What's the best way to get a woodgrain effect on BC or fondant?
Would it be with an impression mat or buy painting it on?

I saw this on food network challenge, the guy painted brown on the fondant and waited til it was almost dry then he wiped it off. It was a great wood look.

Now, I am telling you this by memory, so I could be missing something. It is worth a try on a little piece of fondant.

I just use a stiff brush and mix brown food color with vodka. The brush marks leave a wood grain appearance and you can swirl it to make it look there's a knot in the wood.

Do you start w/ brown fondant? I may be attempting it next month on my dd's cake. But I may chicken out & get a mat

I was planning an attempt at this on my dad's cake. I plan to make chocolate fondant, but will that be too dark to show the food coloring?

hi, i litteraly just did a wood grain board, i divided y fondant up into drk brown, brown, light brown and caramel then kneeded it all together to make a marbled effect then rolled it out applied it then got a ruller and made indentations as i wanted it to look like floor boards i then got a sharp knife and divided each section into individual boards, then got a pipping tip and made nail marks in the end of each 'board' worked awesome!!

I am new here, so I do not know the rules; that is, if I am allowed to tell you where I got my wire brush that I do wood graining with. It works wonders! Just edge into the fondant. When dry, use a tint of food coloring and vodka/gin and brush over gently and sparingly with a mixture of colors to form a nice brown of choice. Then, wipe gently and carefully with a clean cotton ball or tissue to pick up the excess. The liquid mixture goes into the cracks/edgings and makes a nice, woodgrained effect. Some did an article for my web site, but, again, I do not know if I can mention that. A fan brush was used to "move" the food coloring vodka/mixture. Very nice effect on fondant.

I've seen rolling pins that have a woodgrain embossed into them so that when you roll your fondant, it imprints the woodgrain straight onto it.

Is there something I can use other than Gin/vodka? I am sure my parents would freak out if I used alcohol on their cake, even if they didn't taste it. They are totally alcohol free and opposed to its use.

I've read that you can also use use a pure lemon extract instead. Alcohol though is the key, you need it to evaporate quickly.
Try the lemon extract, that may suit your needs better.

I use a combination of brown and yellow gel colors thinned with vodka. Then I've brushed on fondant with a brush and use an actual wood graining tool ($6.00 at Home Depot) to go up and down the grain -- gives great graining and knotting as well!

What's a woodgraining tool? Is it a roller? A brush? Where do I find it within the nightmare maze that is home depot?

A woodgraining tool is a brown plastic handle with a yellowish half-moon shaped piece on the end of it with raised markings. This gives you your woodgrain affect. You can find it in the stain aisle of Home Depot or Lowes. It's made of a rubbery plastic so you get a good impression.

Welllll... I guess I'll add home depot to my to-do list for today.
Thanks!

Mine is made by Warner. It's called a Warner graining tool. I got the one called "veteador" which means vein graining. I guess they have others, like for heart graining, etc. I just wanted a generic pattern.

Sorry I'm just getting back to this thread. My daughter is having a friend sleep over and they are being totally crazy. It's been fun but extremely rough at the same time. I should mention my DH couldn't hang and left me here alone with them. So I have 5 kids in the house right now.

Thanks for all the wonderful information about how to get this effect! I want to make a grooms cake for my mom and dad's 40th anniversary.
This will really help punch it up to another level.
Thanks everyone!

Is this like the wood graining tool you use? http://paintinthetown.bizland.com/store/media/rockers_small.jpg I've always wondered how to use it on fondant b/c they "smear" it on the surface when the medium is paint or stain & you would just tear the fondant.