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I'm trying to teach myself to do some flowers and started with simple cut outs of different sizes layered together.  I did these a couple of days ago in just fondant (white and black rolled together to get a variegated effect).  Every time I touch them now, another bit drops off lol!  Is it because I am just using fondant and it needs something to firm it up some?  I would like my flowers to be edible, but would also like them to hold up.  I know you ladies will have the answer to this, so I await your advices thank you!

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To make these flowers, you really need to use gum paste. Fondant is just not going to hold together.

Yes, if you add just a little tylose into the fondant it will keep them from crumbling. If you use premade, you can knead fondant and gumpaste together. A 2:1ratio of fondant to gumpaste it will stay soft a little longer, but will harden ultimately. You'd probably want to make them as you decorate the cake if you want them to be eaten. Typically people don't eat gumpaste flowers though. Why not pipe them if you want them to be edible?

Thanks Theresa - this is what I suspected.

Theresa Happe said:

To make these flowers, you really need to use gum paste. Fondant is just not going to hold together.

Thanks Rima - I know Gail adds tylose to fondant to do her flowers, but I do use premade fondant.  So the idea of mixing gumpaste and fondant together sounds like a good idea.  I had thought of piping as that's how my mum used to do things, but my eyesight is quite poor, so I'm a bit scared of doing that!  I reckon to heck with eating them and just use the combo.

Rima said:

Yes, if you add just a little tylose into the fondant it will keep them from crumbling. If you use premade, you can knead fondant and gumpaste together. A 2:1ratio of fondant to gumpaste it will stay soft a little longer, but will harden ultimately. You'd probably want to make them as you decorate the cake if you want them to be eaten. Typically people don't eat gumpaste flowers though. Why not pipe them if you want them to be edible?

I make flowers out of fondant a lot and do not use tylose most of the time as I find the tylose affects the texture of the fondant and its manipulative quality a lot.  Fondant does have its limitations as there are certain flowers you cannot make out of it and get a good result.  However, I have found that if you roll it thinner (1/16" or less) it is not as heavy and this seems to help it dry out more completely and not break as yours have been doing.  I just make sure to let them dry for 2 - 3 days on crumpled foil or flower formers with paper tucked here and there to support the petals as it dries.  I carefully re-position them now and again to make sure they are drying completely underneath.  HTH

Wow - thanks for this Janet.  Perhaps I touched them too soon....  Could you tell me what you roll your fondant out on as I wonder if that makes a difference.  I used cornflour (cornstarch) as I find it sticks less than icing sugar.

Janet M. Hall said:

I make flowers out of fondant a lot and do not use tylose most of the time as I find the tylose affects the texture of the fondant and its manipulative quality a lot.  Fondant does have its limitations as there are certain flowers you cannot make out of it and get a good result.  However, I have found that if you roll it thinner (1/16" or less) it is not as heavy and this seems to help it dry out more completely and not break as yours have been doing.  I just make sure to let them dry for 2 - 3 days on crumpled foil or flower formers with paper tucked here and there to support the petals as it dries.  I carefully re-position them now and again to make sure they are drying completely underneath.  HTH

Katy if you see my flowers,I have use this recipehttp://veenaartofcakes.blogspot.com/2012/02/homemade-fondant-sugarp...but for flowers instead of corn syrup I use glucose.I cant found marshmallow here and I am very lazy to make homemade.So most of my work I have used this recipe.I hope this helps.

Ah thanks Nadia - I'll check it out!

Nadia said:

Katy if you see my flowers,I have use this recipehttp://veenaartofcakes.blogspot.com/2012/02/homemade-fondant-sugarp...but for flowers instead of corn syrup I use glucose.I cant found marshmallow here and I am very lazy to make homemade.So most of my work I have used this recipe.I hope this helps.

Katy, I use as little powdered sugar as possible for rolling these out so that the petals do not get too dry and so that I am not having to remove powdered sugar off of them.  The rolling is done in small batches on a silicone mat.  To make my rose petals I roll the fondant out as thin as possible (less than 1/16") and cut the petals out for about four roses at at time.  Any more than that and the fondant begins to dry out.

Nadia, thank you for posting this link. I am always looking for alternatives to pre-made fondant that will taste better and work better. This is going to be my next recipe to try. Thank you again!

Nadia said:

Katy if you see my flowers,I have use this recipehttp://veenaartofcakes.blogspot.com/2012/02/homemade-fondant-sugarp...but for flowers instead of corn syrup I use glucose.I cant found marshmallow here and I am very lazy to make homemade.So most of my work I have used this recipe.I hope this helps.

Thanks again Janet.  I sometimes think part of my problem is I can be too hasty!  I always see to be trying to do things in a rush instead of taking my time and obviously getting better results.

Janet M. Hall said:

Katy, I use as little powdered sugar as possible for rolling these out so that the petals do not get too dry and so that I am not having to remove powdered sugar off of them.  The rolling is done in small batches on a silicone mat.  To make my rose petals I roll the fondant out as thin as possible (less than 1/16") and cut the petals out for about four roses at at time.  Any more than that and the fondant begins to dry out.

I roll everything out on shortening.

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