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Use cake dummies to go from this to this. Cake dummies or fake cakes are a great way to save
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money and avoid waste while creating display cakes that don't need to be eaten or to add an
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extra tier to a wedding cake for height even though you won't need to serve any more people
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with it. Or you can use them to try out a new technique or practice a technique you're struggling
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with without wasting any actual cake. Would you guess that this entire cake is styrofoam on the
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inside? Cake dummies come in different widths and also different heights but you can always stack
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two together if you want a taller cake. Buttercream works well for this because it's sticky at first
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but when it sets it attaches the dummies together like glue. Cake dummies are styrofoam so they're
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easily damaged so be gentle with them and store them carefully. Being lightweight also makes
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frosting them tricky so here are tips for that. Start with a bit of buttercream on the middle of
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your cake board and press your dummy firmly down onto it, centring it on the board. Then put the
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cake on the board in the freezer for 10 minutes or the fridge for 30 minutes to set that buttercream
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Now you can frost it. The dot will hold the cake dummy in place on the board but since it's so
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light the pressure of spreading frosting onto it will push the cake on its board all over the
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turntable so to prevent that use a non-slip mat under the cake board and use your spinning hand
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to grip both the turntable and the cake board to hold the board still as you spread the frosting
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onto the cake and as you scrape around the cake with a cake comb to smooth the frosting. One of
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the advantage of cake dummies is that you can skip the crumb coat. There are no crumbs obviously to
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get into your frosting so just a single layer of frosting is enough which is a nice time saver
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You can stack cake dummies and since they're more sturdy than real cakes you don't need a support
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structure to keep the tier cake stable. You don't need a cake board underneath the cake dummies on
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the top tiers either. To attach cake dummies in a tier cake just spread a little bit of buttercream
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on top of each cake before placing the next tier on top and the buttercream will set and secure
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the next tier in place even when you move or transport the cake. Just like with real cakes
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I recommend chilling your cake dummies after frosting them before stacking a tier cake so that
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you can touch the frosting with your hands as you stack the cake to balance or adjust the tiers
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without damaging the frosting. A huge benefit of cake dummies is that they're reusable. When you've
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finished with a decorated dummy just rinse it under hot water to take off the frosting, leave it to
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dry and then frost and decorate it again. Cake dummies are a time-saving and cost-saving way to
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improve your cake decorating skills. Practice techniques like smooth frosting, sharp edges
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stenciling, piping and more! I hope this tutorial has been useful. Visit my cake school on
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britishgirlbakes.com to learn hundreds of cake decorating techniques and designs with my online
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courses and membership options. Thanks for watching
