will adding meringue powder to mmf make it dry faster or harder?
i'd like to make a fondant loop bow...last time i tried the loops were too soft.
what is the effect of mp on mmf?

I've been wondering the same thing but I don't want to ruin a whole batch of MMF to find out either. Let us know if you work up the guts to do it.

Hey guys - this past weekend I needed to harden up my MMF and I added some gumpaste (premade gumpaste that I bought - I've never made it myself before) and that worked. I had some Tylose powder but I had no idea how much to add. I've never used mereingue powder, except for royal, so I'm not sure, but I wasn't aware that it sped up the drying process. I had made some ropes with straight MMF and some with the gumpaste/MMF mixture and the one with gumpaste definitely hardened up more in a shorter period of time.

i tried it last night. the loops are still drying.
last time without the meruinge powder it took about a week for the loops to dry. then again those loops were constantly disturbed...my mother decided to take them off the dowel they were drying on for some reason and i had to put them back on.
it's been about 24 hours now and these new loops are drying pretty well...some are still a little floppy but most are stiff if not completely dry.
i added about 1/2 a teaspoon of meruinge powder to the tennisball sized lump of fondant. the consistancy got a little stickier, but a bit of powdered sugar fixed that.
Pyxxydust--thank you for the gumpaste tip. i'll be sure to try it when i start playing with gumpaste
i've also heard that powdered fixodent can help the fondant harden. can't remember off the top of my head who i got that tip from. but i'm really lazy and don't want to go out just to buy one thing...so i'm experimenting a little with the stuff i already have

Yep, thats what I was gonna say, the fixodent trick. I havent tried it but I hear it works great.

when I make my mmf, to soften it before working I toss it into the micro wave and roll it out with butter and not only does it save me time kneading and warming it it also makes it a bit firmer as soon as it cools and I get nice shiny firm bows within 24 hours even on humid summer days. Using this method I have never had problems with my fondant not drying/being too soft

if you microwave your mmf only use 2-3 seconds for about 3 cups of mmf it gets H-O-T fast!