How do I stick a small iced cake onto a larger one?

[Toffeefudgecake]

I'm making a Club Penguin cake for my son's birthday party tomorrow. I am planning to make a snowy scene with Club Penguin figures and an igloo. How do I stick the igloo (small, pudding-bowl shaped cake) onto the larger one? Will jam do it? Or should I try to stick the two together with icing?

Any clever cake makers out there? Help!

Royal icing be best from my experience.
As I understand the igloo is a litte cake, just put royal icing on top of the big cake where yo want it to be and stick it on. Royal icing is very good glue:) Make sure you do it in advance so it has enough time to set.

Have a great time tomorrow!

TBH, royal icing is a pita to make if you only need a tiny bit which is all you'll use to stick the two together.

What are the cakes covered in and is the igloo on a board of any sort or are you sticking it straight onto the bottom cake?

If you have covered the bottom cake in buttercream then just ruffle up the area where the igloo will sit and plonk it on top.

If the igloo isn't on a board then jam will do fine unless you're having to transport it a long way (if you are transporting it and the igloos not on a board then I'd recommend taking it in two parts and sticking them together when you get there).

If it is on a board and you've used sugarpaste/fondant/ready to roll icing to cover it then you can use a small blob of the icing mixed with a few drops of water to make a sticky goo which will be more than adequate.

Bunny - I have ready-to-roll icing in a pack (amateur speaking ). Royal icing is different, isn't it? I don't have any of that. But thank you for your advice.

Lady - I'm planning to stick the igloo on top of the main cake, which will be iced. What will stick the bottom of the little sponge cake to the icing of the big cake?

Is it easier to stick two sponge bits together? I could leave a circle of un-iced surface and put the igloo on that. Maybe buttercream would do as glue?

I am transporting it, but only up the road to the local church hall, so I'll be walking and carrying the cake.

I would leave a circle of uniced cake and use jam. Then sort of smooth the icing of the snow and the igloo together to make a join. Presumably the icing will be standing a few millimetres above the surface of the cake so the jgloo resting on the uniced surface will be nicely nestled down in it won't it?

Ooo, I have some cocktail sticks, so that might work nicely, Bluddy. Thanks. I could use jam as well, Northern, so the cake will have two different things sticking it in.

I'm googling how to ice a cake now. I am only just about to make the cake (actually, I made it yesterday using a packet mix, but it isn't very nice so I'm going to do it again myself. So much for saving myself time by buying a packet!). Is it OK to ice the cake today, once it has cooled down? One article on google says you should ice it the day after making it.

Another article says to boil the jam first to make sure there is no mould present. Do I really have to do this ? I was just going to bung some strawberry jam on the cake, roll out some marzipan and then put ready-rolled white icing on top.

This all seemed so easy when I had the original idea!

I wouldn't use marizpan on a sponge cake. I think it would be too heavy - in every sense! I would ice it today as soon as it is completely cool. You will need to use some jam to stick it on - melted apricot is good but use strawberry if that's what you have. No need to boil the jam either - how odd!

Thank goodness I asked. For some reason, I thought you had to put marzipan on an iced cake. Glad I don't have to bother with boiling jam. Seemed a bit odd to me too. Thanks, Northern.

No marzipan mostly goes on fruit cakes. I have seem it on small sponge cakes - fondant fancy type things but no need to faff on a plain sponge. Use icing sugar to help you roll the fondant out (like you would flour with pastry)and try all the pieces on the cake BEFORE you put the jam on. Have you got a pastry brush fro spreading the jam? If not a baby feeding/weaning type spoon or small knife will work well.

I'd put marzipan on as if you have 2 layers, as in marzipan and rolling icing it will turn out smoother.

Buttercream could do it but if it will be warm it can get bit wobbly as it doesn't set just hardens in the fridge. You can buy royal icing in any supermarket if you don't want to make it as it is a long process to get the consistency right.

If you are covering the cake in rolling icing it will be very difficult to cut out exact shape of in igloo and then fit it in there without it looking bit wonky.
You boil the jam so it be easier to coat the cake as cold jam is bit too thick.

Just a tip: when you roll the icing, cover your workspace with cornflour rather then icing-sugar as the rolling icing won't get too dry and is less likely to split when you sover it.

Best of luck :)

Oh yeah cocktail sticks is a good idea :)

Well, my homemade cake is cooling. It hasn't risen much, even though I used an electric beater, but I don't expect anyone will notice once it's padded out with butter icing in the centre and icing on the top.

Northern - thank you for your tips - especially the tip to try the icing on the cake before I put the jam on. And I do have a little child-sized knife that will do nicely. Oh, and a pastry brush!

Bunny - thanks for the tip about cornflour. What could I use instead of rolling icing for the igloo? I take your point about how it will be tricky to fit it exactly.

Hope your cakes are turning out well! The cupcakes most probably have sunk if they aren't cooked, if the oven isn't hot enough maybe should leave them in for longer until they're more cooked.
A few other things can make cakes sink like opening the oven door before the cake has had a chance to set etc but if they're undercooked then it's the most likely reason.
Good luck!

Thanks, Stressed. I don't think I'd better serve the second batch of cupcakes then. Luckily, the first batch look ok.

Have just finished the cake and I'm quite pleased with it. It looks just like I wanted it to look. The tips on this thread were invaluable - I printed them out and worked with the notes beside me. Panicked when I couldn't find any cocktail sticks, but found some lolly sticks after a rummage in DS2's craft box and they seem to be good anchors for the igloo. I'm just trying to work out how to stick little decorations and Club Penguin figures on the cake. A blob of icing, maybe?

Seems a shame to eat it tomorrow .

The cake is no more, although I did rescue the igloo bit . On the plus side, it looked great and DS was very pleased with it. The lolly sticks worked really well at keeping the igloo stable and I used blobs of icing to stick the figures on the cake.

Thanks to you all for your tips.