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How to make a Poofy Bow {Fondant or Gum Paste}, Pt 1

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Today I'm going to share with you How to make a Poofy Bow! This is a 2 part tutorial... so grab a drink and stay a while!

How to Make a Poofy Bow Tutorial

First up, don't you hate it when you read a recipe all the way to the end to find out something is going to take exponentially longer than you planned? I do!

How to Make Pink Loopy Fondant Gum Paste Bow

So, let me say up front that generally speaking, you cannot do this in a single day! You will need at least one day of dry time, but 2-3 days is better!

Fondant Bow Tools

So, let's get started! Here's a list of what you'll need. Everything is not in the picture and you can probably substitute for some of these items, but this is everything I used.

Today I wanted to share a tutorial on how to make a pretty poofy bow with fondant or gum paste. For this post I'll be using Wilton gum paste (and referring to it), but you could also do homemade fondant with Tylose powder added. If you use fondant, it will need longer to dry and there is a possibility it won't ever get completely hard if you don't use enough tylose - that's why I really recommend gum paste!!

If you do choose to go with fondant, I don't usually measure, but my estimate is that you'll need 2-3 tsp. of Tylose per pound of fondant.

My first step is to make a round base for my bow. I roll out a small piece of gum paste, then cut a 3.5" circle. This is a super easy step.. just cut it and set it on your cookie sheet to dry.

Fondant Bow Round Cut Out

You do not want this gum paste paper thin... maybe an ⅛th".

Fondant Bow Round Bottom

After you've done that,  take about half of your remaining gum paste and knead it until it's soft and pliable (keep the other half wrapped so it doesn't dry out). Then roll it out pretty thin - large enough so that you can cut strips 7" long.

Fondant Bow 7 inch Rolled Out Gum Paste
Fondant Bow Cutting to 7 inches

I roll mine out on a flexible cutting board (I bought this cheap set of 5 and use them all the time!) with a thin layer of shortening on it to prevent sticking! Any smooth surface will work. After it's rolled out, trim it on all sides - but again, make sure it's at least 7" long in one direction.

Cut as many strips from it as I could (balling back up and re-kneading, then re-rolling until it runs out) then moved on to the other half. Note:  I made lots of red and green fondant before doing this bow, hence my hands are green and red. In addition (as if the red and green were not enough), apparently I have freakish, non-photogenic hands... yikes!
Fondant Bow Cutting Ribbons 1
Fondant Bow Cutting Ribbons 2
Fondant Bow Flat Single Ribbon

If you don't have a ribbon cutter, you could do all of this cutting with a pastry wheel and a ruler. My ribbons are each 1.5" wide. I do 3-4 strips at a time and make my loops, then roll out again, do 3-4 more, etc.

Note: the 7" long loops give you a bow that is about 6" in diameter. You can see this on a cake in part 2 of the poofy bow tutorial!

Back to your ribbons...

Fondant Bow Painting Ends with Glue

So, after I get a few strips of ribbon cut, I flip one over and paint each end with sugar glue. As I stated above, you can use water, but the glue is thicker and doesn't drip as easily (ie., I don't make nearly as big of a mess with it)! After it's painted, I pinch the ends to make them stick.

Fondant Bow Pinching End

I try do a special little tri-fold. I don't know how to explain it, but I think you can see it in these pictures...

Fondant Bow Pinching Ends

Fondant Bow Pinched End
Once both ends are pinched, you're going to fold the loop over and pinch the ends to each other. There should be enough sugar glue there to make them stick, but if you need to, paint a little more on.
Fondant Bow Folding Over Loop 1
Fondant Bow Folding Over Loop and Press
Fondant Bow Folding Loop
Fondant Bow Folded Loop
Now, if you leave this loop as it, it'll sag and be flat before drying. To prevent that, simply wad up a ball of plastic wrap and place it inside the loop... like this.
Fondant Bow Plastic Wrap Ball
This bow can have either 11 or 12 loops. For the bottom layer, you'll definitely want six loops (you'll see why in part 2). For those, I set them down flat and push them against the side of my (corn starch dusted) cookie sheet to keep them good and poofy...
Fondant Bow Loops Pushed to Side
I usually do at least one extra, if not two extra loops like this, just in case one or two crack or break.
Fondant Bow Flat Bottom Loops
After you have at least 6-8 laid flat, you'll repeat the above process and do another 5-8 loops (I recommend at least 6), except this time, you'll lay them on their sides. That way they are "poofy" with no flat sides for the top layers of the bow.
Fondant Bow Loops on Side
Fondant Bow Loops on Pan Finished
Lastly, you'll want to make some "tails" for your bow. I only made 2 for this bow, but you can add up to 5 or 6. These are super easy! Just roll out some more strips, but this time they only need to be about 4-5" long. Then cut them to make the pointy ends.
Fondant Bow Cutting Tail
Fondant Bow Tail Flat Crisp
Transfer them over to your cookie sheet, and wrinkle them up however you like. I placed a little piece of plastic wrap under the end to make it curl a little. *NOTE* The one thing I forgot to do was pinch the ends of the tails. You will want to pinch them just like the ends of the loop ribbons... this makes them much easier to put in your bow!!
Fondant Bow Tail on Tray Bent
Now, that's that... we're all finished with part 1. These loops will need to dry at least overnight (12 hours), but longer will not hurt! I really like to make mine 2-3 days in advance!
After you've let that dry, click on over to Part 2 to see how to finish up your bow!
Do you have any questions about this tutorial? Please leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer and help out!

