I Want To Learn To Make Figures People Will Eat.
Decorating By 7yyrt Updated 3 Jan 2007 , 5:32am by Jorre
I had trouble with the MMF sagging before it cooled yesterday, but when it's cool it should be strong enough to hold your character upright. If you can't keep it up straight try insterting toothpicks into the bottom and placing it upright in styrofoam. Maybe try modeling chocolate. There is a recipe in the Colette Peters book I have. If you want it let me know.
Perhaps I didn't put enough sugar in my MMF, I will try again with more. I DO like the way the characters look, they just take days to dry and they sag a lot.
The tootsie roll bluesman has finally quit sagging, and stiffened up...
I like the piped figures, but they have their limitations as well.
Thank you for your replies.
"Never give up - Never surrender!" Galaxy Quest 
I'm a baker, I make things for people to eat...
I guess what I want to know is if people really EAT the little figures. Which kinds get eaten and which just get thrown out. I don't want to waste my time on display things like pastillage that look really neat but never get eaten... Maybe I should rephrase my question on the title...?
Do I sound confused?
I recently started using the Choclate Candy Clay. (One bag of wilton candy melts and 1/4 cup corn syrup) Love it!!! And it tastes better then fondant.. (just my opinion) People tend to be more inclined to eat something if it is made out of choclate (gee..wonder why??)...Yet, sometimes they don't want to eat it because they are so great looking! I recently made a grizzly bearskin rug out of candy clay and the guy refused to eat it. Instead, he took it home to show it off and freeze it.
Hey-- I see your point but I feel like most adults wouldn't want to eat the topper b/c it seems kind of tacky (at least to me) to eat the baby or the puppy or person or whatever the topper was. But kids are a different story, I've seen kids eat fondant people just for the fun of saying they did it! --And then, as tccksmith said, if its chocolate, that may be an exception too!
tccksmith;
I noticed on your Pumpkin Patch Cupcake Cake, you said the pumpkins were made of candy clay. Did you use a mold or shape them by hand; and did they get eaten?
I THINK candy clay and the modeling chocolate mentioned by kellylowe are the same thing. That might be the way to go...
I like to work with modeling chocolate too. I like to make baskets and roses. It got a little hard though. Seemed like it needed a few seconds in the microwave before you could eat it. But the petals, etc. stayed in place much easier than gumpaste or fondant. Cheaper too.
Blessings!
[quote]tccksmith;
I noticed on your Pumpkin Patch Cupcake Cake, you said the pumpkins were made of candy clay. Did you use a mold or shape them by hand; and did they get eaten?
I THINK candy clay and the modeling chocolate mentioned by kellylowe are the same thing. That might be the way to go...
Yes, they did eat them to my surprise... they actually tasted good, kind of reminded me of the pumpkins that Brach candy makes. Matter of fact, the pumpkins were gone before the cupcakes and people were asking for more.. LOL! And yes, I molded them by hand. Rolled them into shape and then used one the the gumpaste tools to put the lines in them. T
I find that MMF alone sags and your figure gets blobby (is that a word? LOL). Commercial fondant seems to hold up better. Even so, they take a few days to dry, but you can add tylose to help harden faster. I brought the bottom tier of my Nativity cake to work last week with the figures and they ate all the shepherds, the angel and the wise men! 
Those guys will eat anything LOL.
Even it it did taste good, I dont think a lot of adults would eat figures, kids on the other hand would eat anything if it is sweet! YOu could do chocolate transfers, but they arent 3 dimentional. People will eat them though.
I use fondant for all my figures - but I put lollypop sticks in them when ever possible. ALWAYS for kids caks. That way if the grab it off the cake an bite into it they won't be stuck by the toothpick. They are easy to cut to fit into animals also. There are some in my pics - both zoo cakes were done this way. Kids do love the fondant - Adults are a whole other story!
Good luck!!!
Whilst I haven't tried it myself I did see a demonstration by a very experienced lady (had won medals and ribbons in cake dec competitions both here and overseas) where she made a bob the builder figure out of just commercial fondant (Pettinice) she said she never uses any hardener like tylose or gum trag.
When she made the figure she made the legs and waist first and then poked some small holes in the top of the waist (in an area that would be hidden - covered by the top part, clothing etc) to help it dry faster. It might be worth a try to get an all edible figurine to dry faster.
Marzipan works well for figure modeling too, I personally don't like the taste of almond so I don't use it. There is also the nut allergy problem to consider but it does work. I am in the mind of others about eating the figures, I couldn't bite the head off a baby or little animal. But I have eaten chocolate bunnies and Santa's so guess it would be no different.
We've actually used peanutbutter playdough (search for the recipe- they're all over!) before. The kids LOVE using it, and it's healthy if no allergy concerns. Just peanutbutter, dry milk, honey, and powdered sugar. Could possibly use them as a center for chocolate clay, be like a kids truffle. The kids also steal cake ball filling (made stiff) to use as playdough. Perhaps these are an option? I've been using fondant with gumtex lately, but it doesn't get eaten like plain mmf.
I made Halloween figures out of Wilton Fondant and let them dry on a loosely covered container for several weeks. They were rock hard practically and some kids at the party ATE them! YUCK YUCK YUCK
They were nasty Wilton Fondant! I never thought anyone would eat them...I took them off the cake when dismantling it to serve and had packed them up in a box. The lil hooligans rifled through all my stuff when I was loading the car, took them and ate them.
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