Joshua John Russell is known for his innovative creations, and here he shares his instructions for making a burlap textured fondant bow. Perfect for adding a rustic touch of countryside charm to any cake design, this bow is just a sneak peek at one of the many unique designs Joshua’s classes offer.

From the Fashion Caker, Joshua John Russell:

Recently a friend of mine asked if I would create a cake for a baby shower to welcome a sweet little baby boy named Hudson.  Great name!  The best part was that the baby shower was to be super chic and adult.  And by that I mean….no diaper games! Ha.

Burlap it is!  And oddly enough, I came across burlap bow tie in my fashion research, some time ago, and fell in love!!  I knew at some point I would be making this out of sugar.  This cake is the perfect opportunity!

The only way I could think to get a good textured look though was to pipe!  Sounds like a ton of piping.  Actually it wasn’t so bad.

Tools and Materials

Fondant, antique white
Cocoa powder
Piping bag
Piping tip, round #2
Tylose powder
Brown royal icing

First I had to make my burlap colors. I decided to use antique white Fondarific and tint it using cocoa powder.  I like to use cocoa when making brown colors because the less food coloring I can use, the better.

Once I had my color, I added some tylose to a bit to make the bow.  This way the bow will dry firm and it will keep it’s shape.

I have shown the bow process before in my Cake Spade post.  This time however, I made the two pieces separately because I wanted the loops to point straight out and look like a bow tie.

After the pieces were cut and allowed to set for a bit (about an hour), I used a number 2 tip and some brown royal to pipe a basket weave design.

I started with a single line down the side.

And alternating lines across….and so on and so forth until the whole thing was covered.

That little nugget above the big one was the practice bow.  It kind of looks like Shredded Wheat Cereal!

Now I let the bow dry over night.

[Repeat the piping on the ribbon around the cake.]