How do I do fondant feathers on owl cookies? What shape do I cut them?
TIA

On cakes I have seen them use a leaf cutter and just turn it upside down so the tip goes in toward the body and the bottom fat part is down or some kind of raindrop turned upside down.

Thanks - I'll give it a try!

AI have to make an owl cake. A realistic one like Cakebuds has here on CC. My plan is to built it with two 3D ball cakes and apply on it pre made feathers and finish it with airbrush. My question is... Should I make feathers out of gumpaste or fondant? Do I need stick them on cramb coat or should I cover cake with fondant? Is anybody has an idea how to make such cake? Any suggestions?

AAnyone?

AYou may want to post a picture or link of the inspiration cake. I can't find it.

A[URL=http://cakecentral.com/b/contest/owl-cake-contest-2012]http://cakecentral.com/b/contest/owl-cake-contest-2012[/URL] Thanks Krypto. Silly me, I didn't think about it.

AHelp please.....

omg--that's the best owl cake ever--i would cut out the different choppy pieces that you can see there and smooth the cut lines and use a fat pin to make the stripey indents--like the needle for a meat infuser--a meat hypodermic needle plunger thing--know what i mean--they insert the marinades into the meat with 'em--

that's how i'd do that--gorshk (from popeye) it's the beautiful-est

AThank you for your response k8memphis. I was thinking about an owl on 1st place too. It is awesome owl but I don't think I have enough skills to make such beauty. But I did wrote down your suggestion, for my future projects:grin: thank you. I am already working on feathers for an owl on 3rd place. I just don't know if I am doing it right. I am using small rose petal cutters to make feathers and I do let them dry on plastic spoons. I also got a feather mat and cutter for wings. Don't know how I will do it yet. I really hope my project will not turn out to be my biggest embarrassment. It is for my hubby's father 60th birthday who is in love with owls .

oh no worries --

that should work great, tatiana, but also be prepared to make a few feathers as you apply them so it will have the flexibility to conform to the cake--that's kind of form fitting, his feathers--i think you'll do great--

best owl cake making to you

AThanks again k8memphis. I appreciate your help.i have a question for you. Do you think maybe I should attach "fresh" feathers only? And how should I attach them? Piping jell? RI? Should I cover cake with thin fondant first or glue them right to crusted bc?

oops missed this one, tatiana

i would apply feathers to buttercream myself--all the choices you mentioned would work -- there's no wrong way to do it--me, i would apply the feathers a la minute as i made them--but you wanna make sure that they hold their shape--so i'd still probably make up a bunch on the spoons and let them sit that long (as long as it takes to fill the spoons)--you want them soft but stable--

i did not go back & view the picture today--you might want to fondant the head-- but crusting or non-crusting buttercream is what i would use to apply feathers to--

would love to see a picture if you get a chance--

best to you

AI am very nervous about this cake. It's coming up this week,so I will come back by weekend with pictures of my creation . Fingers crossed. :grin:

fingers and talons crossed

AOk, I am back with my embarrassing owl cake. Thanks goodness it didn't go to the party because it was canceled in the last minute. But I am not of the hook yet. I will need to make it again in July. Crossed fingers it will be better than first one. I made carrot cake with a cream cheese frosting with a little lemon zest in it (birthday "boy's" favorite). I didn't use even one pre made feather. It just didn't work, they were looking awkward and breaking when I was trying to stick them to the cake. So I used freshly made feathers which to my surprise, didn't take too much time to make. My problem was my airbrush. I never handled it in my hands before. I thought how difficult it can be, oh boy how wrong I was about that. As a result I got one very angry and nasty looking bird. :D[ATTACHMENT=1745]image.jpg (1,624k. jpg file)[/ATTACHMENT]

i agree he's a little dangerous looking-- would not want to encounter him on a walk in the woods unless he was on my side  but wow you did it! the feathers are amazing, tatiana -- 

my second and third attempts are almost always better than my firsts--can't wait to see the next one--

isn't that funny how just that little bit of give is so important and if you need to you can insert little pieces of folded paper towel to hold up the feathers a bit to retain some more texture--but i'm just throwing that out there--you got the feathers and shape down perfect--and they are nocturnal birds so the paint job works too--

you might wanna do his eyes in layers with different colored fondant circles, ovals whatever--real thin--then apply them to his face and spruce them up with a brush if needed--just a thought --

good work

AThat's great advise, thank you. I will keep it in mind for my next attempt. I made mistakes one after another with this cake. I hope my experience will help someone to prevent mistakes i made with my cake:-D First I did use a cream cheese frosting which made me very nervous to keep the cake for too long on my counter. Second mistake, my MMF was too soft. No Mather what I was doing the feathers were drooping down. I probably should of add some tylose powder to make it harder. Third mistake, I didn't let my feathers to dry before airbrush ( again because of cream cheese frosting ). It added even more moisture to the fondant. Mistake number 4, I did store the cake in a refrigerator which made fondant looking like some nasty substance from "ghostbusters". How to store such cakes? I stored fondant cakes in a refrigerator twice and both times they were a mess.

oh marshmallow fondant-- i would recommend store bought fondant-- i add cornstarch to store bought fondant for projects like that-- and you can try the cs thing with your m fondant--but i would just cut to the chase and get store bought -- i store all my cakes in the fridge

AHonestly I never tried store bought fondant and I have no idea which one is taste good or good to work with. Any suggestions for a brand? I have a question about refrigeration? Do you cover your cakes with a paper bags or do you store them in cake boxes? Do you use coated boxes or uncounted? Or you just leave them uncovered? Thanks a lot for your help K8memphis !