I am doing a football cake with mmf goal posts. I made them a week in advance so that they had plenty of time to dry. I picked them up this morning, they are dry, but broke at the seems. So I made them again, in one piece, so no seem to break, but will they be dry in time? The cake is due Friday pm. Anything I can do to speed up the drying? I am worried they won't dry and when placed in the cake, they will droop over.
Stephanie
Could you try "gluing" the one that broke at the seams with royal icing?
Lazy_Susan
Unfortunately they probably won't be dry. I have heard some people use a food dehydrator to speed up the time. Maybe try making them from gumpaste. You can get a mix a micheals and maybe walmart. They will dry faster. You might also try making them over wire so they will be more stable.
MMF notoriously takes a loooong time to dry. I didn't have any luck trying to dry pieces in the oven.
Gumpaste is like fondant only you have to work quicker because it dries faster and gets rock hard. THe wilton stuff you just mix with water.
I think you can add tylose powder to mmf to make it dry harder but I could be wrong with this info so we'll see if anyone else knows about this.
Gum paste is very easy to use and make. Follow the directions on the can, it makes up the gum paste with no difficulties. Be sure it is kneaded well. Store it in an AIR Tight container, wrapped in tin foil, plastic wrap, ziplock bag, whatever you prefer. Let it rest for, I think it says, 24 hours. It doesn't need to be in the fridge. When you're ready to make a flower, or other decoration ie: goal posts, break off a chunk and go to work. Remember to cover the gum paste at all times. It does dry out, quickly. I mix MMF and gum paste together (about 50/50) and use that. This combination dries quickly, too. (And you get many more pieces out of the gum paste.) Good luck and have fun.
Don't put mmf in the oven! It is made of marshmallow and will melt. I think that gumpaste or adding gumtex to the mmf is the best bet. I've made some pretty heavy stuff that has dried in only a few days by mixing in gumtex.
I recommend the ready to use Wilton Gum Paste. No mixing. It's ready to use as is right from the bag. It's great and so easy to work with. It's stiffer than fondant but it's a breeze.
Oh! I made a really cute baby stroller cake and I used mmf for the handle. I made the handle well in advance ..so I thought...and it just wasn't hard enough...kinda flopped....so I used a trick that I saw on one of the cake challenges...one of the decorators used..aluminum foil with fondant wrapped over it..Oh! I remember, I think it was Bronwen Webber. Well, that worked for me, but I think I will use gumpaste next for future pieces like that.
I don't know about putting them in the oven. I could see them drying out in bad ways and breaking again. I like the idea of using the wire like dodibug said. That ones even the ones that you just made, dry on not by Friday, will have a fighting chance at staying upright
I recommend the ready to use Wilton Gum Paste. No mixing. It's ready to use as is right from the bag. It's great and so easy to work with. It's stiffer than fondant but it's a breeze.
Ditto. They have it at Michael's if you have one in the area. It's super easy to use, just like fondant, only like the PP said- work faster!
So I assume my suggestion wouldn't work?
Now I am thinking that it would work. How do I make the "glue"? I took a look at the pieces and I think that I could just glue it together. Can I color the glue to match too?
How long does the gum paste take to dry? Would I have enough time if I made it today to be dry by friday?
First paid cake, kinda panicking!
Stephanie
So I assume my suggestion wouldn't work?
i agree with lazy susan....i would just use royal to patch the dry one back together....but next time, go with gumpaste....very easy to mix and dries faster and harder than mmf....good luck!
bamboo skewers! put the fondant around them to form the goal poast and it should hold it together.
So I assume my suggestion wouldn't work?
Now I am thinking that it would work. How do I make the "glue"? I took a look at the pieces and I think that I could just glue it together. Can I color the glue to match too?
Stephanie
Just make and color your royal icing the same color as your broken pieces. Or as close to the color as you can get. Make the royal icing a bit thick so it will be extra strong holding it together. HTH
I recommend the ready to use Wilton Gum Paste. No mixing. It's ready to use as is right from the bag. It's great and so easy to work with. It's stiffer than fondant but it's a breeze.
You can also, mix the ready to use Gum Paste with fondant. It will make your fondant pieces harder and also dry quicker. You can experiment, but I use 3 part fondant to 1 part (ready to use) gum paste.
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