this never happens to me when i outline and fill, but every time i try to use glace another way, i get "dimples". when i pipe dots, i have to pipe them small and stiff so they don't collapse or dimple, when i try to pipe letters, usually i get one dimple somewhere, and now, i am using a number 3 tube to overpipe zebra stripes and i have huge dimples, actually craters, appearing as they dry.

this never happens when i outline and flood...what is the cause?

anyone know how to use glace under these circumstances and NOT get dimples?

i use toba's recipe. for the stripes, i made just a touch thicker than flood so it wouldn't run off the cookie.

i love glace, but this problem is really getting my shorts in a bunch....

diane

i should have added that i beat my glace on the slowest speed for 5-10 minutes to get rid of air bubbles...

why is my glace collapsing....groan?

I've had problems with this, too. The only way I handle it is to make sure I use a tapered, off-set spatula to smooth out the icing. Even for the smaller areas, I try to add only just enough icing that I can spread it out.

Regardless, your zebra cookies are stunning! I don't think you'll get any complaints!!!!!

when I use the glace (which I don't very often, because I'm SO impatient and it seems like it takes forever to dry but it's so beautiful!) I always tap the bowl on the counter over and over until I don't see anymore air bubbles coming up.......you'd be surprised how much air you can incorporate, especially if you sift your sugar!

susan,
do you think i could have smoothed out those lines with off-set and maintained their shape? i was afraid i would distort the stripes. do you just touch light at the top of the icing?

it is collasping because of air, or is it collapsing because there was not enough structure (i.e. outlines), or was my icing too thick/not thich enough?

i know it IS air bubbles when my dots deflate, but is this is so much bigger and linear.

should i have use a thinner icing and let it spppppppreeeeeeeead?

the perfectionist in my is having a really hard time with this

diane

I don't know the answer either (I also sometimes get dimples), but your zebra cookies are very cool!

Looks like airbubble problems to me...not too sure though...anyhow, the cookies are really striking and the dimples seem to add a positive effect

I have had the same problem. Drives me crazy, too. I once made Elmo character cookies and each one had a dimple in the nose. Frustrating. Sometimes I take a toothpick and go over the area to make sure the icing is adhered evenly to the cookie but even though it helps some, I sometimes still get the dimples.

Sorry I can't be of more help but wanted to let you know that you are not alone.

I have that problems sometimes with RI, especially with large dots of icing (like for eyes)... the only thing I can figure out is that there's a "gap" near at the very top of the cookie and the icing lines "melt" into each other at the top but not the bottom (where it touches the cookie) and then as it dries, it sinks....

I'm not sure if that's what really happens, but that's my theory at this point

i was just wondering if RI users had the same problem or if it was a glace problem only!

I have a hard time with Glace in detail work, too. I've started doing my base coat with TG and using Antonia's RI for details

I don't know the answer to your question, but I had the same problem. I made some mitten cookies and piped snowflakes onto them, and at every spot where I had branches meet, a hole/bubble/dimple developed as they dried. It's rather annoying.

sorry dont know a thing about glace.. just wanted to say that those cookies ROCK!! they are gorgeous and look perfect to me.

p.s. dont you know dimples are cute !!

ok, i am so frustrated, i am about to blow a gasket.
i have been experimenting with new designs this week and all involve piping in small areas like petals or leaves and on each one i get the sunken glace dimples.

is there really no way around this? is it just the nature of the beast?

i have done everything humanly possible to get the air bubbles out....i don't think that is the problem....i've smoothed the icing while wet and still it happens as it dries.

i have tried overfilling and underfilling...neither works.

why does this not happen on large spaces but happens almost everytime in small spaces? here are my latest dimples i am peeved at:

Marian of Sweetopia addressed this in her blog recently. It seems that there's no definitive answer, but surface tension may play a big part. The smaller the area, the more the icing wants to collapse (I think?)....

Here's a link to her blog with a couple of posts on the subject http://www.sweetopia.net/

I can definately relate as it's happened to me constantly with both glace and RI. I get even more upset when i pipe dots and want to brush them with lustre dust to look like pearls. The dots dimple or have tiny holes in them and the lustre just accentuates that.

Something weird just happened to me today with the glace. Last night i iced my ladybug cookies with red glace and allowed them to dry overnight till this afternoon. When i went to get them to detail them, i noticed that there were darker smear-like areas all over the surfaces of every cookie. It's sort of looks like the glace reacted with the fat from the cookie or something but you'd expect that from RI which reacts badly to fat, not glace. I reglazed all the cookies with red again and am praying that this does not happen again cuz this order's gotta be ready for tomorrow night!

drakegore - I actually LIKE the dimples in your flowers! It gives the petals a more realistic appearance, IMO. But I understand your frustration. I've noticed that the smaller the area, the more the likelihood of dimples. My main frustration right now is the finish of the glace getting spotted. It's subtle, but it's still there. Nothing I do seems to get rid of it alltogether. Good luck with your dimples. Your cookies are gorgeous, if it helps any.

Drakegore, your chocolate cookies with the flowers rock! I came across a great tutorial on Foodbuzz and it has saved my life. She uses a recipe from Toba Garret. http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/12/tutorial-glace-icing-and-cookie.html

thanks chefjulie for the sweetopia link. i found it comforting, lol. i think the surface tension theory makes the most sense...know just to figure out how to get around it.

i like the "full" look and don't want to have to go to paper thin icing to try and avoid craters. i wonder if building up some sort of latice structure under the fill would help...i have lotsa cookies ready to practice on so i will keep chugging away at this problem, but i wish there was a ready make solution. i am such a fuss budget that these dimples are really ticking me off....i think i must need some real problems, lol.

luvs2bake6 - i had that problem with red once, and it was when i used a candy color instead of a water based gel. it worked out all right, but it had oily looking smears, but nobody but me noticed them. i thought it was strange though because i never had issues with oils before in glace and it shouldn't have been a problem. red's just difficult any way you slice it.


thank you susan!

musings - you should take a peek at toba's books if you haven't seen them yet, they are amazing. her cookie book is my favorite.

I hear you and it's quite annoying. I have the second layer drying still and they seem to be ok so far.......

Ugh, it happened again on the second layer of red so at least i know it's not coming from the cookie itself. And, the black spots that i piped on bled as well. I can still package them and give them to the customer but i'm an soooo not happy with them. I need to stay away from ladybugs..............

i am doing black piping on white background right now (and getting my dimples even though i am trying to fill thinly, aaargh) but no bleeding.
white i dried 24 hours and i let the black icing sit for 24+ hours to darken before using.

if you're doing wet on wet dots, i guess that won't be of any help...

black and red are terrible for wet on wet work in my experience.

I didn't do wet on wet. The red was completely dry before i added black dots. It looks terrible and i think i'm going to have to lower the price tremendously.

I have that problem too, especially on really small areas like dots... I use RI (a modified version of Antonia74's recipe).

I sure hope one of us figures out a way around it!

I had to really search to find thisforum again - I posted an answer on another forum. I hope it helps I have not yet tried it but the info does come from a master.

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-6735067-.html#6735067