I have made handle out of Wilton gum paste, never actually worked with gum paste before; so all I did was just "twist 2 stripes" together, let it dry for 2 days flat on table, and stick directly on the cake. The handle broke in the middle (so I glue it with RI) and it was leaping/sagging from the cake.
1) how do I make handle for baskets or handbags etc. Do you use some wire in the middle when you braided???
2) how do I dry the handle - flat on the surface or hanging over something??
3) what do you use to stick to the cake, and how far should I go??

Please help me with this. Thank you.

anyone?

One of the first things I learned in making embellishments with either fondant or gumpaste...make at least twice as many as you think you will need! Once it is dry it's very fragile and will break..so be prepared with back ups. For my purse cake I made 4 handles and wish I'd made 6 since two broke right off. I make handles curved and put them on their sides to dry...holds the curve and allows air around them. After one day drying I turn them over to the other side so they can dry on what use to be the bottom. Also make sure you make the fondant/gumpaste a little thicker than you normally would. This is not for eating, altho it is edible, so you don't need it to be thin. Also, it's a handle so it is supposed to be thick. This will give you more stability. And, no, I've never wired a handle, even a braided one. With fondant I use a little extract to attach and with gumpaste I've used buttercream to attach.

Hope this helps!

thank you for your advice.
I made a handle for basket, and how would you attache this to the cake? I just stick into the cake, and it was sagging to one side, maybe I should use a wire on the end of the handle and stick the wire to the cake, but I am not sure if this would help as well.???

So the handle is made of gumpaste or fondant and the cake is buttercream? If so then yes, you should use some sort of pick to press into the cake or stick the handle down into cake with a pick wired to the handle. The handle has dried for a few days and is now solid? If not then you will need to let it completely dry before trying this again. It can take up to 5 days depending on the humidity in your area. But for buttercream a handle would be very heavy and the buttercream couldn't support it on the sides of a basket but you could support it if you put it into the cake on the top of the cake.

Good luck!

I see you have been initiated into the "so THAT'S why you can't stick gumpaste pieces directly into cake!" club! For me, it was curlies that were supposed to stick out of the cake. Ha. What a mess!

1) You shouldn't need wire if you make the handle far enough in advance. Once it's thoroughly dry, it should be fine.

2) I dry all my fondant and gumpaste pieces on foam sponge. This way, air circulates all around, you never have to turn it over and it won't stick. I just buy a square of 1" thick chair filling and cut it into manageable pieces. I use little scraps of it to prop up pieces (flower petals, bow loops, etc.) as they're drying.

3)I usually like to stick a toothpick or 5" skewer into each end of the handle before it starts to dry. If you dip or brush the pick with gum glue, it will stay nice and tight. How long you make the pick will depend on how heavy you think the handle will be. The longer, the better.

YUP..sure have! LOL! For me it was the curly q's...they completely unwrapped and drooped! From then on I put them onto picks!

when I do a handle for my baskets I use a piece of Copper tubing with a dowel crimped into the bottom on both sides. I then insert the the dowels into the cake and wrap the copper with fondant. let dry and paint. Works well. Much more stable than just fondant or gumpaste.

well, I have to admit, that when I saw my handle sagging, I thought about the wire/pick when I saw it is not holding in a place. How fa you would stick the wire/pick to the cake, all the way down, or just a little will support? Yes the cake was BC and it made the handle soften.
Thank you All for the tips. Just want to make sure next time I do it right.

My dowels are long enough to go all the way to the bottom of the basket. It really keeps it steady. No trouble transporting either.

I agree..the picks I make are about 4 inches long so they go almost all the way down to the cake board. Good luck!

OH Thank you all, makes sense now.