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Have you ever thought about decorating a fake cake for your bakery display? While this may sound bizarre, we swear it’s not cheating! Essentially, dummy cakes are styrofoam blocks that come in varying shapes and sizes and are iced and decorated to look like real cake.
The only limit to a dummy cake is your imagination! The possibilities are virtually endless. It’s an easy and effective way to showcase your talents and up your bakery’s overall presentation. You can find this type of crafting styrofoam online, at baking supplies shops, or even at your local craft store.
In the right situation, there are some stellar benefits to using a dummy cake instead of a real one. While you obviously wouldn’t want to use a dummy cake for a tasting, you could always use it for your bakeries’ display case, promotional products, or travel displays.
This way, you can produce an amazingly decorated cake without the extra effort, costs, and waste. Keep reading to learn how you can begin building and using dummy cakes to enhance your bakery business!
Fake Cake: Get More From Less
Dummy cakes are an excellent option for your bakery’s display cases. If you use real cakes with real ingredients, your display will hit a point where things start looking (and smelling) a little funky. The cool thing about a fake cake is that it can show off your talents for more than just a few days. Not to mention, people will love having an up-close view of your decorative skills. Don’t forget to post pictures on social media!
Dummy cakes can also come in handy when you want to add to your cake portfolio. Want an insider tip? To save time and resources, decorate your dummy cake two different ways on either side and take two separate photos of the seemingly different cakes. You’ll have double the entries for your portfolio!
Looking Good Enough To Eat
Contrary to popular belief, dummy cakes aren’t just for internal use. Did you know you can offer dummy cakes to your clients as well? If you’re asking, “Why would anyone want a cake they can’t eat?” The simple answer: so they can have their cake and eat it too!
Many people getting married want a multi-tiered, heavily decorated wedding cake for the sake of pictures. That said, for most couples, the “oohs and ahhs” aren’t generally worth the high price tag. So, instead of paying for a real 7-tiered cake, you can offer people everything their heart desires on a dummy cake! When done right, a fake cake will look like the real deal (and wow everyone in attendance); then, you can serve a regular sheet cake to guests without anyone suspecting a thing.
Building Your Dummy Cake
When decorating a dummy cake, you can use the same icing you’d use on a real cake, like buttercream, fondant, or royal icing. When using buttercream, you won’t need to crumb coat or level the sides, and you can apply the final coat directly to the dummy cake. Alternatively, fondant needs a little more prep work. The small manufacturing lines or dents will show through if you don’t smooth them out first. A smooth, even coating of royal icing should do the trick!
To put together a multi-tiered dummy cake, simply hot glue the tiers on top of each other and press down firmly to ensure it holds. With multiple tiers, you’ll need to patch up the joints with royal icing before covering them with fondant. Better yet, you can use fake cake in conjunction with real custom cake to deliver a multi-tiered look! If the real cake is going on top of the dummy, nothing out of the ordinary needs to happen. However, if you want the dummy on top of the real cake, the real cake will need support, such as a wooden dowel rod.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Another great benefit of dummy cakes is the number of times you can reuse them! Not only do you never have to worry about any part of the dummy cake going bad, but you can also switch them out when necessary. For example, say you made an elaborate heart-shaped cake for Valentine’s Day but still would like to use it for future Valentine’s Days. Find a safe place to store it, and you’ll have the perfect display option for next year!
Maybe you want to start from scratch but don’t feel like purchasing a bunch of new styrofoam boxes—no problem! You can scrape off the icing, wash off the styrofoam, and pat it dry. Please note that if you’re using buttercream icing, the grease will make cleaning and reusing more difficult. To combat this, many bakers take the time to cling wrap their blocks before covering them with icing. This way, you can use any icing without dealing with annoying clean-ups or waste.
Smarten Up With Dummy Cakes (and BakeSmart!)
Dummy cakes are a great option in situations where high-quality aesthetics are the focus instead of taste. There are so many ways these fake cakes can be utilized to show off your talent as a baker and artist—let your creativity soar!
Looking for more ways to make your bakery efficient? Our bakery software can help you manage your entire operations with ease. Get started today! We guarantee you’ll love BakeSmart within just 30 days, or you’ll get your money back. Schedule a demo today and start conquering the chaos.
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