Hi All!

I have a cake due at the end of the month that would need to have a large fondant/gumpaste bow attached to the side. Does anyone have any great tips on how to do that? I am thinking royal icing... but not sure if it will hold the weight. The cake itself would be buttercream with fondant accents. I have tried it once for a display cake and the bow kept falling off so I switched it to a smaller bow. This design would need something pretty big.

Any tips or suggestions would be great! Thank you in advance.

The best results I have come up with involve adding a pretty long and twisted strong wire to the back of the bow and letting it dry. I take the twisted wire and insert it into a straw I have placed into the cake at a downward angle. It worked well for me. I do mostly fondant on buttercream too. Rigging this support is kind of a pain in the butt, so I try to get brides to have the bow rest on the edge of a tier.

I sort of asked the same question a while ago about adding a huge gumpaste rose to the side of the cake. Someone told me they had a piece of 1/4 inch foam core between the layers of the cake in the tier where they wanted the flower. Make the center of the flower on a skewer. Push skewer into the foam core and it holds the flower. I am sure that would work too.
Good luck!

I use Wilton clear piping gel for the heavier decorations on my cakes. I also use some toothpicks inserted on an angle to support it until it sets. When the toothpicks are removed you shouldn't see any holes if you tucked them under the bow at an angle. I took a class at the Wilton school and they mixed in a food processor clear piping gel, a little water and gum paste and made a very sticky glue for use to use on our fondant figures.

i use melted choc for heavy bows. I have one in my photos, on BC. HTH