I'm making my baby's 1st bday cake and I need to know what's best for modeling figures of animals. I tried gumpaste in the past but it didn't hardened. Fondant hardened a little bit but it tends to sag. Also, I need to know how far in advance can I model and keep the figures before the bday since I'm flying to another state for the party, so I can bake the cake and assemble it once I'm there. Anyone??? Thanks a lot!!!
Are you using MMF because that may be the issue? With Satin Ice or Pettinice or any bought fondant mixed 50/50 with premade gumpaste I have never had and issue - ever. Now if little children are going to be around one of them may want to plop it in their mouth so then I would use straight fondant.
But remember fondant is fragile and will break easily......
Oh one more thing, I let my stuff harden a good 24 hours. When in a rush I will give it at least 6 hours.....
It does depend on the size of your figure. But I use 50/50 paste, half fondant half gumpaste mixed together. Or I use fondant with CMC or Tylose powder mixed in. Both methods have worked really well for figures I've done about 4" high and 3" wide. I usually make my figure 1 week before I need them, but have made them even more in advance with no problems. It does depend on the weather too. I have also used styrofoam balls and eggs that I have covered with the paste mixture for bigger figures. The problem you can have with big figures is cracking when drying, that's why the styrofoam innards.
Hi, I've used fondant, 50/50 fondant/gum paste and gum paste by itself, all worked great for me!! How weird that your gum paste didn't get hard... I used wilton's, worked great! I have a picture in my photos of a turkey, used MMF and still looking like the day I made it! The trick is to keep them covered, dust free and even better if it is a dark dry place. Also, try not use light colors like purple, lilac or even light pink as they might fade. HTH
If you look in my photos, I used fondand for the gnomes and all of the details on the mushroom cake, and for the turkey on the thanksgiving cake I used gumpaste. I didn't have any problems with either of them hardening and there wasn't any sagging at all. I only have wilton brand fondant and gumpaste available to me locally so that's what I used for this cake as it was short notice. I let them dry for about 1 1/2 to 2 days (I worked on the gnomes before I started the cake...I wasn't sure how long they would take to make...) By the time I needed the gnomes for the cake the were set and easy to handle to move them around.
Sweetflowers my 'Lil Poult was the size of my fist and was 50/50 gumpaste/fondant. I let it dry for 48 hours.
Hmmmm Surfgirl, I live in Minnesota and during the winter it is dry like a desert. Could it be a humidity issue? Well either that or i'm thinking it is MMF issue, because of consistency..... 
Could pastillage be another option? I haven't had the pleasure of using gumpaste yet. However, I am going to be working on a baby shower cake that will have a baby soaking in a tub full of bubble on top of the cake. I was thinking of making the tub out of pastillage...what do you guys think? Would gumpaste be better that pastillage?...or about the same?
Thanks for all the input!!!! Hey Tiptop I actually made those cakes in CA but now I live in Hawaii and I haven't made any cakes with gumpaste since I moved here so I figure it would be even worst here. So we're having the party in CA but I was thinking of making the figures here and taking them with me on the plane. Do you guys think is a big no-no? Should I be fine? Also can you guys explain me what is MMF and how it works? Never heard of it since I started making cakes because of my skills in modeling figures, not in baking (I'm learning a lot though...) I just went bought some gumpaste and that's what I used. I'll try 50/50 and see how that goes. Oh, what I want to make is a little train with animals on it. Thanks again!!!!!!
Thanks for all the input!!!! Hey Tiptop I actually made those cakes in CA but now I live in Hawaii and I haven't made any cakes with gumpaste since I moved here so I figure it would be even worst here. So we're having the party in CA but I was thinking of making the figures here and taking them with me on the plane. Do you guys think is a big no-no? Should I be fine? Also can you guys explain me what is MMF and how it works? Never heard of it since I started making cakes because of my skills in modeling figures, not in baking (I'm learning a lot though...) I just went bought some gumpaste and that's what I used. I'll try 50/50 and see how that goes. Oh, what I want to make is a little train with animals on it. Thanks again!!!!!!
Hi, I believe that if you keep the figures away from the heat and humidity you should be fine, keep them in a room with A/C. In my experience you can make them ahead of time and I've never had a problem.
MMF, is home-made marshmallow fondant. In the articles in this website you can find a tutorial on How-To. Sorry, for some reason I couldn't attach a link to it. HTH
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