hi,
i am making a cake with a gum paste shoe and handbag the bag isnt a problem but the shoe is causing me major problems. i had to make my black sugarpaste into gum paste so i added 1/4 of a teaspoon of gum ?? (sorry i cant spell it) to 250g as per instructions, i then left it the 24 hours it need to do it job and i have cut of all my pieces and put the shoe togather and it looks fab but its not setting its still VERY soft and the cake is due to be delivered tomorrow morning i just dont know what to do. is there any kind of spray that can harden it up in some way. im majorly running out of time.

thanx in advance
Helen

Ah! i wish someone could come to yr rescue. i think you left it too late. i normally do a shoe a week or two earlier. try keeping a fan in front of it. that may make it dry. not sure whether 1/4 tsp of gumtragacanth is enough for 250fondant.

I apologize I can't offer any assistance to help make it harden faster. However, I can speak from experience that whenever I have had to make a dark color gumpaste it seems to take almost twice as long to dry.

Is it humid in your area? If so, I know that will also add to the drying time.

Good luck!

You should have made it out of gumpaste. There's still time. Grab some gumpaste and remake it then pop it into your oven and leave over night with just the interior oven light on or if it's a gas oven, let the pilot light do the job. Just that little amount of heat over night will result in a nice dry shoe. You can try this on your already made shoe but if it's that soft I don't hold out any hope that it will be hard in the morning. The only thing I can think of is to insert a wooden skewer up through the heel to support it and don't put it on until the last minute. Some have had success using fondant with Gum Tragicanth but I haven't. It's best to use gumpaste because the person will probably be saving the shoe and purse and not eating it anyway so why not make it with the strongest material available.

thanx for you advice everyone i can only buy white gumpaste and i want the shoes black which is why i tried to do my own. the weather is constantly changing at min and yes theres abit of moiture in the air x after reading ur replie i went to my cake decortaing shoe and she advised mexican paste and to re do them so ive re done the first one and waiting for it to dry so i can get on with the next one. i will probably be up late tonight but i know it will be worth it when the customer opens the box tomorrow and says WOW
thank you again and in future i will make things a week in advance like the piglet i need to make for next week im off to do now x

helen