Decorate a cake with colorful fondant flowers.
Fondant is a type of edible icing that can be rolled, cut and shaped into decorative items for cakes and other desserts. Even novice cake decorators can use fondant to add flair to any cake. All you'll need is a little bit of practice and a few fondant tools. Does this Spark an idea?
Fondant Flowers
Make all different types of flowers from fondant. Use a flower-shaped cookie cutter to cut flower shapes from a rolled out sheet of fondant. Gently press the edges of the petals upward to give the flower some texture. Alternatively, cut individual petals from the fondant and assemble them into a flower shape on the cake or other treat. To make a 3D fondant rose, roll a small piece of fondant into a ball and then shape it into a rosebud shape. Insert a toothpick into the wide end of the rosebud. Cut individual petals from a sheet of fondant and use a fondant ball tool to thin the edges of each petal. Moisten one side of a petal and wrap that side around the rosebud. Keep wrapping petals around the forming rose until it reaches the desired size.
Fondant Bows
Make large and small fondant bows to decorate cakes, cupcakes and other desserts. For a two-loop bow, cut two thin strips of fondant from a rolled out sheet. Fold the strips in half and then insert a thin wooden dowel at the fold line to puff out the bow pieces. Cut two long, thin strips from the fondant and arrange them into wavy streamer shapes. Let the pieces dry and then assemble them together as a bow on the dessert. For a gift box bow, cut 10 to 12 thin strips from the fondant, rather than two, and wrap each strip around a paper towel roll to make a loop. Pinch the edges together and let them dry. Cut and shape the streamers for the bow in the same way as for the two-loop bow. Assemble the pieces together on the dessert once they have dried.
Fondant Animals
Make fondant animals and insects to decorate desserts. To make a fondant teddy bear, wrap thin pieces of fondant around sphere-shaped objects, or roll the fondant into two ball shapes for the head and body. Mold the ears from small pieces of fondant and mold even smaller pieces of a lighter color fondant for the inner ear. Roll four small pieces of fondant to make the arms and the legs and cut small circles of the lighter fondant to place at the end of each arm, each leg and on the bear's stomach. Use a small piece of white fondant and an even smaller piece of black fondant for each eye and a small inverted black triangle for the nose. Attach all pieces by dampening them with water.
Decorative Icing
Instead of traditional icing, cover a cake with rolled out fondant, imprinted with pictures and patterns. Roll out a sheet of fondant large enough to cover the entire cake. Use a textured rolling pin to create a pattern on the fondant and then place it over the cake. Instead of a rolling pin, cake makers can create imprints using foam or plastic animal and letter shapes or stencils. Artistic cake makers can carefully sketch pictures into the fondant.
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