Patchwork Cutters..how Do You Use Them??
Decorating By Kiddiekakes Updated 26 Nov 2006 , 11:41pm by peg818
I was looking on the Globalsugarart site and saw alot of great cutters called patchwork cutters.Has anyone used them and if so how do you use them and are they difficult?? Are they work buying?
Laurel
I've just bought some patchwork alphabet cutters - I won't be doing that again cos I found them incredibly difficult to use. Mine are made from plastic and are quite shallow - they form an impression and you have to try to lift the letters out of the fondant (or whichever paste you're using) without tearing your letter (which I kept on doing).
That being said, someone else might have a better story to tell about them. I personally found them a waste of my money.
Tporbz,
I was wondering about that.They look really flimsy for the price.Thanks for the info!!
I used a plastic patchwork cutter that I bought from Global Sugar Art for a baby shower cake. I made gumpaste ducks on the side. I enjoyed using them, but it took a few to get it just right. I couldn't press down completely - only enough to make the impression and then I had to clean up the edges.
They're great I use them a lot. It is worth buying the instruction books or videos that go with them though .
Thanks Miss Baritone and Doug,
I was wondering if I should get a book or two also.I probably will but a few.Thanks everyone for your input!!
A friend of mine goes to all kinds of gumpaste classes and she was telling me she took one that used the patchwork cutters. She said you have to grease your mat really well so the fondant sticks and then use a needle to put out what doesn't stay on the impression. Then use a small spatula with cornstarch and gently lift it off.
I won some patchwork cutters that make butterflies, bees, and ladybugs when I went to the OSSAS show in Tulsa this year. I used a butterfly one the other day and got it figured out after I tore the first three! I can imagine the letters might be trickier!
I attended a seminar where Nicolas Lodge demonstrated these cutters, and I went out and bought an armload of them. I love them! You have to use VERY thin gumpaste. His recipe works best with them, because it's stretchier and you can roll it thinner. He uses tylose, and the recipe is on his website. Anyway...he rolls the gumpaste very thin on a very lightly greased plastic board. He gets a little Crisco on his fingers and rubs them over the surface of the cutter. Then he cuts the design. Before lifting the cutter from the surface, he quickly moves it around on the board in a kind of a circle before lifting if from the surface. (I think that motion kind of separates the gumpaste from all of the edges of the design.) Sometimes he has to use a pin to get the paste started coming out of the cutter. The detail of the designs is so worth the effort! Plus, you can lift out sections of the cut-out designs and replace them with other colors cut with the same cutter. He used that technique making brown and white bunnies (with pink noses), two-color flowers, etc. It's very effective. You can layer the flowers and curl up petals. Lots of creative things. You might think about checking out some of his videos. He is a wonderful teacher. Anyway...once I saw the possibilities of these cutters, I had to have them, and I haven't regretted a single purchase.
I love 'em. Your gum paste or mmf have to be really thin. After using them a couple of times, they stop sticking so much.
I have quite a few of these cutters, what i have found in addition to the paste being thin, is letting the paste dry a bit before cutting it. They really are worth the hassle of learning how to do. If you look in my pictures you will see quite of few of my cakes that i have used these on.
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