Fondant Accent Tutorials

Fondant Accent Tutorials

Today I had a wonderful time demonstrating some fun things with fondant to my local cake club, Capital Confectioners.  Here are the links to my new tutorials!

Billows

Ruffle Flowers

Pom Poms

Ruffle Flowers

Ruffle Flowers

I've been asked to do a demonstration at my cake club's next monthly meeting.  Specifically, I was asked to figure out how to do the fondant billows, but I like to demo several techniques when I get the chance.  The demo will be called "Trendy Fondant Accents" and will cover 3 decorations: billows, pom poms, and ruffle flowers.  These are items I'm seeing all over Pinterest, facebook, and in cake deco magazines.  After some internet-scouring research, I came up with my own way of doing things.

First up are the ruffle flowers.  These are fab because they don't require many fancy tools, they don't take long to make, and they don't need any dry time if you're in a hurry.  I don't know who invented or made these very popular, but here are a couple sites that helped me.  

References/Inspiration/Tutorials

• Melissa Barbakoff (http://thebakedequation.com/vintage-ruffle-flowers/)
• Christi (http://pisforparty.blogspot.com/2011/06/tutorials-ruffle-fondant-flowers.html)

Tools

• fondant or gumpaste
• circular cutters in various sizes
• tool for ruffling/curling edges (gumpaste stick tool, ball tool, skewer, toothpick, or even the end of a thin paintbrush)
• edible glue (royal icing, piping gel, tylose glue, etc.)
• foam pad (optional)
• something to go in the middle of the flower (fondant button, dragees, candy, etc.)

Instructions

1.  Roll out your fondant (or gumpaste) very thin on a non-stick surface.  Here I am using a cutting board dusted with powdered sugar.

2.  Cut out several sizes of the same shape. Here I am using my Progressive Biscuit/Cookie Cutter Set with the scalloped side.

3.  Place your shape on top of a foam pad.  This is optional if you don't have one, but it does make ruffling a bit easier.

4.  Using your favorite tool for curling edges, thin out the edges of your shape by applying pressure.  Once the edges are thinned out, apply more pressure to really start curling.

Here I am using the thin stick tool from Wilton's gumpaste tool set.  To thin out the edge of my fondant, I rock the tool back and forth within a single petal.  Once thin, I press down firmly with the tool and rock back and forth again, still within a single petal.

Notice that I'm placing the stick tool so that the edge of my fondant meets with where the tool begins to taper.  I found that this is the best way to get a tight curl.  I don't roll the tool along the entire edge; I pick up the tool and start again on the next petal section.  Make sure the end of the tool is always pointing to the center of the cut out.

5.  Curl all your shapes until they are nice and curly and frilly.

If you are using the ball tool for ruffling ...

• Thin the edges out by sliding the tool around your shape with medium pressure.  I move the ball in one direction along the edge of the cut out (like drawing large O's several times).  At this stage, I have the ball completely within the cut out.
• Once thin, move the ball so it is halfway on the fondant edge and halfway touching the foam pad.  Now you can go to town on it by applying firm pressure and sliding the tool around the edge several times.  Sometimes I rock back and forth along a section too, but always keeping the ball halfway off the fondant.

6.  Dab some edible glue in the middle of your largest cut out.  Here I am using tylose glue.

7.  Place the next size cut out on top.  Apply pressure to the middle of the cut out so it can adhere to the bottom piece.

You can use your ball tool or just your finger tip to gently apply pressure.

8.  Repeat with remaining cut outs.

Gently fluff up and re-shape any smooshed sections with your stick tool.

9.  Now for something to go in the middle!  Here I dabbed some edible glue on the top-most piece and dropped in some dragees.  Use the stick tool to help place them nicely.

I made sure the middle dragee I chose was large and the rest were smaller.

10.  You can allow your flower to dry if you like.  Clean up any residual powdered sugar by brushing clear alcohol gently on the flower.

Done!

Try cut outs of different colors!

 Here is a round cut out curled with a ball tool.

The center is a mini m&m!

 Large with small cut out.  Edges painted with gold luster dust mixed with Everclear.

 Easy peasy!  Have fun!

