Dang Fondant Bows! I Am So Frustrated, Please Help!
Decorating By dandy207 Updated 28 Aug 2006 , 8:19pm by BlakesCakes
I tryed my first one today. I made all the loops yesterday, hung them over a 1 inch dowel. Just like it said to do on the bow article here on cc. And it looked like poop!! All lobsided, i couldnt get it to look right. It was aweful. It needs to be a black bow too, and i just dont want to kneed all that black into the fondant again! ARRRGG! What about those bows you can buy at the store, the wilton ones. It said on the box that they need to be dyed, but how would i do that? And i wonder if i would beable to get a true black doing it? anyone have experience with that? OR anyone have any helpfull tricks that i could use, since im probly gonna be making another one. PLEASE ANY ADVICE is welcomed, i need the cake to be done by next friday.
I havent used one of the pre made bows but I have seen them and they look easy enough to use. If you want to color them you need to thin down some coloring with a bit of vodka. Then you just brush it on. If you still need it a bit darker just let it dry a little and paint it again. It shouldnt take too long because all the vodka evaporates rather quickly. I have never made one using the instructions here on CC. What I do is roll out the fondant to about 1/8 in thick. Use my ribbon cutting wheels to cut strips about 1 1/2 wide. Then I cut the strips into 3 different length sections. I THINK I cut them about 7 1/2in, 6 in and 5 in lengths. Then I apply a little water to the short edge of a strip and fold over the strip to connect the ends. Then i place the loop on its side and open it up to the shape of a daisy petal. One of the problems I had when I first began making bows was I was making the loops look more like water drops when you look at them from the side. Once all the loops have dried I lay the first layer out like I think it should look. On parchment paper I use royal icing and squeeze a small mound of color matched icing onto the parchment. Then I begin constructing the bow putting the longest loops first. Then I begin attatching the second longest loops with the royal. I use the shortest loops to kind of fill in the hole in the top. Wait to dry and remove from parchment.
While I cant help you with the bow making, I just tried my first and need MORE practice...I can help you with the black fondant. i accidentally made black fondant with dark cocoa. VERY EASY to do and lots less work and frustration. Please check out this thread and scroll down for my name and it will tell you how i did it! Good luck
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-34064-.html
would it help to add gumtex (1 tsp per 12 oz fondant) to the fondant to speed up drying and add some rigidity?
Is the kind that look like you put on a present ? the one with many, many loops ? or does it look like this ?
I had SOOOO many problems this weekend making my first bow too so I can sympathize! I was making the many bow-loop one which I believe is the one you are talking about if you were following the directions on here.
Here's my tips:
1) Add some tylose powder or gumtex or whatever you want to make the fondant dry more quickly.
2) Cut many strips - more than you think you need into 3 different lengths.
3) Lay the strips over a fat broom handle or mop handle or something that looks like that - or a REALLY fat dowel rod but you need something that will keep the loop "open". (you can clean your broom handle or whatever w/ one of those wipes - let it dry, and then put crisco or shortening on the handle so the loops don't stick)
4) After a little while - maybe an hour - your loops will become dryer. At this point, take them off of the mop handle or whatever you used and lay them on a cookie sheet w/ parchment paper on their sides. At this point they should have a definite "loop" shape and even if they come apart at the bottom of the loop, you can glue them back together w/a tiny bit of water - the main thing is that you have the "shape" and they aren't staying on the handle so long that they stick or they stretch out.
5) I used candy melts but now I'm thinking maybe royal icing would have been better b/c I had to move the bow several times before I put it on hte cake (just don't ask) and I had several loops break off.... this is why extra loops are a necessity!!! Arrange a few on the bottom - I alternated w/ the loop standing up and a loop on it's side - I think I had about 6 on the bottom. I then did the next row and I think most of them were straight up - keep adding but keep reducing the length of the strips - for instance if you made 6 in, 4 in, and 3 in loops - as you go up use the smaller size loop.
6) You can construct this all together in an 8 in cake pan w/ a piece of parchment paper on the bottom so that it won't stick to the pan and so that you can protect the sides a little from anyone bumping into it - also makes it easier to transport if you are going to be transporting the cake - you might want to bring some royal w/ you and assemble the bow on top of the cake at the site.
7) Another thing that helped me but isn't absolutely necessary is that I bought a bow-loop mold from countrykitchen.com . There is an "elegant mold" set w/ swags & bows and other things like that. It helped me a little w/ keeping my loops consistent lengths - although to make the shorter ones I had to cut them - but still, it also helped make the little pointy-ends on the loops - I don't know how to explain it - but it looked better.
I'll be posting a pic to my photos soon but can't as I'm at work right now..... Hope all of this helps! It is definitely something I would charge a lot more for next time!!!
Oh by the way - to get black fondant you should definitely start w/ chocolate fondant - melt some chocolate and combine it w/ the fondant or just add some cocoa powder - you can ask others for tips on that but it's much easier to make black that way - and use Americolors superblack coloring or you're going to have to dump in at least 2 of the Wilton black colors - yes two WHOLE jars of the stuff to make black. You can see my black fondant in my photos - it's the "planner book" - the board is covered in black fondant that I made this way. I think I used pre-melted chocolate but that's hard to find - and then I used 2 - 3 whole things of Wilton black.
Good luck!
love that mold! just looked it up and bookmarked it!
I don't put/hang my bow loops over anything.
I add a bit of gum tex to my fondant, roll it out about 1/6th inch thick, cut long strips the width I need, cut those strips into shorter strips for individual loops (usually about 6 inches long), fold over to make a loop, pinch the end to a point or cut the ends to a point, and lay the loop on it's side/edge on parchment paper on a sheet pan. I finesse the width of the loops so that they're consistent and leave them to dry. I usually leave them to dry for at least 24 hrs. and sometimes I'll flip them over onto the other edge for about half the time.
Just a method that works well for me.
Rae
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