Has anyone tried the royal icing ornaments seen on a cake challenge on food network? I think it was Michelle that piped royal icing on a balloon and let it dry then deflated it and removed leaving a very beautiful ornament. I am trying this but with a bigger balloon. Not sure how long to let it dry. Interested if anyone has successfully tried this.
I saw the same show and wanted to try it also .... Let me know how it goes.Plz
I piped two of them in case the first one popped, lol.
did you grease the balloon first? just wondering if that would help it release easier.
No I thought grease would breakdown the icing. I did dust the balloon with luster dust.
Well here is the results. The first one totally blew up when i let the air out of the balloon. The royal icing shattered to pieces when the balloon pulled away and it stuck. The second one my DH suggested taking it into the garage where it is cold and the balloon will shrink and pull away. So I tried that on the second one and everything was going really great and I was super excited. And instead of being patient i started poking at the balloon in some of the stuck spots. Which started to work until i hit the wrong spot and then kablooey it completely broke apart as well. I think if I could just figure out what to cover the balloon with so it will release it would really work. So going to do some internet searching and will report back if I find something. 
Sweetcakes- am I incorrect in thinking that shortening will breakdown royal icing? If not I am sure that would work.
Well I couldn't wait so I am trying the shortening. We will see how it works Going to let it sit in the house for about an hour then take it to the garage in the cold and see if it releases.
oooo melted chocolate would be awesome!!
I let it sit for several hours and no luck. You were right the grease made the inside still soft even though the outside is dry. So trying something new. covered the balloon with saran wrap and piped on top of it. So will let it sit until tomorrow and see how it does.
Update.
1) used a smaller balloon. A little bigger than an orange. (the first one was a 9" party balloon).
2) Wrapped the balloon in saran wrap for release.
3) Saved 1/2 of it this time! I count that as a bit of success, lol!
The saran wrap stuck in some places but not all over and when i deflated the balloon it helped hold everything in place. I ended up with two large pieces that I thought I could glue together with RI. That is until i was moving my snowflakes and dropped one right on top of it 
. Of course it broke to complete pieces.
Soooo.....Try number three 
I am a persistent person, but I just KNOW there has to be a way to do this.
I have to go to the cake supply store today and will talk the woman who taught my classes and see if she can recommend anything.
KHalstead- Would I coat the balloon with grease for the chocolate?
Wish me luck!
they had a show on tlc last night. and a lady was making flowers with chocolates and she was using ballons. but she said that you have to grease them 2st.
hope this helps. i would love to see how these turn out.
tiffany
saving the post. if you get this to work, i would love to know how. very fun idea.
I've tried this but with a mix of gumpaste and RI. Result can be seen here
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1515156
The cake maybe a bot quirky but I still love it! And i put a lot of work into it....
This is how I did:
I used water ballons - slightly smaller than usual ballons - easier to make them completely round.
Covered the ballon with PS
Attached gumpaste leaves, stars and such and glued them together with RI.
Let dry over night
Inflated teh ballon as slowly as you can - I used the smalles nail I could find and made a tiny hole close to the knot so teh air released slooowly - and volia!
Sorry for all spelling mistakes I have a 2,5 yo sleeping on my arm
KHalstead- Would I coat the balloon with grease for the chocolate?
Wish me luck!
I've never done it, but if it were me....I wouldn't grease the balloon...I would pipe the chocolate directy on (make sure it's not TOO hot or it could pop it) and then pop that puppy in the freezer and let it get good and hard and I would suspect the balloon should pop out pretty easily. Might not be a bad idea to pipe a couple layers though to ensure it is strong! Good luck!!
Gorgeous cake! Love the ornaments. Ok went to my teacher Ms. B and she suggested that I put piping gel in with my royal icing. this would help to release it. So going to give it another whirl. Will let you know how it turns out.
I just had an idea! I got some plain matte finished colored Christmas ball ornaments and used a silver medium point sharpie to write my kids name - really loopy and scrolly all over the balls. When you first look at them, they just look like ornaments with silver scrolls on them until you look close and see that it's actually 'Courtney' written all over the balls. I bet you could do this same thing with the chocolate or royal icing on the balloon. Maybe I'll give it a try. It if works out, I'll post pictures.
OP: your 1st pic shows that you are not piping enough to make these ornaments hold together. The piping needs to be really close. No big holes - that weakens it.
Choco or gp should work well but royal will too if it is piped close together - lots of lines and allowed to dry overnight at least.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%