Homemade Gummy Candy

Homemade Gummy Candy

Ready for another "Hey, I can do that!" adventure?  I've jumped on to the homemade gummy candy band wagon!  Kim from http://www.eat-the-evidence.com reassured me that it's super easy.  She'll be demonstrating how to use gelatine in many ways at the Capital Confectioners cake club's Day of Sharing next month.  She will also be teaching some of those techniques for the club's monthly class.  I've used gelatine several times (e.g. fondant, pastillage, gelatine sheets, and of course JELL-O), so I wasn't too intimidated after researching some recipes.  The proportions and ingredients varied, but I eventually settled on the simplest recipe I could find, especially since I actually had all the ingredients on hand.

Stats:

• 1/3 c cold water
• try juice instead for an extra fruit kick
• try sweetened condensed milk for opaque white
• 1 small box (3 oz) of JELL-O (featuring strawberry flavored)
• 2 packets of unflavored gelatine (featuring Knox brand)

Pour the JELL-O and gelatine into the water.  Recipes I found online say "sprinkle" the gelatine into the water, but I don't get how you sprinkle it when the ratio of solid to liquid is practically 1:1.  I guess you want it evenly dispersed.  Otherwise, the gelatine can lump together later on and you'll have to work that out.

Let the gelatine "bloom" ... which means let it sit there and do its thing.  I think I let it sit for 5 minutes while I cleaned up and prepared my tools.

The gelatine will congeal ... it's practically gummy at this point.  Wiggly and very little liquid pouring out.

Now you need to heat it up so all the sugar and gelatine will dissolve and the result will be clear (or at least not cloudy).  Recipes online had it on low heat in a pot on the stove.  I kinda forgot about that and just popped it in the microwave like I usually do when I make fondant.  I did 30 second intervals and stirring in between.  It took about 2 1/2 minutes total to get the consistency I wanted.  30 seconds was apparently too long in the end and the liquid bubbled up and overflowed in the microwave.

YUCK!  When's the last time I cleaned the microwave plate anyway???

Once all the solids have dissolved, you can start pouring into your molds.  I tried pouring directly from my Pyrex measuring glass and also using a baster.  The baster isn't a precise instrument ... it would be neat if I had a smaller version of it.  Hmm ... maybe I should have dug out some of my daughter's medicine droppers.  Dang ... why didn't I think of that earlier?  I set out my new Wilton Fondant & Gumpaste molds as well as some candy molds (hearts and seashells).

UPDATE (2011-07-07)
I recently tried making gummies again and used the Wilton Squeeze Bottles (for chocolate candy making) to pour into molds.  It worked great!  My gummy mixture was about 175 degrees.  I didn't damage the bottle, but I did have to hold it wrapped with a towel.

LFMF (Learn From My Fail)!  If you get bright red liquid on your kitchen table, clean it up immediately!  It might not exactly stain, but it'll be a nice reminder for next time.

This is a messy adventure.  You might have to re-warm up the liquid as it starts to gum up on you.  Here is the chopstick I used to stir with.

The seashells turned out the worst.  The liquid was very bubbly at this point, so there was a little foam on the top.  I recall some recipes using gelatine suggest to filter off the foam.  I can see why.

Let these puppies set in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.  The candy mold gummies took the longest to set because they were so deep.

The Wilton mold gummies turned out the best.  The candy caught all the details of the mold beautifully!  The silicone gave it a matte finish too, where as the plastic candy mold trays made the gummies look glossy.

Here's a big bubble that had formed on the back that I didn't reconcile.

 

 LFMF!  Don't put the gummies on a ceramic plate!  It stuck immediately.  Afterward, the gummies went straight to my silicone mat.  It's pretty hot and humid right now, so the gummies are spending the night in the fridge.  Otherwise, I'd bet there'd be a puddle of red goo on the counter in the morning.

The gummies released from the silicone molds nicely, but not so much from the candy molds.  Recipes said you didn't have to prepare the molds in any way.  It was tough to pull out the hearts, but you can be pretty firm with the candy without damaging it.

 Cute as a button!  Really!

Matte vs. Glossy

Not sure what I'm going to do with all these!  I've already got a bit of a tummy ache from sampling them (for quality assurance, mind you).  They taste just like firm JELL-O (big surprise).  Hope my co-workers are peckish.