That roll-out icing for cakes - how much for a cake 25.2cm by 19.1cm?

[fridayschild]

I have got these people to do an edible caricature of my friend at work for his 40th. The drawing will be 25.2 x 19.1; I can make a sponge cake that size, or a bit bigger but need dry icing to put the picture on. The big day is Monday and I think we are away this weekend so I will be baking on Sunday night and therefore icing it on Monday morning. Ready made icing sounds really appealling....

There are challenges involved in getting cake and icing to the office (tube at rush hour in the summer, yuk!). I've never used the stuff before, can I assemble it at work do you think?

Anyone any clues on how much of the icing I should get? And is the Superfood one ok?

You'll need 1.25 kg of sugarpaste for a cake that size. But if theres an M&S near work that does food, I'd order one of their plain iced sponge cakes (they do them for wedding cakes in diff sizes with plain white icing) and pick that up in the morning rather than taking cake on tube.

Wouldn't be feasible to ice at work - its fairly messy.

Best icing is bought from a cake decorating shop (you could then get a good board and a cake box too), but otherwise Regalice is the best in supermarkets

M&S, now there's a thought . Oh yes we have one nearby, thank you very much!

Quick hijack: cmot (love your nam btw), you sound like someone who knows her icing.

I'm making a friends wedding cake and have bought some regalice ready-roll stuff.

Any tips on how to get it really smooth?

Tia (and feel free to ignore me if you consider my hijack too outrageous).

I'm no expert ! But do like making cakes, and have done quite a few wedding cakes etc.

Prepare cake really well - turn them upside down on the board, and make sure the marzipan is really even - use a rolling pin to make it perfectly flat.

If you aren't using marzipan then put it upside down and use icing to make the bottom neat

knead the icing really well, and roll it out on a non stick mat with cornflour to stop it sticking

Drape over cake, and then with your hands dusted, smooth it over. Use an icing smoother (flat plastic thing) to polish it flat and even

I see what you mean about not being able to do this at work

Thanks Dibbler! (Am going on online hunt for icing smoother right now).

Squires are v good if you can stop spending money... Smoother here

Ooh, blimey: somewhere else to spend all my cash.

Thing is, I've made wedding cakes before, but have always put a thin layer of icing over them then poured chocolate on them.

Thanks for the tips: much appreciated.