Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hiya, I want to make a hot air balloon for the top of my sons Christening cake and just wondered if there’s any special skill to covering a styrofoam ball?

Hi jaime

To make the sugar paste stick to the styrofoam you can either wet the ball with water or use the technique Paul has used in the new carousel cake tutorial where he uses Trex. I always cover dummies with a thin layer of marzipan, let it dry and then cover with icing. The marzipan helps conceal any imperfections in the styrofoam and makes for a smoother finish. To ice the ball roll out enough icing so there is sufficient skirt. Elevate the ball on a baked bean tin or something similar then place the fondant as centrally as you can over the ball. Start to smooth all the way around as if you were icing a round cake ( have a look at any of Paul’s tutorials on icing a round cake). Once you reach the base make two pleats either side of the ball and cut off some of the excess. Turn the ball over on a piece of parchment paper and ease the the remaining excess to cover the bottom. Trim flush and use cake smoothers to blend the sugar paste together. This will be the bottom of the ball so turn it up the other way and again smooth all over. The styrofoam should be easier to do than a real cake as it’s solid and there isn’t the usual worry of squashing it. Phew! I hope this all makes sense.

I have tried covering a ball in fondant, it,s not easy. Lindy Smith describes this technique in her book and on her website. Pretty much what madeitwithlove says. I found it difficult as the polystyrene was very light and kept rolling away. Got there in the end though.

Hiya, thank you very much I shall have a few practices I think.