Hi All,
I'm going to attempt to make the penguin cake that several people have posted. My question is whether I should use fondant or gumpaste to make the penguins? I've read that I should add tylose to the fondant, but I don't have time to order it. I've also read that straight fondant in too soft for shaping figures....any comments? Also, I don't have tylose to make "glue" so what other options do I have to stick the wings, etc, to the penguin's body?

Also, a side question: how long does the crumb coat of buttercream have to set before adding the finish layer?

Thanks in advance,
Eiram

Are you making a large Penguin cake or just a penguin figurine? If you use gumpaste to cover a penguin cake it will be to hard and when you go to cut it ...a mess. If you are doing just a figurine then use gumpaste....but on the cake itself use just fondant over a buttercream iced cake. I personally like the icing to be soft not crusted when I put the fondant on...

I'm just making figurines. From what I understand, and please tell me if I am correct - the preferable method is to add tylose to my MMF. I don't have time to order it, so I should use gumpaste, correct?

I will use the MMF to cover the cake...

i mix 50/50 fondant and g/p .... when i make small figures, etc... i don,t use g/p by itself. when i make tall figures, etc. i make pastiallage...

Icer101 - What is the advantage of using the 50/50 mix instead of all gumpaste? Better taste? or do you prefer the look and feel?

sorry, just got back on c/c... actually... making small figures like the penguins.. i made one the other day.. i used fondant only... it did great.. i used anine2 instructions.. she is on youtube doing this.... you really don,t eat them anyway.. they dry hard... but mixing 50/50 fondant -g/p .. gives you more time to make them than using stickly g/p.. it is much more pliable and managable working with this mixture.. i have found using g/p only.. doesn,t give as good a finished product.. hope i am making sense.. most decoratores will say the same thing.. i usually sit my finished product in front of small fan to dry faster.. i,ve just always done this way. in my photos.. the ace of cake cake. i used pastiallage... because they were tall.. and the tables were stronger. etc.. but back to the smaller figures.. just use strickly fondant.. or fondant and g/p mixture. i have never used mmf for any project. it is usually wilton fondant. again.. you arent, eating them anyway.. if i can be of more help.. let me know..

I believe 50/50 gumpaste and mmf dries faster and harder.

I just made two penguin cakes this past weekend. The penguins are so small on my cake that just making them out of MMF was fine.
I don't know how to show the link, but it is in my photos.

i did my penguins in fondant. they are simple, easy to do, so fondant is fine.
gumpaste means they will dry faster, and stronger.
50/50 mix means you get a faster drying time from the gumpaste, but more time to work with it from the fondant. (nothing related to taste, it will be harder to actually eat tho, but still edible!)
really, for a simple figure like this, it doesnt matter what you use. gumpaste is good when you start to get more intricate, as its stronger.

as for glue - again, its simple, the bits you stick on are probably light and small, so water will do.
or else use a small blob of fondant or gumpaste and some hot water = edible glue.

as for letting the crumb coat set, i dont have a set way. sometimes i just do the second coat, sometimes i go away and do some dishes. cant say i have noticed a difference.
xx

I did my penguin figures with fondant (they are about an inch and a half to two inches high I suppose). I've added tylose to my fondant and I've found it really doesn't seem to make that much difference. They seem to dry hard enough being just fondant.

Thank you all for your help!!

I made my penguins out of half fondant and half gumpaste (Wilton premade). I attached using gumpaste glue that I mixed 1:1 ratio. Just crumble some gumpaste in a small container and add same amount of water, let stand overnite then just use a paintbrush to apply. To attach heads, I used spaghetti and gumpaste glue. They stayed together really well.

I made a cake with a little penguin on Friday -- my first time ever trying to model a figurine!! He wasn't perfect, but I thought he was pretty cute for a first try. I used modeling chocolate.

I want to try modeling chocolate sometime, I hear Buddy on one episode od cake boss say that you can rub the seams out of modeling chocolate where you can't very well with fondant.....I would think you could make a penguin with just fondant with no problem as well.