Hey everyone,

I tried my best to do a brushstroke swan cake yesterday but the swan head and neck got droopy.  I was started the neck much later than intended as I had a cold on the weekend.  I made it with fondant sprinkled with tylose powder ( I didn’t know how much to use, so that’s why a sprinkle).  Obviously 24 hours of drying wasn’t enough even with the Tylose powder.  I made two necks after a suggestion on this forum when I made a cowboy hat cake and thank god I did because the first neck snapped in half where the skewer was.

My question is how long does it take for fondant to dry? 

Should I have used gum paste instead of fondant?

Still learning so much here

I usually do 59/50 gumpaste and modelling chocolate. Great workability. Depends how humid your area is as far as drying time. 2 days tops. Many times I bake my pieces. Or put pieces in the oven with the light on overnight. If I was doing a swan neck, I would probably make a armature. Wire bent in the shape, covered in tin foil. Much sturdier. Then cover in  gumpaste.  

I once made an old fashioned winged nurse's cap for a full sheet cake -- it was a collaboration where the cake and supplies were donated by someone else and I was doing the decor -- the only snag was somehow I only had like an hour before serving time to get it done --

I kneaded a ton of cornstarch into the fondant -- the cap held beautifully, defying gravity all the way -- and was near full size so it wasn't lost on the surface of the cake -- obviously there was no drying time at all --

and I'm not suggesting making a swan neck with no drying time -- I'm saying corn starch works great -- you can also use it in addition to tylose to speed drying time and add body to the piece -- but I discovered corn starch worked fine without it -- cheaper easier to have on hand --

if you decide to try -- test it sometime add a quarter to a half cup of cs to a handful of fondant and see what happens -- I used satin ice fondant -- doesn't affect the taste or texture -- 

using a warming drawer or food dehydrator speeds up the drying process -- if you use your oven, heat it to 150 -- turn it off and put your item in -- repeat -- always take your work out of the oven when reheating and don't go over 150! also don't touch your piece until it cools completely --

best to you