I have a graduation cake for Friday. I needed to make the fondant mortarboard for the cap yesterday but couldn't because my 2 year old was sick and clingy. I was going to make it tonight and add tylose to the fondant to speed things along.

BUT

tonight I was going down the front steps and my foot slid off and I rolled it and either sprained my ankle really badly or it's broken. I can't go to the ER tonight b/c hubby is gone and I have a 2 year old and a 4 month old here with me. It's swelled up so much I can't stand on it for very long.

So, I am wondering if the mmf with tylose will dry in time if I can make it tomorrow. Or should I use something else? If so, what? I am really stressing out

You'll probably need to use gumpaste. I've even added tylose to gumpaste when I needed super-duper fast drying. My understanding is that MMF doesn't dry very well even with tylose, but I've only made it once.

Can you wrap your ankle, put ice on it and elevate it?

(((Hugs)))! Sorry your day is going so badly!

I'd use gumpaste, too. I hope you can get to the ER and that your 2-year-old gets well soon!

Good luck with the cake!

I'd use either gumpaste or pastillage (pastillage is my first choice).

Hope you're feeling better soon.

Definitely gumpaste.

Elevate and Ice. Ace bandage wrap when up on it until you can get to ER. Hugs!!!!!

if none of the other great suggestions are do-able (if you've got a broken ankle and two very young kids, getting to the store might be a bit of a problem!), why not simply wrap a thin layer of MMF around a board? It wouldn't be perfect, but it would work, and you wouldn't have to make an extra trip when it seems like life is attacking you in a big, bad, hairy way.

Just a thought!

Like Leahs said, get that ankle iced and elevated and wrapped, but not too tightly.

If the top of the mortarboard isn't going to be eaten, what about using a piece of cardboard covered in either gp or fondant. BTW, a trick I learned from Irene Likokas/Adven68 is to take fondant and just dip it into the container of Wilton Gum-Tex and then knead it and use it as if you had added tylose to it. She said that works very well for her. I haven't tried it myself yet, though.

Oh, and you could also make it from chocolate or candy melts.

HTH. Let us know how your ankle is doing when you find out. Feel better.

Thanks everyone. I am laying on the couch right now, it's wrapped and iced and throbbing like crazy. When dh gets home I am going to the ER.

I think I have everything for gumpaste in the kitchen. Hubby said he'd bake the cakes and make the icing for me. Hopefully I can sit at the dining room table and get this done.

Will gumpaste dry in time if I do it tomorrow morning?

Thanks!

I think it should. I've done things at night and by the next morning it was dry. Good luck! Hope it's not broke.

Well, I'm not much of a cake expert...But I am a bit of a broken bone expert! I would take some motrin for the pain, I find it works better for bone pain. (unless you have something with codeine in it) Definitely elevate it. If you have a bone clinic in your area, I would go there instead of the ER. We have a walk in ortho clinic here. It just isn't worth the time to go to the ER. Most ERs don't cast anymore. They just wrap it and send you to a ortho. I have been to the ER many times when they have told me that it wasn't broken and it turned out to be. ERs are great for some things, broken bones aren't one of them. I have a bone disease an two of my three boys do too. Don't think that just because you can walk on it it's not broken. Throbbing is a good sign that there could be a small fracture.

Good luck! PS I didn't even get a graduation cap on my DH's grad cake this year because my 3 year old ate it while it was drying... Some days it's best just to stay in bed.

I made a mortar board cake last year with mmf (made it about 2 hours before it was delivered)...just covered a piece of foam board with the mmf...turned out great.
For the ankle...
Ice for 20 minutes and elevate.

Good Luck

I always end up doing my stuff last minute. I add gum-tex or gumpaste to the fondant. Then I set my stuff in front of a fan to dry. That seems to speed things up.

I made a mortar board cake last year with mmf (made it about 2 hours before it was delivered)...just covered a piece of foam board with the mmf...turned out great.
For the ankle...
Ice for 20 minutes and elevate.

Good Luck

Sounds like you've gotten the answer to most of your questions and I'm not sure if GP will dry in time if you do it tomorrow. Just wanted to send some good thoughts your way. Things always have a way of working themselves out and it sounds like your gonna be oka. It's also great to hear that your DH is willing to help you out!! Get something to get rid of that pain and get caking (LOL). That always makes my stinky days go better!! Get WELL!!!

So sorry about your ankle, I hope it's just sprained. If you rolled your ankle, throw out the shoes you were wearing. Your ankle will probably be weak there for a long time and it could easily roll again (made that mistake twice).

About the mortarboard, I wrapped cardboard in fondant and it worked great, no drying time! The pic is in my photos if you want to see it.

just wanted to ask how you are feeling today hope the ankle wasn't broken.

i had to do that same kind of thing with my blues clues cake...i made his tail out of foam and wrapped it with fondant...the ears needed were left to the last minute, i didn't know what to do, i was running out of the fondant i had tinted, so i cut out cardboard ears, and just covered them with the fondant i had left...worked out perfectly and no one knew! i also made sure i covered the cardboard with packing tape, to act as a barrier against the grease in the mmf.

i hope you're feeling better today! when my mom sprained her ankle, it was so bad that the doctor told her it would have been better for her if she WOULD have broken it...i commend you for being in pain and STILL trying to come through for the client!

Well, it's just severely sprained and it's a lovely shade of purple

I am getting ready to work on the mortarboard and am going to try gumpaste with tylose added. I'll stick it in front of a fan and see what happens. If all else fails, I'll go with the cardboard covered in mmf.

Thanks everyone for the advice and well wishes.

Ashlee