Hi every one!
I'm doing a tropical cake and am trying to make whimsical hibiscus flowers, but the issue I'm having is that they are too flimsy to form into the flower shape so they just fall flat again. I'm tried to prop them into something, but they are still too flimsy. When I make them thicker I can't squeeze the middle to make the flower shape-what am I doing wrong?
Here's where I found the tutorial and I'm using Duff's fondant (for the first time-and it tastes amazing!)
http://www.toppartyideas.com/hibiscus-sugarpaste-flowers/

Sillysierra- I am not an expert by any means, but I have found that the Duff fondant(which I agree tastes good)is softer than the Satin Ice or Wilton. I have heard that Duff's brand is actually Fonderific which is a different texture. It is softer and stretches more than some of the others. I don't know if this is the problem but you may want to try another brand. Maybe some of the professional will chime in here to help you. Good Luck!

I will often place a piece of foil over the top of a mug or tumbler. Push it down as deeply as desired and crimp tightly over the edges. Place your flower in it and prop the petals with torn bits of cotton or kleenex or TP to achieve a natural look. HTH.

I have yet to make any hibiscus but have found that Duff's fondant doesn't dry. At all. I had loops from 3 weeks ago that I justgot rid of because despite having added gum tex to the fondant it never did harden.

I used Duff fondant for a big loopy bow. The pieces were not hard like the gumpaste bow was, but after a week of drying, they were firm and held their shape for > 1 week.

Thanks every one for the help!!! I'll try the mug and foil idea. I have a week until this cake is due so I was hoping over the week it would harden-we'll see!!! I made some surfboards out of it too and they formed well, but haven't hardened yet.

Did you add any gumpaste to the fondant? I have not used Duff's fondant yet but whenever I make flowers I use a 50/50 mixture of gumpaste/fondant. Some fondant will never dry enough to hold a 3D shape.

I tried this same tutorial for making the hibiscus. I found using Wilton fondant mixed with gumtex worked really well. Maybe in your next adventure with a tropical cake this may work. I just bought some Duff red fondant for ribbons on a cake. Since reading the forum on this fondant, this will work great, I don't want it to dry hard. Thanks everyone!
Hammy

Nonilm-I added wiltons gumpaste to it and so I'm hoping *fingers crossed* that it dries hard enough-especially with the surf boards which I want to be sticking up out of the cake.

I used artificial Hibiscus flowers that I purchased at a craft store placed in an egg carton. This makes it easier to make the flower and gives them the shape you are looking for. Remove the stamen from the artificial flower. Take a oval cookie cutter and bend the end to shape a tear drop. Flatten petal on a leaf veiner to give texture and then place the first petal inside the artificial flower. Keep going until you have finished all the petals. You can take little pieces of paper towel to lift the petals a little if you like. Let them dry inside the flowers for a couple days. I used a royal icing star in the middle and added the stamen. The stamens were gumpaste dipped in yellow gold sugar crystals. http://allrecipes.com/Cook/13754506/Photos.aspx?Page=1

When I made hibiscus, I used MMF and the wilton 5 petal cutter shown in that tutorial. I cut between the petals, just like making a rose, frilled the edges, made veins on the flower with a veining tool, and dried them in an easter egg tray dusted with corn starch. I rolled a little cone shape for the middle, then cut a tiny star with a scrapbook cutter, put that on top of the cone shape and then added a small ball on top. Then just add some color to the center of the petals with petal dust.

Can you please telll me where I can find artificial hibiscus flowers? I have been looking for over a year. I've tried every Michael's, dollar store, Walmart, JoAnne's, Hobby Lobby and Target that I come across. I've wanted to use that method since I first saw the tutorial. Thanks if you can give me a heads up.

I'm not sure what size you are making your flowers, but when I made the ones for the turquoise cake in my pictures I put them in a shot glass to dry. I also used a 50/50 gumpaste/fondant mix to make the flowers. I used some torn paper towels to support the stamens while they dried.

I found mine at Michaels. You might try to search online.

pretty flowers Texas Rose!!! I think what I'll do is use the cutter, cut the petals like you did, and then prop them up with paper towels underneath...I think the paper towels or foil is what I was missing before.
Thanks all!

Make sure you dust the paper towels with cornstarch so the fondant doesn't stick to it. You can also use wadded up balls of plastic wrap, or put a sheet of foil over a cupcake pan and push the foil partway into each cup to make a former. (Dust the foil with cornstarch if you do it that way).