hi all, i just got a cake order for friday (it's tuesday!) for a "present" cake. i don't use fondant much and actually don't have any on hand. i need to make a fondant bow for the top and was wondering what the best fondant to use is? i made one (in my photos) last year with wilton fondant and after a day is just didn't seem to harden much and didn't really want to stand up for long once i put the bow together. taste doesn't matter since it will be removed before eating, but what will dry nice and stiff? and how long will it take to dry? i only have a few days to get it done so help is much appreciated. thanks.
You might try putting gumpaste in with your fondant to make it stiffen up faster. Use about 50/50. Put some tissue/paper towel scraps in the loops overnight to let them dry.
If it's not going to be eaten, you could use the Wilton fondant. It's pretty easy/good for molding. Try rolling the bow loops thinner if your really pressed for time.
First thing I noticed looking at the bow in your photos was that the ribbon is a little thick. If you can roll it out thinner (but not too thin.. an 1/8th of an inch is good) it will dry quicker.. also if you could make it from gumpaste it will dry even faster. Even the Wilton gumpaste mix isn't tooooooooo bad in a pinch if you can't find all of the ingredients to make your own. If you have a pasta maker you can use it to roll out your gumpaste nice and thin and uniform.. if not then your rolling pin will do the trick.. it just takes more patience to get it all even.
Also.. when I dried my gumpaste loops for a bow, I hung them on a dowel.. then slipped them off the dowel when they were dry.. that way they were all the same sized loop.. just another way to do it with out the tissue paper. 
The two bows in my photos I did with gumpaste (I bought the wilton premade stuff for ease of use the first time) And I was able to roll, cut, form, and assemble my bow all in about 4-5 hours. It worked well and with just doing loops I didn't have to worry about the gumpaste drying out as I was only rolling a little out at a time anyways.
HTH
I get my Tylose powder at a local cake supply store. I don't think Michael's or A C Moore carries it . It can also be ordered online at nick Lodge's site.
http://www.internationalsugarart.com/cgi-bin/store/shop.cgi?ud=Rlo0TFlUOVg0SCUlJSUlJTExNzk4ODMwNDQA&storeid=1&sortby=categories&searchtext=tylose%20powder&cols=1&c=search.htm&&scount=61
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