to me, it appears more... edible.

For a kid's cake, I think buttercream is tastier, and much nicer for eating, and you will usually find most kids (and adults) won't give a crap if the icing isn't mirror-smooth.

Go team buttercream! (Lol - okay, now I sound like a nutter).

[dreamstoreality]

I too prefer the taste of buttercream but my concern with this cake using smarties is that hte colour of hte smarties would run and would ruin the whole look of the cake.

Buttercream, unless you use an intimation version such as Rich N Smooth you also can't get completely white. Rich N Smooth is vanilla flavoured.

Alternatively you could do a buttercream underneath with a fondant on top to get it completely smooth. I guess it depends on how much time and $ you want to spend as well.

This post has been edited by dreamstoreality: 21/08/2012, 01:04 PM

[2bubbygirls]

sorry - another team buttercream person here - I loathe the taste of fondant, and for me, kids cake should firstly taste great. So I use buttercream on all my cakes.
You can make the icing look really close to white if you make your buttercream with half butter, half copha.
I use this recipe, and it tastes better too - the copha makes it taste lighter (though it is probably more fattening!).
You just cream the butter and copha together with vanilla using electric beaters, then add the icing sugar. You then add the milk at the end, so it fluffs up.
This icing almosts sets, you it is best if you make it on the day, and would be great for the smarties to hold in position.
That cake looks awesome - you could make a rainbow cake inside, which would be amazing - using the same colours as the smarties!

[Alacritous~Andy]

The suggestion of using half copha/half butter for a whiter icing is a good idea. I have also make creamcheese buttercream, which is slightly paler than a standard buttercream, but still definitely cream rather than white.

I also love the idea of a rainbow cake - even a rainbow marble cake, which would be simpler.

This is a cake I made for my brother's wedding. It is all buttercream icing (flowerpaste hearts), so you see you can get it fairly smooth.

[sueb31]

You can get whitener to add to buttercream to make it white. Wilton's make it.

[*BluePinkie*]

Thank you so much everyone. I am not a big fan of fondant so I will try it with butter cream. DD's party isn't until the 9th of September so I have time to get it right.