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wrinkly sugar figurines


alligande

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I know there are some great cake artists on this board, so maybe some one can help me. Every time I make figures for a cake using sugar paste they end up wrinkly, on some like the pug I made it works really well!!! others the effect is not what I am looking for. I have tried lots of diffrent recipes for modeling paste, sugar paste etc the same thing happens. Just so you know this is a problem only with figures, ribbons, flowers etc do not have this finish.

Hope some one has some advice

Thanks Karen

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If it's happening while you are modeling the item, you may want to add a bit of fondant to the gumpaste to give it a bit more working time. You may try adding a bit of shortening to it too. You only have a few moments to shape, bend, etc, and after a while, especially if left uncovered, there is no changing the shape of something without causing the wrinkles.

But, if it occurs while the item is drying or afterwards, the problem is that the outside is drying much quicker than the inside, causing the wrinkles. I use a 50/50 mixture of gumpaste/fondant for all large items and body parts, which helps greatly with the drying time and the strength of the item. Depending on the size of the item, and depending on whether it will have clothes, etc. I will poke a few holes here and there with a toothpick (oviously in places that will be covered), to help it with the drying inside.

Sharon

Sharon's Creative Cakes

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I think the problem is the outside drying before the inside, and I do add tylose to the mixture. It is very frustrating to have made a figure and then come back and found that it has a new texture! Most of the figures I have made have been animals and have not been wearing clothes so I have not been able to cover the wrinkles.

I will try adding holes to aid drying.

thanks Karen

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When you've modeled the figure (arms, torso, legs, whatever), how do you position it while it dries? Perhaps the wrinkling occurs if whatever you're using for support flexes?

I sometimes make a thick bed of cornstarch (to protect a rounded shape like legs) in a sheet pan and leave it for a few days. Other shapes - like a beach umbrella, need to dry over a bowl and that needs to be liberally dusted with cornstarch and carefully moved over the drying period to prevent sticking to the support (and breaking).

I also blend gum paste and fondant and change the ratio depending on what I'm modeling.

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I like the idea of the corn starch bed, I do not have a problem with thin shapes, like a beach umbrella, it is with figurines drying unevenly (i think) I will try blending fondant and gum paste together, and see if that helps. I knew this was the place to come for some other ideas.

thanks for the input.

another question how long do you allow for your figures to dry, I am always pushing the envelope on time.

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I'm modeling a (stand-up) skier for this coming Saturday, and started today so I'd be able to use it by Saturday. I'm also modeling several styles of legs/torso just in case I want something different depending on how the final product comes out - I'm not a skier myself (and have never been on a ski slope!) so designing a ski mountain cake is this week's stress for me :blink:

If I am starting late (say, Friday night with the aforementioned skier!) and time doesn't allow for something to dry completely, I go for straight gum paste with some tylose or CMC added and try to make sure the figure is leaning on something or has some part of the design for support (Dumbo's ears are pinned back onto the body, for example)

I have several books by Debbie Brown and Masie Parish - both are UK based sugar artists with excellent instructions on modeling figures (people, animals, scenes - now if only one of them were a skier!!

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I'm new to this stuff so I may be way off-base here...

...but, if the inside is taking longer to dry than the outside, wouldn't it be possible (and a good idea) to build up your figures slowly, allowing the inner core to dry before adding the next 'layer' of your sculpture? it would take longer, but if that's the cause, it seems to me that this could be a solution.

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has any one tried building a larger sugar figure using a pre-hardened core? it sounds like an intresting idea.

I wasn't going to jump into this thread since I model almost exclusively with modeling chocolate. I find it easier in a lot of ways, and the best thing is I don't have to worry about drying time, which allows me to do a lot of types of cakes with shorter notice.....although I STILL hate short notice. Why can't people plan ahead better? Argh.

Anyway.

Whenever I have to model something that is going to be thick or bulky, I use styrofoam as my core. It's lightweight and the porousness of it allows gumpaste and fondant to dry nicely. Even better, it's great for sticking skewers and dowels into, so you can position your figures on your cakes securely. A lot of times with modeled figures, weight is a big issue and styrofoam solves this.

I have several books by Debbie Brown and Masie Parish - both are UK based sugar artists with excellent instructions on modeling figures (people, animals, scenes - now if only one of them were a skier!!

