Desertm

Maybe this will help you: I have been using a clay gun for some time now, and I found that it is much easier to extrude fondant ropes from it if first I add some shortening to the fondant, in order to soften it.

Thanks everybody for your response! Yes, the internet, and this forum in particular, have been a very valuable resource for me - I have learned from you most of what I know. On the other hand, I am a sort of old fashioned person - I like the smell of the paper and the ink, to go over and over the same articles, to leaf through the pages of a book or a magazine, just for the pleasure of it.

I live abroad and I am not familiar with the magazines published in the US. I would like to subscribe to a magazine dedicated to cake decorating (this is what I do, in a small scale). Because of the high cost of delivery, I can afford a subscription to just one magazine. I like to read about techniques, original and unconventional ideas for cakes. Which one would you recommend? Thank you very much for your help!!

Thanks everybody for the kind words!! Genny - I did this just for the fun, and it my first work with pastillage. Reading Chefette's demo caused my fingers to itch tremendously. The only way I could soothe the itching was by working on this piece It is still standing as a show piece on the living room table. K8memphis - thanks to you too! I must say that you also were a great inspiration for me. I saw the pictures of the flowers you prepared for the wedding cake, and off I went to make some too. Those went to the top of a Henna ceremony cake which I hope to be able to post soon. Chefette - I used the recipe with the powdered gelatine. It's the only kind I can get here. (I live in a small country in the Middle East) As for the powedered sugar - we just have powdered sugar, no way to choose. I know it contains a certain percentage of cornflour, but I have no idea how much. I added just 6 tablespoons of water, and it came out just right. I had a pattern for the shoe, and just modeled the heel by hand, sort of sculpted it. As for the ribbons, I followed your explanation to the word: two pieces of different colored dough rolled together as thin as possible and cut into strips. Rolled them around a thick pen and left them to dry for 24 hours. So that's it - Hopefully I will be working on more projects like this - I enjoyed this demo tremendously, it was very illuminating and I am grateful to all of you for being here and doing what you are doing.

Hi, I am new here, and this is my first post. I want to express my thanks for the wonderful demo you have posted, and all the time and effort you have invested in it. I think the best expression of my thanks is to show here what I just finished yesterday, inspired by your demo. I know that I have not reached perfection yet, but I am a self taught person, who just got hooked into cake decoration late in my life, and am enjoying every moment of it! So thanks again, and thanks to EGullet for hosting this and all the incredible threads here!