Help! Can Someone Give Me Advice For Making A Large Diamond Shaped Fondant Topper For A Humid Climate?
Decorating By curryscakes Updated 13 Nov 2016 , 10:44pm by curryscakes
I'm still very much a rookie having only sold a handful of cakes. I
live in North Houston and need some advice on making figurines for cake
toppers suitable for Texas humidity.
1) For humid climates do you recommend pure gum paste, fondant/gum paste
mix or a lesser blend for figurines? 2) Does your advice change for
rice krispy molded vs smaller solid fondant/gum paste figures? 3) Have you ever modified
marshmallow fondant with gum paste or tylose for figurine work with any
success? If so does it harden well? 4) Any advice for making a 4" rhinestone shape & molding sharp facets (image of character I'm trying to recreate below)?
Background: I have to make a Shopkins themed bday cake for Nov 12. The
customer would like the topper to be her child's favorite character
(picture attached). The finished cake will be a tiered with a 12" square
base, 8" round and the the figurine topper at about 4". I planned to
use a thick wire as my central support (and as an anchor to the cake).
Cover it with rice Krispy to mold into the general shape and then cover
with fondant (or mixture you recommend?).
TIA!
Honestly you may be better off buying a glass diamond for the topper and making your cake topper around that. I did that in this picture : http://www.sweettierscakery.com/cakes?lightbox=image1ksk . It looks very similar to your shopkins model.
For humid climates, I would recommend straight gumpaste for your work. Mixes tend to dry slow to begin with but the added benefit is that you get to work with them a bit longer. When I make characters, I use a 50/50 mix so the fondant/gumpaste remains pliable and smooth. I use straight gumpaste for plaques and things that need to be structurally stonger.
Frank
I like frank's idea and frank i like your cake/cake picture that uses the giant gem -- also maybe to increase the sparkle sparkle use a mirror base perhaps -- but cutting that thing and getting the angles to look good is certainly possible but quite daunting --
could be done easier by not cutting much detail just the general shape and just over piping the angles or impressing them into fondant
Thanks Frank for all the advice! Unfortunately I has to be edible, so
glass is not an option! That's a great idea though! I guess I'll just
have to do my best trying to carve facets out of a thick layer of fondant.
Thanks for the suggestion of piping or impressing the fondant to achieve the "look" of facets. I'm starting my practice run today, so we shall see how this goes...I'm terrified because I'm a perfectionist!
I would use rice krispie treats but take them for a whirl in the food processor first -- I use 5 cups cereal to a bag of marshmallows (I usually get the 16 oz bag) a quarter cup butter and some vanilla -- 'melt' the marshmallows -- take your time and let them melt --
so you need to find a bowl a little bigger than the right size you want for the top -- and pack it in there while it's hot with buttered hands -- keep some soft butter handy throughout -- keeping your creation a tad bigger everywhere then after 8-10hours set up time just carve it out and set it free --
it is very important to let the original rice krispie mixture cure like overnight so it slices nice -- fwiw I never fridge mine
you might want to build it around a nice dowel so you can attach it down into the cake board below-- please let me know how it goes whatever method you employ
best to you
Quote by @-K8memphis on 22 minutes ago
I would use rice krispie treats but take them for a whirl in the food processor first -- I use 5 cups cereal to a bag of marshmallows (I usually get the 16 oz bag) a quarter cup butter and some vanilla -- 'melt' the marshmallows -- take your time and let them melt --
so you need to find a bowl a little bigger than the right size you want for the top -- and pack it in there while it's hot with buttered hands -- keep some soft butter handy throughout -- keeping your creation a tad bigger everywhere then after 8-10hours set up time just carve it out and set it free --
it is very important to let the original rice krispie mixture cure like overnight so it slices nice -- fwiw I never fridge mine
Thanks for the tips!!! I'll be sure to blend the Rice Krispies. I've read that in other places as well! I'm definitely using a dowel for support!
and i would cover in candy clay because if you use fondant -- one wrong move and you've got to do a not very easy repair job if it can even be repaired -- with candy clay -- the warmth of your hand will erase booboos and you can redo/proceed
[postimage id="5665" thumb="900"]I was able to roll out the fondant and coat the RK mold without much trouble on my practice run, BUT I had issues with the dowel slipping on the shape despite coating it with melted marshmallows and heavily compacting the food-processed RK treats. I used a funnel to achieve the gem shape and then impressed the facets like you suggested. I ended up not using a 4" gem and made a smaller one (using a small funnel) entirely out of molding MMF, and I placed it on what looks like a ring box that I made out of fondant covered RKT. Thanks for all your help! Great suggestions!
you did a great job! looks fantastic and I'm sure the recipient was ecstatic --
an idea for next time on sticking the dowel (like "sticking the landing" in gymnastics - ha!) anyway melted chocolate might be an option
i just love it --
Thank you k8memphis!!! I haven't delved into chocolate yet...but that and isomalt are both things I want to try soon!
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