Looking For A Good Kit For Fondant Flowers...
Decorating By MariaK38 Updated 25 Oct 2010 , 11:00am by MariaK38
... for a beginner. I'd like to make some different types fondant flowers for the tops of my cupcakes and I really need lots of instruction. the only thing I've seen so far is the Wilton kit, and I'm not too crazy about alot of their products.
Can you pros recommend a good kit for me?
Thanks!
Actually, I think the Wilton kit is a great starter. I don't follow the directions to the T but apply some of their techniques with what I've learned elsewhere. And I use the cutters that came with it all the time. I feel like I've got way more than my money's worth from it.
I like the Wilton flower kit too. I've only made a few flowers with it, but the instructions are easy to follow. I only wish they'd update the photos in it. The inside cover of the book says it's copyright is 1984, and I don't think they've updated the book since! The first time I looked through the book I had a good time laughing at the gaudy '80's style cakes in it. Yeesh!
I hardly use the Wilton cutters - they just sit in a drawer unused
I buy my cutters online and in specialty stores, and all of them are metal not plastic.
I think Wilton is the only "kit" around. Everything else I've seen is sold a la carte.
Theresa
I have several round tin kits with various generic blossom shapes, that I use for simple fondant flowers.
But to clarify, I use specialist metal cutters which come in flower components (eg petal cutter, orchid throat cutter, sepal, calyx), which I then cut, ball, cut, mould etc, then assemble into gumpaste flowers (not fondant).
I wasn't clear in my earlier post - sorry!
The Wilton kit is a great starter kit for beginners. It gave me an easy way into what seemed an intimidating and complicated process. Once I made a few flowers and saw how easy it really was to make something so beautiful, I was hooked.
That's when I started feeling the limitations of the kit and started buying specific cutters like evoir mentions. I also discovered that some of the tools in the kit really weren't that good and have replaced them with better quality tools along the way. The ball tool, for instance is plastic with a seam in it! I now have one with a seamless metal ball that glides over the gumpaste like silk.
But my point is that this metal ball tool cost me more than the whole Wilton kit did. So, buy the kit to get your feet wet. Then grow from there. I still use many of the cutters for fantasy flowers and different things. And many of the tools are great for working fondant figures and other things. So it was far from money wasted.
While I can now make a branch of bleeding hearts that you couldn't tell from a real one with my fancy new cutters, I also had great results with cutters from the Wilton kit on all of these cakes...
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1756829
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1684029
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1363829
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1345300
So, buy the kit to get your feet wet. Then grow from there. I still use many of the cutters for fantasy flowers and different things. And many of the tools are great for working fondant figures and other things. So it was far from money wasted.
Ditto...
@ artscallion: Nice cakes!
Just as a quick note: you can sand down those silly seams on plastic balling tools using a fine emery (nail) board.
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