I want to try making a cake with a cute topper of fondant stars attached to wire. What is the best way to attach it? I just cut out my fondant and stuck the wire in it, and I'm letting it dry. I don't think though that is the best method. Any help is greatly appreciated!
I would also like to know!
Also, Is this wire foodsafe?????
The most secure way to wire decorations made of fondant or gumpaste is to use a ridged cel board so that it leaves a ridge in the back to slide the wire into. I use #30 guage cloth covered wire and wrap the wires in white floral tape, it is only in the cake for a few hours, there is no way it would rust. I imagine the same is true even with standard bare wire. If you are adverse to putting wire directly into your cake you have some options. You can dip the wires into white melted chocolate and let it set up before inserting, you can use floral picks with the little water well and insert several wired flowers or stars into the pick, you can insert a plastic straw into the cake and then slide the wires into the center of the straw. When you remove the straws for cutting the cake the center of the straw is filled with cake so the wire never touches the serving pieces.
The only other thing I would add to Shirley's post is to dip the wire in egg whites so it stays attached to the fondant/gumpaste. If you don't do this it is likely to not stick and fall off the wire.
Of course, I didn't really give details on how to roll on a ridged board or to use the wires themselves. Another tip I got from a British cake decorator Sue McMahon is to burn the end of the wire and then insert into the paste, it melts the inside of the paste just enough to make it cling to the wire without gum glue, you just pinch at the bottom of the petal to secure it where it meets the wire. Pretty clever.
So, do I use the egg white after the fondant has dried and then attach it to the wire or do I use it whenever the fondant is still soft and stick in the wire? I have 20 gauge florist wire with the white stuff/tape already around it.
I practiced last night by inserting the wire just into the fondant and just checked on it. It doesn't seem to be that secure. Could I add the egg white now or do I need to start over?
When I make leaves for a wired floral spray, I put a tiny sausage on a 30 or 33 gauge wire and roll it out. You can roll it very very thin if you use gauge 33. Then I cut the shape, making sure the wire is at the right place. Remove the excess and let dry completely. I used that technique on the sage green spray in my photos.
On a ridged cel board, I roll a sausage of gumpaste long enough to fit over the three ridges and extending about 1/4" on each side, roll from the middle of the sausage up and from the middle down until then paste is the thickness you want the petals to be. Lift the paste off the cel board, turn it over and you will now have 3 ridges in the paste from bottom to top. Place your petal or leaf cutter over the ridge so it is going vertically in the very center of the cutter, cut out as many petals as you can get from each ridge line. Dip 30 guage wire into gum glue, just dip it deep enough as the length of the ridge, not the entire wire. Start at the bottom of the ridge on the petal and insert the wire by twisting back and forth between your thumb and index finger while pushing. How far the wire goes into the ridge depends on what type of leaf or petal, if you want a rigid leaf with no bend you can feed the wire in all the way. If you want to bend or shape the petal or leaf to give it movement you would only go in part way with the wire, pinch the leaf at the bottom where it meets the wire, this will secure it. Now you can vein the petal and thin the edges with a metal ball tool. Stick the wired petal into styrofoam to dry, then tape the wire with floral tape and dust the petal or leaf with color.
I should also say that I don't wire my roses, I use Nic Lodge's All In One rose cutter. Nearly every other type of flower I make is wired. Here is a link to a Rose and and Iris, the rose is not wired, the Iris is.
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=displayimage&meta=allby&uname=ShirleyW&cat=0&pos=172
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=displayimage&meta=allby&uname=ShirleyW&cat=0&pos=188
ShirleyW:
sorry I have to ask, what is a "cel board"?
I use 30 gauge floral wire when wiring flowers, leaves, etc. If the wire is bare, I wrap it in tin foil before inserting into the cake.
I might do it the "long way", but when making wired items, I attach a small piece of the gumpaste/fondant to the wire with vanilla and wait overnight to start flower making.
So, do I use the egg white after the fondant has dried and then attach it to the wire or do I use it whenever the fondant is still soft and stick in the wire? I have 20 gauge florist wire with the white stuff/tape already around it.
I practiced last night by inserting the wire just into the fondant and just checked on it. It doesn't seem to be that secure. Could I add the egg white now or do I need to start over?
You need to dip your wire in the egg white and then into your fondant while still wet. As it dries it will cause the foundant and wire to stay stuck together. If you don't want to remake your fondant piece you can add a tiny bit of hot glue to the back to keep it attached to the wire. Just slip the wire back into the fondant dried piece and put a dot of hot glue where they meet.
ShirleyW:
sorry I have to ask, what is a "cel board"?
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Here are two photos. Bottom is what I consider a basic gumpaste tool kit, top is the cel board. It is a white nylon or lucite board, smooth one one side for rolling out gumpaste that doesn't require wiring, turn it over and it has the ridges for rolling paste for flowers or leaves, star etc. that require wiring. The cel board comes in different sizes, I prefer the larger one like this one, it measures 11 1/2"X9 1/2". Many places carry them, I got mine through Nicholas Lodge. Also, in the basic tool kit you will see a yellow square in the background on the left, don't confuse that with a cel board when ordering. That is a cel foam mat used for thinning or ruffling gumpaste flower petals with a metal ball tool.
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