Hey All,

I am in the middle of my first ever fondant covered cake, I liked it, went fast, will post pix later, I tried to make a border with some clay molds I have, kindof a rope border, didnt like it, it wouldnt come out even with lots of cornstarch. Question, I would like to use a clay gun, probly get one of those cheap green thingies, do I cornstarch or grease the inside of the gun to keep it from sticking? Any thoughts appreciated.

Heather

I used mine only twice. The first time it was a total disaster. The 2nd time I made sure my MMF was very soft, kneaded well with crisco. Then I put it through the clay gun and had no problems. I personally still prefer to do a rope border by hand...just roll and roll until you get the length you want, then twist the two ropes together. My cake was a very large 14" heart so I did it in 2 pieces and just put flowers where they connected. Hope that helps.

I actually get much better results from a Play-Doh Fun Factory that I found in the kid's toy aisle at Wal-Mart

Rae

Hey there - I'm also in the middle of doing some rope borders for a cake this Saturday. I find that rolling by hand makes it too uneven, but perhaps we're own worst critic! I learned that warming your fondant up a bit (just a few seconds in the microwave - 5 seconds worked for me) to make it nice and pliable will help it through the clay gun. I have one of the silver ones and the first time I used it - it was SOOOO hard to push the fondant through! Now I've learned that it has to be the right consistency to make it work. Someone told me yesterday that they use a Q tip to put shortening on the inside of the clay gun to help the fondant go through. I haven't tried that yet, but you may want to give that a shot!
Good luck!

After trial and error I made it work, yes it was hard to push through the green clay gun thingy, I heated the MMF, IN THE GUN in the micro for 3 seconds at a time and then it was perfect, it came out looking dry if I didnt, also it did not hold its shape well with the more involved (clvoer, etc) I wound up doing a simple rope. More when I figure out what is wrong with my camera upload.

Heather

I was reading on some other posts that the Play Doh toys work great for making ropes, etc! I never would have thought of it! Now I can't wait to go to the store to check out all the cool stuff! So maybe that will be an easier way to make ropes! Who wudda thought?!