Make-A-Cake Series: Gumpaste Bow

We are going to make a gumpaste bow to top any cake.

Here is what it looks like:

Supplies:

• Save

1. Pizza/fondant cutter
2. ruler
3. corn starch (that container is for putting power sugar on brownies but it has become my favorite way to sprinkle corn starch. You can get them in the brownie section at Michael’s. I never work without mine).
4. Gumpaste — I am using white and yellow but use whatever you’d like. You can use just one color…..or many.  Personally I think they look best with 1-3 colors.

Then measure and mark 6″ across the piece of fondant.
Then cut the top of the gumpaste off to make another straight edge.

Next step is to cut the loops.
I just use the width of my ruler and cut strips.
 It’s about 1.25 inches. I would not go much wider than that but more narrow (like an inch) works great too.

You need 13 loops total to make this bow.
And then 2 strips to make the ribbon tails (cut the same size).

You are using 12 strips to make the bow but make one extra just in case you have one brake. 
You will need 12 if doing a single color bow, 6 of one color and 7 of another if doing a 2-color bow, and 4,  4, and 5 of each color for a 3-color bow.

Try to cut all of your strips quickly. Gumpaste starts to dry fast. 

Take your cut strips one at a time and wet the ends with a small amount of water.

Then drape the strip over a dowel.  
My dowel is 1″ thick that I bought at a hardware store. It is resting on two overturned cake pans to give it some height.

After you drape it, pinch the ends together to close the loop.  Then pinch to make a pleat at the end.
This pleating will help make a tight bow when we assemble it on the cake.

• Save

Repeat this step until all your loops are hung.

Here are all of my little sugar soldiers drying!

• Save

We can start to assemble the bow on top of our already covered cake, after the loops are dry.
Need a reminder on how to cover a cake with fondant? Click here.

This bow is meant for the top of a 6″ cake. If you are topping a larger cake you will need more loops.

Using buttercream, make a dollop the size of a lemon cut in half, in the middle of the cake.

Add more buttercream.

Here is what it should look like at this point.

Add the ribbon tails now.
Cut the strip shorter to 3-4 inches. Add buttercream to the end of the strip to get it to stick.
Insert the ribbons into the bow wherever you think looks good.

DONE!
Not too hard right?

Happy decorating!