Terrified!!!

Decorating By hnogden Updated 12 May 2007 , 5:59pm by NewbeeBaker

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hnogden Posted 11 May 2007 , 3:53pm
post #1 of 33

Ok so here is the thing. I am frozen in fear right this minute. I have made a royal icing crown for my DH work. This is the third one I have made. They all shatter into a gazillion peices when I try to unmold them. icon_cry.gificon_cry.gificon_cry.gif I am sitting here staring at this thing petrified to unmold it. It has been 4 days since I started this crown debacle and if this one breaks I think I'm gonna go to walmart to buy a cake.
Does anyone have any suggestions.
There are dinosaures doing the two step in my stomach and my hands are shaking. UGH. icon_cry.gif

32 replies
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Hippiemama Posted 11 May 2007 , 4:09pm
post #2 of 33

Take a deep breath. You can do it!

Sorry no real advice since I haven't made one before.

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hnogden Posted 11 May 2007 , 4:11pm
post #3 of 33

Thanks. I always try something new for these cakes and sometimes I think I bite off more than I can chew. If this one survives I will post a pic of it.

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projectqueen Posted 11 May 2007 , 4:15pm
post #4 of 33

Oh, I feel your pain icon_cry.gif

I made a cake with a tiara and I made it twice in royal icing. So beautiful, so delicate...then...one piece started breaking, then another...

I got so frustrated after it broke the second time that I made a batch of gumpaste and redid the whole thing in gumpaste, "gluing" the pieces together with sugar glue as I went along. It ended up working, was MUCH sturdier than the royal icing one, although maybe not quite a delicate looking.

I hope your royal tiara works and stays together. But if it doesn't cooperate, you could try the gumpaste. It dried very quickly.

I'll be holding my breath for you...good luck....keep us posted...

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revco Posted 11 May 2007 , 4:20pm
post #5 of 33

Wow! Very ambitious. I guess that is how we learn. Good luck and hope all turns out well. I find that sometimes the "disasters" you end up getting a pretty cool product with some creativity i.e. the gumpaste fix that was posted earlier.

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lynda-bob Posted 11 May 2007 , 4:22pm
post #6 of 33

I've never made a royal icing tiara, but I made a couple of flamenco fans out of royal icing. Yep they broke and had to be repaired. icon_rolleyes.gif I've always wanted to try and make a tiara but haven't yet. I was thinking though, about making one out of gumpaste like projectqueen said. But I thought about making it like a crown shape first and then cutting away a design inside with an exacto knife, then letting it dry over the cannister or whatever round thing to hold the shape while it's drying. icon_confused.gif I gotta try both, I guess... Hope you get it solved though. Just remember to take a little break and breathe deep icon_biggrin.gif Let us know how it went, ok?

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KoryAK Posted 11 May 2007 , 5:18pm
post #7 of 33

Go slow and breathe smoothly!!! No shaking hands! And for next time... what type of royal are you using? Real whites are going to give you the strongest and you can add cream of tartar or tylose to make it dry faster and harder.

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hnogden Posted 11 May 2007 , 6:25pm
post #8 of 33

WHY WHY WHY!!!!!!!!! icon_cry.gificon_cry.gificon_cry.gif

Is it my design???

Is it my skill (or lack thereof)?????
LL
LL

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lynda-bob Posted 11 May 2007 , 6:29pm
post #9 of 33

Awww! I'm so sorry. It looked good, too. Maybe if you added more connecting points. Like where there are large empty spaces, you could just add one more line to have it connect to the other parts? Don't give up thumbs_up.gif

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hnogden Posted 11 May 2007 , 6:32pm
post #10 of 33
Quote:
Originally Posted by KoryAK

Go slow and breathe smoothly!!! No shaking hands! And for next time... what type of royal are you using? Real whites are going to give you the strongest and you can add cream of tartar or tylose to make it dry faster and harder.



I do use real whites and next time I will use cream of tartar. Didnt think of that this time. Gonna take a break for a while and try yet one more time.!

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dolfin Posted 11 May 2007 , 6:36pm
post #11 of 33

can you make it in 2 pieces then glue together once you have it set on cake?

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sweeteecakes Posted 11 May 2007 , 6:39pm
post #12 of 33

Not sure it this will help any but there are instructions following the tutorial on how to make a royal icing tiara

http://cakecentral.com/article113-How-To-Make-A-Royal-Icing-Tiara.html

HTH

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mgdqueen Posted 11 May 2007 , 6:43pm
post #13 of 33

Is your RI nice and stiff? I agree with having a few more connectors too. I'm by no means an expert, and mine was smaller than yours, but there was no breaking it unless you literally smashed it to bits, it was so hard! My lines were much closer together though.

That is SUCH a great design! I hope it works out for you!

Edited to ask-does the middle come off in one piece? It looks like it would because there is more detail. If you try to take that piece off and it breaks, I'd say it's your RI. If it's stable, it's a design flaw on the side pieces.

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hazelina82 Posted 11 May 2007 , 6:46pm
post #14 of 33

The small one I made on my cinderella carriage broke in 3 pieces and I used royal icing to glue it together. I just took it really slow and tried not to panic like I usually do. I even followed the directions from cc and went over the design twice with royal icing. Your crown design is gorgeous! Breathe. My friend once told me: There's a solution for everything except death.

