I've got a first birthday party to make this lion cake. I am using a toy of the little girls and it's got this curly mane on it. I know that I could use fondant/gum paste and wrap it around dowels to make the curls, but if I do this, how would I attach them to the head of the lion? (which is going to be out of RKT) Also, how do I make them so they are more flexible, and not ramrod straight, like they dry on the dowels? I've attached a picture, so you can see what I'm trying to replicate. You all have been great in all of your help. Anything you can give me now would be so much appreciated. Thanks everyone!

Hmm, not sure you can have it flexible and keep the curl at the same time. If it doesn't dry, it won't keep the curl, or it will have a twist, but a flat twist.

I think the best bet is to do gp around a dowel. You can attach it with melted chocolate, or a food safe wire if you place it in the curl while it's still soft.

Good luck!

To attach fondant to fondant, use tylose mixed with water, or meringue powder mixed with water, or a small piece of fondant dissolved in water. That will work for attaching dried pieces too.

To make the curls curved instead of straight like a dowel, you could roll up pieces of plastic wrap into snake shapes, dust with corn starch, then wrap the fondant or gumpaste around the plastic wrap snakes, bending them the way you want them. When the fondant or gumpaste has dried rock hard, twist the ends of the plastic wrap to make it narrower, then pull it out of the dried piece. You can also wrap curls around a dowel for a few minutes, then take it off the dowel and curve it while it's still a little flexible. I think that might work better with gumpaste than fondant.

ditto

One way i have used in the past is to caramelise sugar, and once it gets to nice "gooey texture", not too liquid, to get a table spoon full and let it slowly drizzle over a round shape whilst twisting that shape. As it cools it hardens. It pretty much is that nice medium-brown colour as well. Does this help?

I don't know much about gelatin, but could you make them out of that? Like a gelatin flower, but curls instead?