Jeanne, whenever I have to do a model or a figure that I'm not sure of (I don't ski either!), I do

a Google Image Search and find pictures and work from that. If you type in "skier" you will get a ton of pics showing skiers in their skiing glory. I did a ski mountain cake once. I chose to do my skier in the classic "slalom" pose...knees bent, both poles at sides for balance, etc. Here's a pic...

I'm not the best photographer, plus I always take my pics when I'm tired and just wanna go home, so I never bother to get a nice backdrop, etc, then I always regret it later. But maybe this will help.

skier2.jpg

As per usual, except for the fondant covering the cake to give me my "snow", everything else is

done with modeling chocolate. Oh yeah, another advantage to modeling chocolate is that you can build your cake first, and then model your figures to fit it. I built my skier right on the cake. Body first, then head, arms and legs.

To be fair, the big disadvantage to modeling chocolate is of course, heat. If you work and live in warmer climates, making figures with modeling chocolate probably isn't the best idea since they'd all end up looking like the Wicked Witch of the West (I'm melting!!!!). But, since it IS Winter here in North America, I'll bet most of you could experiment with it now, if you wanted.

Alligande........

I have done some things in fondant and sugarpaste, but never experienced any wrinkling problems......that stumps me, but I'm guessing it certainly has something to do with an uneven drying process. Wish I knew how to help you better on that one!!!

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Anne,

I love the idea of using modelling choclate, but how do you get the variety of colors? and what recipe do you use. You are right this is a great time of year to try, unfourtuantly in the summer I think it might be a problem!! mind you as far as I can tell there is no sugar product that works well in heat/humidty maybe every one should have their parties in A/C. The idea of styrofoam core is great and I think will work with gumpaste/fondant as well.

Thanks for jumping in I am looking for all the advice I can get.

Karen

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I love the idea of using modelling choclate, but how do you get the variety of colors? and what recipe do you use.

You can use anything to color modeling chocolate, because when you add the corn syrup to the chocolate to make it in the first place, the chocolate in essence has already seized, so adding liquid color to it won't make it seize any more. However, the more liquid or gel color you add to it (especially when you want deeper tones), the more slack it gets, so I usually use a combination of gel/powder color to maintain consistency. I get most of my powdered colors from Country Kitchens SweetArt.

My modeling chocolate recipe is as follows, and it's based on using Guittard White Satin Ribbon.

Other brands of white chocolate behave differently, so adjustments may be needed (such as using a little more or less corn syrup).

In micro, melt 6 lbs white chocolate. Stir often! Remember WC burns easily!

When melted and perfectly smooth, heat 2 2/3 cup corn syrup for about a minute in micro.

In a large plastic bowl, add your corn syrup to your melted chocolate and stir rather quickly,

making sure you scrape the sides of the bowl often. I use a big rubber spatula. The mixture

will seize and clean the sides of the bowl. When completely mixed, press mixture into a flat

pan that has been lined with plastic wrap. Fold the plastic wrap up over the top. Put in fridge

to set up, then bring out to room temp, break off pieces and knead it smooth. If it's cold

out, I put it in the micro for about ten seconds so it doesn't kill my arm off to knead it.

Hope that helps! :smile:

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Annie, you have just SAVED my life! Or at least added years back onto it! :biggrin:

I am going to ditch the gum paste skier in favor of modeling chocolate, I've been wanting to try it (but all I have is Schokinag WC in chips, the only Guittard white I can get is the cookie drops, which are kinda waxy, but maybe that is a good thing for modeling chocolate...) and the skier's legs in all truth are looking kinda lame.

I had been thinking three tiers, 11, 8, 5 because this is for a - you guessed! bar mitzvah and it "only needs to serve 40 but I want WOW" and I can stack it and use the scraps to pad out the sides. I was planning on fondant snow, but after that I was completely lost.

You're my hero today!

Now for the happy dance... thank you thank you thank you! :wub:

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Oh yeah, cookie drops are not good for modeling chocolate or anything you need to melt white chocolate for. Those damn chips have additives to help them maintain their shape in cookies and are a bitch to melt!!!!! It's better to chop up a white chocolate bar. Yeah, I hate chopping chocolate, but sometimes you have no choice!

Another thing.....you can buy in modeling chocolate too. Out here, my specialty supplier, Peterson's, carried it in white and dark. It's been so long since I ordered it....I'm not sure what the brand was....maybe Cocoa Barry.