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hnogden Posted 11 May 2007 , 7:04pm
post #15 of 33

Edited to ask-does the middle come off in one piece? It looks like it would because there is more detail. If you try to take that piece off and it breaks, I'd say it's your RI. If it's stable, it's a design flaw on the side pieces.[/quote]

The middle and the other side came off great. I think I am gonna just do the other side seperatly and fix it on the cake when it is time to put it together. After this I dont think I will attempt anything like this again.

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Momkiksbutt Posted 11 May 2007 , 7:10pm
post #16 of 33

I'd try everything everyone else said here, and maybe one more further. Try not making it quite so high, and maybe more solid points between where you have your emblem and jewels. Even out the weight so to speak. Also it's very important to always use cream of tartar in your RI.

One more thing, instead of coloring your icing, which, depending on what type of colorant you used, may change the consistancy of your RI, stick with white. Then after your crown is completely dry, dust it with some gold mixed with yellow or just straight gold dust.

The main thing is to make sure that you give your crown some really solid structure points.

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SusieQ1083 Posted 11 May 2007 , 7:11pm
post #17 of 33

Here's a suggestion, although I am not sure if it will work. Can you grease your parchment paper with anything? This means you will have to make your tiara close to the bottom of the canister. I don't know if the grease (crisco, pam, etc.) will affect the royal icing though. I made a tiara once too, and let it dry a couple of days. Instead of having a problem pulling it off the parchment, mine just dried, slid down, and rested on the table until I was ready to use it. I guess I got off easy for my first tiara.

hnogden, it's unfortunate that you are having so much trouble because your tiara is BEAUTIFUL!

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revel Posted 11 May 2007 , 7:22pm
post #18 of 33

Did you use double the thickness of wax paper? These really helps! It makes it alittle sturdier when removing from your canister.

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SCS Posted 11 May 2007 , 7:25pm
post #19 of 33

I haven't actually made a tiara, but I have done a few run outs. This advise is probably not going to help you at the moment, but I have always been told to leave the icing to dry for about 2 days. I know you haven't got two days, but it might help in the future?

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dl5crew Posted 11 May 2007 , 7:30pm
post #20 of 33

I know how you feel about the tiara breaking. I made four, they all broke. So I went to the dollar srore & bought one to put on the cake. The little girl LOVED it. She took it off the cake & plopped it on her head... icing & all.

susieQ1083: I think grease of anykind will breakdown the royal icing.

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hnogden Posted 11 May 2007 , 7:49pm
post #21 of 33

thank you all for your wonderful suggestions. I know for a fact the next time I do one of these I will use all your tips and tricks. For now just waiting for my cakes to cool and desperatly trying not to eat the scraps.

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BJ Posted 11 May 2007 , 7:52pm
post #22 of 33

Do NOT - I repeat - Do NOT use crisco. icon_surprised.gif Grease breaks down royal icing. Your best bet is to do it in sections. Good luck thumbs_up.gif

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Omicake Posted 11 May 2007 , 7:53pm
post #23 of 33

Just to wish you luck! I'm sure the other half will come out intact.

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beachcakes Posted 11 May 2007 , 7:53pm
post #24 of 33

I'm sorry you're having such a hard time!
I"ve never made a tiara, but i never have luck with waxed paper. Plastic wrap seems to work better for me.

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MissRobin Posted 11 May 2007 , 8:12pm
post #25 of 33

Try parchment paper and try using a bigger tip, not a whole lot bigger, but it might make your lines stronger. I did one (in my pics) and it took several tries, don't give up you can do it. thumbs_up.gif

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Salpi Posted 11 May 2007 , 8:28pm
post #26 of 33

Forget about Royal Icing. In my opinion doing it with gumpaste is a better bet since it is easier to make, much stronger than RI, and you can keep it as a decoration for as long as you want. (I have made two tiaras with gumpaste and they worked out beautifully with any problems).

Good luck on whatever you decide to do.

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mmgiles Posted 11 May 2007 , 8:31pm
post #27 of 33

I have never made a tiara but from looking at the picture can I ask how you are trying to take the tiara off of the canister? Are you pulling the canister up and out of the tiara, or are you pulling on the tiara or waxpaper to pull away from the canister? Can you get the canister out without the tiara breaking? It seems like maybe it would be easier if you only used the curve to form the tiara and the sides didnt go so far. But since your design doesnt allow that, maybe if you lift up on the canister instead of pulling the wax paper away. But since I dont know what I'm talking about, maybe you already tried that.

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BrandisBaked Posted 11 May 2007 , 8:38pm
post #28 of 33

Have you tried adding glycerin or corn syrup to your icing? I believe it gives it a little more flexibility - since that's what they do for stringwork. But I've never tried it, so I can't say for sure... that was just the first thing that came to mind.

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hnogden Posted 11 May 2007 , 11:08pm
post #29 of 33

HE KILLED IT!!! icon_cry.gif I cant believe he KILLED it icon_cry.gificon_cry.gif My DH came home and set a bag down right on top of the crown. I had it all fixed and done and waiting to go on the cake. HE KILLED IT!!!!
He feels just as bad as I do, but he is sleeping on the couch tonight.

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lynda-bob Posted 12 May 2007 , 1:58pm
post #30 of 33

OMG! icon_cry.gif So sorry! I've had my kids and BIL stick their hands into my cake, before. At least that's semi-repairable, though... Do you have a plan?

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