Saturday 31 August 2013

Simple DIY Fondant Ribbon Bow Cake

Ok so this was the latest family birthday cake I made in June and the brief, from the 16 year old du jour, had something to do with a Manga series called The Death Note - charming!!. So I did my best to incorporate two elements from the series and wrapped it up in a fluffy fondant bow... it went down a treat!.


To make your own fluffy fondant bow you will need  
1. fondant 
(for the circles and the bow I used approx 500g of fondant in total)
2. rolling pin 
3.pizza or pastry cutter 
4.baking paper 
5. (optional) white choc melts


Step 1.
Roll out your fondant to about 5mm thickness
Step 2. 
Cut even lengths in your fondant as shown below, these can be any length... I used approx 9 inch lengths you will need approx 16 strips to complete your bow (that way you should have two or more spare just in case).


Step 3.
Now you have your strips, take 5 and fold them over as shown below, then flatten slightly so they are a bit flatter then the two loops shown in the image below - these will form your base ribbon loops.
Step 4.
Take three strips and loop them as shown below with a nice rounded center and pinch together tightly - try and make pointed loop ends if possible, this will make assembling much easier.
Step 5.
Take another two strips and cut them down by about a third or slightly more and form round loops again, these will form your top loops and then take another one or two strips and cut them in half and loop them again.
Step 6. (optional)
Take two strips and cut them in half them place a small marble or marshmallow under the half way point of the strip to elevate the middle and cut a v shape at one end - this will form the ribbon tails (see image below this one) 



You will now have a collection of loops in graduating sizes, leave them to dry out and harden for some hours or overnight.
So FYI I'm definitely no cake decorator, I just have a bit of fun with it all so excuse the uneven cutting and cracked lines in the fondant!!


Step 7.
Create Your Bow
Melt some white chocolate pieces in a bowl and place on the top of the cake or take a ball of fondant wet it slightly and place in the middle of the cake or on top of a round piece of fondant as shown below... you are basically going to stick the pieces of the bow to this ball/ melted chocolate dot 

Starting with the 5 flattest loops (or you could start with the ribbon tails you made and then continue with the flatter loops from there) stick them to the ball/ or melted chocolate and set in place, then add the the 3 round medium loops, then the 2 small loops and finish on top with the smallest loop. 

Your bow will look best of you can place the loops between one another... so place your first 5 loops on then try to place the next level of loops over lapping the spaces between the bottom level and so on.  


So I kind of forgot to take pics of this bit (very silly as this is the most important part to get right) so the above images here are two great examples of how to create this design as found via Adventures in Savings







xx
happy baking!



4 comments:

  1. Hi Tina,
    Beautiful.
    I'm thinking, next series of The great Australian Bake-Off...if there is one (?)
    I hope you are well.
    Love, Kylie x

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    1. Thank you lovely Kylie, I must say toward the end this design was more like "The Great Un-Australian Bake-Off" with my slap dash finishing ;-)!!! I'm well thank you lovely, lovely Kylie and so very glad to hear from you. xx Tina

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  2. All I can say is you're a clever cookie and well done. I love seeing cake decoration but it's not an art or talent I have patience for.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Trudie, I know what you mean about the patience factor, I cannot sit still long enough to teach myself to sew but I LOVE seeing others seeing the fruits of peoples labor... meanwhile baby Fraser is divine, hope you are doing well. xx Tina

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