Ever since I made the Violin cake I have been dying to make another musical instrument. Why? Because they are so much fun to make. So… I finally got a chance to make a guitar cake. A Fender guitar to be exact. I have always wanted to learn how to play one. Since that hasn’t happened why not make a guitar cake instead. But not just any guitar cake, one that stands up and can be turned to play. Such an easy task right?

Deciding which Fender Guitar to Make

Guitars are not my thing, so I asked for some help at the music store. Because I am a bit clueless about guitars. By the way, there are so many different types of Fender guitars out there. I just picked one that had a good template that I could use. I did not have any restrictions on any particular type which was perfect for me. Whoot Whoot.

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Making the guitar cake template

A template is essential to make the scaling right. Make it wrong, and you have a ginormous cake or maybe just a bit too small. I usually spend a lot of time on this section. Need more tips on sculpted cakes, check out this post.  There are so many templates available for fender guitar, I downloaded a few but chose the one with the best top view.  You can get my detailed step by step instructions and template in my shop.

Once I chose a template I resized it to print on 8.5×11 size paper. Sometimes this means printing it a few times to get it right. I then piece them together to create one large template. I normally add some measurements to the template because the next step is the board.

What kind of cake board should I use?

Whenever I am making any cake that will stand up, or anything gravity-defying I use MDF board, threaded rods, and the works. You will need some carpentry help if you don’t have all the tools available.  For this cake, I took the template with me to Lowes (a home improvement store) to get the right size board. I opted not to ask them to cut the board because I need a shaped board.  They usually cut simple square or rectangular boards at the store at no additional cost.

I also bought a guitar stand on Amazon to go with the cake.  It was really cool adding the cake to the guitar stand.

What type of cake and filling to use?

To make this cake I usually go with an all butter cake. However, because I had shelves I got away with a looser crumb cake. Box mix must be doctored up to make it sturdy. I would normally go for a chocolate cake, but the birthday boy insisted no chocolate cake.  Also, he insisted he needed a strawberry filling.  To which I said you mean a strawberry buttercream right? No filling anywhere near my carved cake Mr.

Instead, I used my lemon cake recipe, subbed out some of the cake flour for all-purpose flour and kept the oil and butter combination.  Then paired it with my strawberry Italian Meringue buttercream recipe. I used ganache as my final coat of buttercream because it stays at room temperature and is a great glue.

The guitar strings

The guitar strings are like the final thing for the cake.  I had multiple options just in case something did not work: (1) edible strings  (2) real guitar strings or (3) any string that’s long enough.  Edible strings are interesting, because I have tried black licorice, but it was a bit brittle in the areas that were bent from the packaging.  So, the other option is to pipe strings.  Which means multiple just in case something breaks.

Because of the time constraints, I chose not to make edible strings. Instead, I chose to go with something inedible. The guitar strings were great but it needed something to tighten it which I didn’t have.  Finally, I used a string I bought at JoAnn.  It wasn’t silver, and I ran out of time to paint it silver.

So there you have it… the making of a standing guitar cake.  Another fun cake to make.