Hi everyone,
I need a little advice, I am making a cake that requires a rope border at the base, unfortunately I am unable to get the silicone rope mold in time for the event and decided to use the extruder and rope the fondant manualy. The problem Iam having is that the extruder makes the fondant so dry and a bit brittle that i am unable to "braid " it into a rope pattern.I've tried extra shortening and it has helped a little but does anyone have any other ideas?

I just used quite a bit of extra shortening until it was quite soft and intead of braiding I twisted the two pieces together to make the rope look.

Does your extruder have a disk with three 'bumps?' If so, use that disk. All you need to do is create the rope, lay it on a flat surface, and using your palms roll the rope from either side in opposing directions. Its so much easier than trying to braid.