So I made a bow 50/50 gumpaste/MMF I used the nicholas loage gumpaste recipe and the baking911 recipe for MMF.

I thought, rather than tint chocolate I would use the watered down MMF for the ball to hold together. Last night the bow looked great. I put it in a pie saver with a bowl of silica (I live in Charleston, SC).

Then this morning all the loops had drooped. Like the fondant ball was not holding them in place. It was so wet still that they just pulled right out. The consistency of the ball was not so wet as pudding, very sticky

I was able to save enough and with the ones I had left over I think I can m,ake another.

The question is what to put in the center. It needs
to be humidity resistant so I think chocoalte is not going to work.

The mmf ball obviously is not working. Or should I prop up the loops when it is in the right form until they are totally dry.

Thanks a bunch

julia

I have used candy melts because they harden quickly or royal icing. I don't know why this happened to you, but try again and you'll find something that will work with you climate/humidity.

HTH

I put my bows together with royal icing. Takes a while to dry but it holds really well.

HTH
Lazy_Susan

I just made my first bow a couple weeks ago and I used Royal Icing for the center. I also used various small objects to prop up the loops until they had dried. I made the bow out of MMF, no gumpaste at all but I was very pleased with my results. There is a pic in my gallery, the Snowflake wedding cake. HTH

Ok I love you guys! i had thought about Royal on the way home form pre-k pickup and wondered.

I am going to try that and use things to hold it up. I was SO disappointed this morning!

I used the gumpaste/mmf mix because I have heard horrors about the humidty killing things (the windows melted out of my g-bread house in DEC! and we keep our house at 65). Plus it is almost 70 here today and we are 10 mins from the beach...can you say August is going to be drippy?!?

Anyway thanks a bunch. I will let you knwo how it turns out.

Thanks
Julia

Personally I haven't had good luck with MMF for bows or figures. I can't trust it to hold it's shape even when I add gumtex. I bet you would have more luck with using just gumpaste or mixing in just a little bit of fondant. Plus, it's hard to roll MMF out thinly...

70 degrees sound really nice! It's about 20 F where I am on the east coast.

Good luck!
Courtney

Ooooooohhhhhh... I feel your pain. I live just north of you in Murrells Inlet, so I am intimately acquainted with the humidity problems . I use 100% gumpaste to make anything that I want to maintain a shape that will not likely be eaten. Candy melts work well, and chocolate clay will usually hold up, but I have had to remake sooooooo many flowers and even molded items because they melted in the dampness. Even inside with the HVAC running, the humidity is just too much. For bows, I have started wiring each loop, using gumpaste and gumpaste glue only, and stuffing and propping the loops to dry in the shape I want. I can then twist the wires together and put the wire ends into a plastic flower holder or straw for placing on/into the cake. Or, the wires can be put into a half-round styrofoam ball on a foam core board cut to size if it is a topper. The few unwired loops I make are glued with Nic Lodge's gumpaste glue (I also use his gumpaste formula) or a mixture of glue and gumpaste, and propped to dry. I think the MMF just holds too much moisture to use as a base or an adhesive in this area.

LOL...I KNOW I replied to this thread...I gotta find my post!

hmmm...okay, so it wasn't this thread I posted on....I gotta take a break from this place...I need sustainence(?)

Ok ladies,

I pulled the bow apart and put back together with royal. I used balled up aluminum foil to hold everything in palce until it dried. NOW...the bow looks like I had hoped.

Well, except for one thing...WHY, WHY are my edges always rough with mmf/fondant/gumpaste? I crisco the cutter, I use metal & plastic cutters and I use cornstarch/10x...but STILL i have rough edges? Is there some secret to egtting rid of those that I have missed?

Anyway, thanks for the help with the bow..I was ready to sit down and have a good cry. I was SO proud of that 1st bow....Ahh well, the second is in my photos.

Thanks

julia