Edible vs reusable cake topper

Both kinds stand on the cake for the photos. The difference shows once the cake is cut. A sugar figure is cut with the cake or put in a box. A keepsake goes home with you whole.

Fondant bride and groom figure.

Edible toppers come in two kinds. A printed edible image is a picture on a sheet of frosting or wafer paper. A sugar figure is shaped by hand from fondant or gum paste.

Your baker or a sugar artist makes the figure. Fondant stays soft. Gum paste dries completely hard. Sugar figures are often more fragile than keepsakes.

Flat keepsakes are often cut from acrylic or wood. 3D figures are sculpted in clay or made by machine, as 3D prints or vinyl toys. We bought 8 keepsake figures from other makers for a test. None of them were edible.

Hand-sculpted clay

3D printed, painted by hand

Full-color 3D print

Mass-made vinyl

Not always. Wilton, the baking brand, does not suggest eating decorations made from gum paste. Fondant stays soft, but some guests peel it off and leave it.

A sugar figure can also hide wires or toothpicks that hold it up. Ask your baker what is inside, and tell whoever cuts the cake.

For a while. One cake maker says a fondant topper in a cardboard box, away from sun and damp, keeps for a few years. Sunlight fades its colors. Skip sealed plastic tubs. Moisture builds up inside, and the sugar goes soft.

Gum paste dries harder than fondant and keeps better. If you want to keep the figure, ask your baker to make it in gum paste. Humid weather on the day can make fondant sticky and soft. So can buttercream under it.

A keepsake is not made to touch food. Ask your baker for a clear acrylic disc to set it on. Lift the topper off before the cake is cut.

Keepsakes differ a lot in weight. We weighed every figure we bought. The heaviest clay figure weighed about 1¼ lb (559 g) and stood 7¾ inches (20 cm) tall. The one of ours we weighed is about half as tall and weighs about 2 oz (53 g). The sculpted parts of every clay figure gave a little under a thumb.

See the results in our topper test.

Couple topper on a window sill beside its style card.

Couples on a wedding forum keep their topper on a shelf or in a shadow box. Some bring it out on a dessert now and then.

Here is how to use your topper again on an anniversary cake.

• Pick a sugar figure if you want it to be part of the cake and do not need it to last. Ask your baker.
• Pick a keepsake if you want it on a shelf after the wedding.

You can also have both: a keepsake on top, with sugar flowers from your baker around it.

We make keepsake figures of two people, 3D printed in polymer from your photo. They are not food-safe. We do not make sugar figures.

Do edible cake toppers need to go in the fridge?

Bakers say no. A printed edible image stays in its sealed bag until you use it.

Is non-toxic the same as edible?

No. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture says "non-toxic" does not mean edible. The FDA says a product labeled only "non-toxic" or "for decorative purposes only" should not go directly on food.