I looked this up yesterday. Here's a link to the tutorial:
http://www.cakecentral.com/article17-How-to-Make-a-Fondant-Loop-Bow.html
You just need to take some tissue or paper and place it in the loop until it dries.
Here are two more tutorials:
http://dianessweettreats.com/loopybow
http://www.cakeboss.com/FondantBowTutorial.aspx
I just tried one of these for the first time (see baby shower cake in my pix for results). It came out ok, but I called it alot of names before I finished. I used and liked the tutorial above, but I have the following suggestions/comments.
1. use a combination of gumpaste and fondant. I used fondant only and the loops crumbled easily. Adding some gumpaste will make it stronger.
2. putting it in the bowl works well, but I also had to stuff the loops with paper while they dried as I did not have a clean drying rod available like they used.
3. you need some really strong "glue" to put the loops together. My bow was fine in the bowl, but the icing/glue broke when I took it out. I finally used a ball of gumpaste/fondant that was still soft and stuck the dried loops into that.
I also suggest using gumpaste, it'll help dry quicker if nothing else. My fondant ones weren't dry enough after 48 hours. I dried mine on their sides to hold their shape, and that worked ALOT better for me than draping them over a rod, but that meant that I had to have the fondant a little thicker, and thus the longer drying time. And yeah, make sure you give your glue enough time to dry. That'll take awhile too. I also used corn husks to texturize my bow, looked really neat, like raffia.
I hung mine on a piece of wax paper covered PVC plumbing pipe to dry, then slid them off and kep them standing on edge until I assembled the bow. MUCH easier than using the tissue to hold it's shape. (I feel like it was a 2" PVC pipe so I got nice rounded ends)
Just wanted to thank everyone. As a newbie and growing so frustrated over mistakes it's great to have a place to learn where everyone is so terrific with responses and help. I was just about to attempt a loop bow and I'm so glad I checked in here first!
Stacie
I have made my bow loops both ways: 1. Drying on a rod and 2. drying on the sides. Both techniques worked well. The only problem I had with drying them on a rod is that you have to find a place for them to dry on the rod(I have small children). When you dry your loop on the sides all you have to do is place them on a sheet cake board (I cover mine with wax paper so they don't stick) and them put the whole board into a cake box. For me it is easier to find a place to put a box. When you dry your loops on the rod you do get more uniform loops though. Up until this point I have only used fondant for my bows, but I did add tylose to the fondant to help them harden better (all of the bows in my gallery are done in fondant). I am actually working on my first bow done in gumpaste right now (I will post a picture when done) and let me tell you...the difference in drying time was huge. The next day all of my loops (done in gumpaste) were totally dry. With the fondant it takes a few days. Someone in a class I took taught me a good trick though. If you are in a hurry or your loops are not as dry as you would like them you can place them in the oven with the light on ONLY. This trick works great. I use it all of the time. As for the glue. I have always used royal icing colored to match. and this has always worked great for me. Again you have to give it time to dry though. I have never used a bowl to build my bows. What I do is cut out a disc about half the size of the bow you want and use that to attach my loops to (again you have to let the disc dry with your loops). All I do to get the right size bow is place the disc on the cake pan size I want to a cake board the size I want. Then you just make sure your loops stay within the size of the board or pan. I also use small pieces of foam for support while the bow is drying. I hope this helps.
P.S.
The pink and green bow in my pictures was done with the rod drying technique.
The blue and yellow bow in my pictures was done by drying them on the sides.
Thanks everyone for all these great tips!! I cannot wait to try one of these bows! I think they add so much to the cake!!
neomommy--your bow turned out great!!! Love the edges of your loops!
jaklotz1--your work is absolutely amazing!!! That paisley cake is one of my all time favorites!!! How did you get the streamers in the bow to look exactly like shoe laces? What did you texturize it with? Was the fondant draping class you mentioned in your photo offered through Wilton? (and held at a Michael's or A.C. Moore?
One more question--does anyone know of a tutorial on how to make loopy ribbons like in this photo? (I absolutely love this cake-- made by wthays) I'm guessing it's pretty much the same idea but you just position the loops in a line?
Michele25: I think you're right, it's just the positioning of the loops when you attach them together. It might help if they were a little flatter than for the other style bow.
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