Hey,

I had a previous disaster when colouring fondant and using it the same day (yup I'm an idiot) - anyway I am going to be covering a cake this week that is coloured purple and I know that the fondant is going to be mega soft after colouring. I intend on colouring today and covering tomorrow so it will have time to rest but I know you can add some tylose to firm it up, but how much tylose should I add?

Any tips would be fab

Sorry, can't help you out with that question but I do know that they advise adding tylose to make fondant stiff like gumpaste. You don't want that to happen so why not just add more powdered sugar or airbrush purple onto the fondant once applied?

I don't have an airbrush and I don't really like the finish of air brush colour when trying to get a solid colour on fondant - I think airbrushes are good for lots of things, but I'm not sure I like the effect it has when trying to give a cake an all over solid colour. I don't want to add icing sugar because I'd need to add quite a bit which would change the structure of the fondant, whereas tylose just strengthens because you only add a small amount, plus icing sugar would change the colour of my fondant.

Thanks for the idea anyway

You don't want to add tylose to sugarpaste that you are using to cover a cake, it will simply toughen up and crack if you try to roll out to cover. I often colour and immediately cover a cake - what colouring agent are you using that makes the sugarpaste so soft? If it's very soft you could wrap in clingfilm and pop it in the fridge for 10 minutes maybe?

You do not need tylose when coloring fondant, if it gets a little soft, let it sit for a few minutes in open air, then knead to keep it from over drying. Do not let it sit too long you don't want elephant skin when you roll it out!

I absolutely concur: never add tylose to the fondant you're actually using to cover the cake, only to the parts you're using to make figurines and such. Not only does the stuff smell and taste like glue, but it completely changes the texture of your fondant as soon as it starts working, as someone mentioned. Ever tried putting it in a clay extruder? The edges come out completely rough and ragged, as opposed to regular fondant which will be smooth; same thing happens if you try to use it to cover a cake. Try a different brand of colors, if you feel you have to add so much that you can't make it up with powdered sugar (Americolor is fabulous, no color too dark to make it work well). And I usually just let the stuff rest for a little bit after I've colored it, since the warmth of my hands makes it all the softer, and letting it sit for a little bit firms it up sufficiently. PS is the only thing you should really be adding to make the "cover-your-cake" fondant more firm. HTH!

I agree. No Tylose in fondant to cover a cake. I added color and melted chocolate to some fondant the other day and when I found it too soft to work with, I refrigerated it for an hour and then went back and started kneading it again and it worked great. HTH.

I have heard of people using a small amount of tylose to firm up fondant that has been coloured to the point of being soft so perhaps a small amount is ok?? I'm not sure, but I did refrigerate my fondant after colouring the last time for a good few hours but it made no difference - it had firmed up slightly but it still tore on me and was a complete nightmare to work with. I need to get better gel colours, because the wilton ones are rubbish. Luckily I can get Americolor here in the UK so I'll need to invest in them.

I don't buy pre-coloured fondant because here in the UK we have the choice of...........rubbish fondant or..................even more rubbish fondant. I literally just found Carma Massa Ticino fondant and it is amazing and I refuse to go back to regal ice etc, and the ticino only comes in white so I have to colour it.

If anyone in the UK knows of a brand of fondant available in the UK that covers cakes well then let me know.

Thanks.

Is it Renshaws professional regal ice that you use? I find this works great for me, i buy from Cake stuff online, good price too. Re pre coloured fondant the brand M & B's has a fantastic range of colours, lots of really vibrant colours, but it is a softer fondant and takes some practice to get a good finish. I'm down in Ayr, so hello from the west coast

I have used renshaw professional regal ice and I hate it. It's stretchy, it tears and I always get elephant skin with it. I roll my icing to 2 or 3mm thick and I just cant achieve that with regal ice because as soon as I pick it up with the rolling pin to cover the cake it stretches.

I'll need to try some other brands i.e. covapaste and there is another one that people have been talking about. However I'll only use another brand for colours like black, red and green because the Massa Ticino is just the best!!

I just wish we had access to some other brands i.e. Satin Ice, Fondx etc