Cover the cakes with fondant and stack the tiers:
- Using a smooth plastic rolling pin, roll 1-1/2 lb. of the white fondant into a rough circle at least 16 inches in diameter and about 1/4 inch thick.
- Roll the fondant around your rolling pin, then unroll it to drape the fondant over the 6-inch cake tier.
- Smooth the fondant over the top and sides of the cake.
- Using an X-ACTO knife or scalpel, trim away the excess fondant around the base of the cake.
- Use the fondant smoothers to smooth the surface.
- Cover the 8-inch cake tier in the same manner, using 2 lb. of the white fondant, and rolling it to a circle at least 18 inches in diameter.
- Insert a dowel into the center of the 8-inch tier and mark it where it starts to stick out of the cake.
- Remove the dowel and cut it at the mark.
- Cut three more dowels the same length.
- Return one dowel to the center hole, and insert the remaining three dowels, evenly spacing them around the center.
- Make sure they’re placed within the diameter of where the 6-inch tier will sit above them.
- Spread a thin layer of buttercream over the four dowels, and place the 6-inch tier on top of the buttercream.
- Return the stacked cake to the refrigerator for at least an hour to make sure it’s secure.
To decorate the cake:
- Roll out the pale blue fondant to a strip 26 inches long by 3 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick. It should be long enough to wrap around the bottom tier.
- Create a scalloped edge on one side of the pale blue strip by placing the 3-1/2-inch cutter half on the edge of the strip and half off—in other words, the fondant edge bisects the circle.
- Once the first semicircle is cut, begin the next one at its edge, creating a peak between each half circle.
- Roll up the strip like a spool and unroll it around the bottom of the cake.
- Brush the cake with a small amount of water to help it adhere, if necessary. The seam will be covered later with a row of pearls.
- Roll about 1/4 lb. of white fondant into a rope that’s 1/4 inch in diameter and about 26 inches long. You can use your hands or an extruder.
- Brush a small amount of water onto the cake along the scalloped edge of the blue ribbon and apply the rope.
- Start at the seam on the blue ribbon (this is so both seams match), and gently press the rope into place along the scalloped line.
- To make tiny ribbon roses, pinch off a marble-sized piece of blue fondant from the remaining fondant and roll tiny ropes (about the thickness of a piece of yarn).
- Coil the rope into a spiral rose shape, aiming for roses about the same size as the pearls.
- Set the roses aside on a parchment-paper-lined cookie sheet until you’re ready to place them on the cake.
- To make the tiny leaves for behind the ribbon roses, pinch off a very small amount of green fondant—about half the size of the ribbon rose.
- Use your fingers to roll the little bit of fondant into a teardrop shape.
- Press the teardrop between your fingers to flatten it into a leaf shape.
- Place the leaves alongside the ribbon roses on the cookie sheet and set aside to dry.
- To create the pearl and rose pattern on the cake, start on the bottom tier and place a pearl or a rose onto the cake about 1/4 inch above each scallop peak.
- Brush on a small amount of water or piping gel to help the pearl or rose adhere. If you are applying a rose, place the leaf with the rounded end under the rose, allowing the pointed end to stick out from behind it.
- Next place a pearl or a rose about 1/4 inch above the middle of each scallop.
- Use these two lines that you’ve created as a guide to apply the pearls and roses up the rest of the cake and space them about 1-1/2 inches apart.
- To mimic the pattern pictured here, use more pearls than roses. Place roses after every one or two pearls.
- Try to space the roses out evenly around the cake.
- To finish the design, brush a thin line of water around the bottom edge of the cake and line the edge with pearls.
- Brush the seam of the blue ribbon and cover it with pearls, too.
- Apply the bow topper to the cake using piping gel to hold it in place.