How to Make a Poofy Bow Tutorial

More Cake Decorating Tutorials

About Rose Atwater

Rose Atwater is the founder and cake decorator behind Rose Bakes. She is baker, cake decorator, author, wife to Richy and homeschooling mommy to 6 wonderful kiddos! Her work has been featured in American Cake Decorating Magazine, Cakes Decor, Pretty Witty Cakes Magazine, Huffington Post and Cake Geek Magazine. Learn more here...

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kristen Miller

    Rose! I can't thank you enough! 🙂 It makes perfect sense so far and I am feeling more confident about making them already! I'll try it out for myself tomorrow. Yay!

    Reply

  2. Marie

    So you leave them out to dry or wrap and refrigerate them?

    Thanks!

    Reply

    • Rose

      If you refrigerate them, they will not dry/harden. I leave mine out at room temp or even place them on a cookie sheet in the oven. I just turn on the oven light for a tiny bit of extra heat (I don't actually turn the oven on!).

      Reply

  3. Marie

    Thank you!

    Reply

  4. Tanya

    Awesome tutorial! Thanks so much..neat with plastic wrap. I didn't even think to use that. :))

    Reply

    • Rose

      So happy to help! 🙂

      Reply

  5. Kate

    Thank you so much for taking the time to create this, super helpful! I have all my bits and pieces drying just now and will put it together towards the end of the week. X

    Reply

  6. Claudia Norman

    Thank you for this tutorial. Part one seems pretty
    Easy. I should be able to handle it. Lolling forward to part two.

    Reply

  7. Teresa

    Just made my first cake using your tutorial. Thank you so very much. Directions very easy to follow & my cake turned out fantastic!

    Reply

    • Rose

      Awesome! So glad to hear it!

      Reply

    • Rose

      I can't see an image when I click on that link.

      Reply

  9. Alicia

    I assume you just leave these completely open to air to dry out?

    Reply

    • Rose Atwater

      Yes!

      Reply

  10. Alicia

    My apologies! It appeared there were no comments until I scrolled on down the page. And thanks so much for taking the time to post this detailed tutorial!

    Reply

    • Rose Atwater

      No problem!

      Reply

  11. Jackie P

    Rose you are such a sweet lady to freely share your knowledge and talents. I have tried doing bows before but I did not think of doing them days in advance. And I love the little pinch on the ribbons. It is those little pearls of knowledge that helps us amateurs out here.

    Reply

  12. Leason

    Hi rose.I was up half the night making fondant for the first time.Really wanted to try the bow. It's been hours and it hasn't dried. I read over the instructions and saw I needed tulosr powder to hold it together.

    Will have to squash all my stripsthat I made and do something else.cause I don't hv tylose.
    Enjoy the tutorial though.

    Reply

    • Rose

      Oh goodness - sorry! You have to add tylose or gumtex to get fondant to dry hard.

      Reply

      • Leason

        Thank you.
        Will try to access tylose powder for my next try.

        Reply

  13. Nikki Thomas

    Hi Rose! Can you deliver (or have a customer pick-up) a cake with the fondant bow on top or should it be placed on top of the cake after delivery? Just not sure, whether the bow would be too heavy for the cake?? Also, does the bow require any additional support (similar to how a tiered cake requires dowel rods under each tier)?

    Reply

    • Rose

      I always put the bows on at home before delivery. I use melted candy melts to attach them and no, they're not too heavy!

      Reply

      • Nikki Thomas

        Great! Thanks!! I tried it out and came out perfectly!

        Reply

  14. Agatha

    Hi Rose, This is a great tutorial, thank you! Can you tell me how long each strip was? It says they are 1.5 inches wide, but how long do I have to have them? Sorry if I missed it in the directions. Thank you for your help 🙂

    Reply

    • Rose

      You know - it's been ages since I made a fondant bow, but I'm thinking 8-9".

      Reply

  15. Brenda Hiltz

    Loved the tutorial. In Part 2, can candy melts be used in place of melted white chocolate or, do you think it would dry too quickly?
    Thank you!

    Reply

    • Rose

      Absolutely!

      Reply

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