I'm SO GLAD I was able to help! I'm home for nearly two weeks recovering from carpal tunnel surgery and I need to feel useful somehow!

Y'all will probably see me post a lot here for a while.

Try not to throw any rotten tomatoes. :raz::raz::raz:

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My modeling chocolate recipe is as follows, and it's based on using Guittard White Satin Ribbon.

Other brands of white chocolate behave differently, so adjustments may be needed (such as using a little more or less corn syrup).

In micro, melt 6 lbs white chocolate. Stir often! Remember WC burns easily!

When melted and perfectly smooth, heat 2 2/3 cup corn syrup for about a minute in micro.

I got this recipe from Annie on a different thread and just used it last week -- the recipe I had been using called for a higher proportion of corn syrup. I used 2 lbs Guittard white callets (910g) to 7/8 cup corn syrup (300g).

Works like a champ. Much easier to handle than the recipe I was using before. Thanks much, Annie!

FWIW, I used it to create the labels on this beast:

champagne300.jpg

Just shy of 3 feet tall, it was. Loads of fun to make. Of not until after it was done did it dawn on me that I might have trouble fitting it into the back of my CR-V. I think I had about 1/4" to spare as it slid in. :shock:

B. Keith Ryder

BCakes by BKeith

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Major Kudos Keithy! Very nice bottle! What does the label say? I can only make out "Concert".

Was the cake made for someone's musical debut?

I'm glad my mod choc recipe helped you out! Real nice job on the fondant covering....bet that was the fun part, huh? :laugh:

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Major Kudos Keithy! Very nice bottle! What does the label say? I can only make out "Concert".

Was the cake made for someone's musical debut?

I'm glad my mod choc recipe helped you out! Real nice job on the fondant covering....bet that was the fun part, huh? :laugh:

"Fifteenth Anniversary Concert". Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA. Did that with a silk screen (first time). Neat technique, but I need to work out some kinks.

The fondant wasn't as big a beeyach as it could have been. In the past, I'd have tried to cover it all in one go. But I used another of your tips -- wet spatula to join seams, and boy did that make things easier. Why didn't someone tell me that years ago?!?!

B. Keith Ryder

BCakes by BKeith

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Nice cake Keith! What did you use as your ink thru the silk screen? I love working with chocolate plastic but I haven't mastered putting images on it. I usually paint freehand with warm chocolate diluted in cocoa butter. I played around once trying to use pcb cocoa butter colors on it, but that didn't come out nice. I'd love to know how to paint on plastic chocolate. Anyone???

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Nice cake Keith! What did you use as your ink thru the silk screen? I love working with chocolate plastic but I haven't mastered putting images on it. I usually paint freehand with warm chocolate diluted in cocoa butter. I played around once trying to use pcb cocoa butter colors on it, but that didn't come out nice. I'd love to know how to paint on plastic chocolate. Anyone???

I used cocoa paste -- a paste made from cocoa powder and water. That's what was recommended in the article I was working from. It was frustrating because I could never get it dark enough. I think next time I might try tempered chocolate thinned with a little cocoa butter.

All the swirly bits were painted freehand with some of the cocoa paste thinned to a workable painting consistency, and gold lustre dust mixed with lemon extract.

B. Keith Ryder

BCakes by BKeith

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Anne a question for you, when you paint on choclate do you have the problem of the color rubbing of? I have tried this a couple of times and although I was pleased with the way it looked, I was very worried when I saw fingers approaching. It also made placing the item on the cake a little challenging.

thanks Karen

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Anne a question for you, when you paint on choclate do you have the problem of the color rubbing of? I have tried this a couple of times and although I was pleased with the way it looked, I was very worried when I saw fingers approaching. It also made placing the item on the cake a little challenging.

I think no matter what you used to paint on chocolate, the color would rub off at some point.....especially if you touch it. I have found that when I use the powdered color/alcohol

mix and let it dry thoroughly, it will stand up to a touch here and there, but not a rub.

For instance, if I were doing, say, a wine label like Keith did, I'd paint the label and make

sure I left enough room at the edges for my fingers to handle it as I'm placing it on the

wine bottle...then I don't have to worry about accidentally rubbing off any painting I did.

Sure, handling something you painted on can get a little tricky, but it's a lot LESS tricky

than trying to paint on something that's already been applied.....but it depends on the angle.

I do best when whatever I'm working on is lying down flat.....when it's vertical it's a lot

harder. :smile:

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