Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi Paul
I’ve made this cake but had some problems with the dress. I used the flower paste sugar paste mix as suggested. When I put it on the cake there wasn’t a lot of stretch & I ended up with’elephant skin’. Did I roll it too thick or too thin? I did use a cake covered in buttercream at the clients request- does this have any impact? BTW I used the cake frame & that works fine

Hello sandbachbean

Paul rarely has the opportunity to comment in Q & A therefore I will try to answer your question.

I haven’t made the wedding shower cake, however I have made many hanging drapes on cakes.
I find sometimes the brand of sugarpaste makes a difference to the amount of stretch it will give when rolled out and hanging. When I use the Renshaws brand I find the stretch is more even with added flower paste. When I use Satin Ice ivory it barely stretches, the white Satin Ice stretches far more and is much the same as the Renshaws brand. Recently I began using Carmas Massa and find it does not stretch much and hangs beautifully when cut to the required size without the added need for flowerpaste. Some sugarpastes are wetter than others which makes a big difference to how much they stretch.
Sometimes if sugarpaste is rolled out too thick it can form elephant skin because of the weight when it hangs.
Adding too much icing sugar or cornflour when rolling out can dry out the paste and also give elephant skin type problems. If it is rolled out too thin it usually tears and rips.
A cake covered with buttercream will not impact the outcome providing a crusting buttercream
was used to give the icing a good firm base to adhere to.
Paul was also very carefully when calculating the length of paste he required. Is it possible that you may not have calculated sufficient length to account for stretch?
I’m sure other members will be able to make more suggestions according to their experiences. I hope some of the suggestions from my own experience is of some help.

Finally, thank you for your feedback on the cake frame, it’s useful to know that it works well!