Cake decorating advice please

[melpomene]

I'm planning on making a Barbie cake for dd1's birthday. It's a fairy-themed party so I want to make the cake look like a fairy. I've got the basic idea of how to make and ice the cake, but I'm not sure how to decorate the skirt. Is it possible to use sprinkles or silver balls on the skirt if you stick them onto the icing with apricot jam, or do they tend to fall off because it's too vertical iyswim?

I haven't got any experience of piping/icing bags so I'm a bit wary of going that route.

Whooosh - no-one in this household eats the sugar paste - but it looks good and peels off easily.

(come to that, DH and DS don't really eat the cake either - consumption is not really the point of birthday cakes round here )

Agree with seeker - Debbie Brown's cakes take patience (take no notice of her time estimates) but are pretty easy to follow and they do work.

If you make your own paste with marshmallows, icing sugar and flavourings it tastes relatively edible.

I try to buy the major colour for any cake ready-coloured, because my hands can only take about 5 mins of kneading icing so it would take me too long otherwise (excuses, excuses)

Stealth you need to cover your hands with solid veg fat to stop the melted marhmallow sticking, so it leaves you with lovely soft hands, so it is worth it.

I'll be back later with the toad stool, but the fairy castle in on my profile, if anyone is interested!

I have a barbie/ cinderella cake on my profile - I made little flowers with a cutter I have to cover the skirt.

Just been looking at all these profile cakes. You lot are good! I am seriously impressed. maureen I love that football cake - will you still be around in Feb when it is my DS's birthday so I can quiz you about it?

What an odd question. ofcourse I'll still be here! I'm only working for 6 hours a day, I need to fill the rest with someting!

MML - I LOVE the horse one (as would my DD) yours look very professional am very impressed.

Found my toadstool one!

Flatmouse, the horses were a b*stard! The icing heads were so heavy, I had dozens on sticks holding them on and sugar glue everywhere!

Just noticed, the cup cakes are on there too. I nicked that idea of Stealth and hers are MUCH better than mine!

s'OK, Mo - you are my girly-cake guru (I have more experience in boys cakes - tractor, monster, castle) and anyway my cupcakes (a)weren't better than yours at all and (b) aren't on my profile.

Bozza, Flatmouse - you should be able to see a Barbie princess (plus little Bo peep and a bumble bee) on mine now if you are interested.

love the football cake aswell b perfect for my little boys birthday in may.
any way can anyone tell me a good site for doing birthday cakes its my partners bday on saturday and the little boy wants to bake a cake but ive only ever done butterfly buns etc...

Stealth - that bumble bee - respect!! What are the petals on the flower made of, and if icing how did you get it firm enough to stick in?

Flatmouse - they should have been flower paste (pastillage) which sets much harder (it's another Debbie Brown design). However, for some reason I decided to make them out of icing with gum tragacanth (sp?) added, which sets harder than normal icing but goes soft again with moisture. So when they were stuck into the cake they started to "sag". I didn't have time to re-do them, so what you can't see is lots of bamboo skewers carefully positioned under the petals to support them

SShhhh! Stop giving away our secrets for make half decent cakes! Have you tried gelatin icing? That sets really hard, but you have to work quickly with it and its hard going rolling it out. I did the turrets on the castle with that. Rolled it round kitchen roll tubes covered in cling film. You can dampen too, to make the seams disappear. I got your message about a Spy cake. I'll be here, somewhere! Not in the Staff room so much after 21st though. Stop cming tomorrow!