Hi everyone,
Can someone more experienced than I, tell me the best way to use a stiff impression mat on fondant? Do you apply it after the fondant is on the cake and gently press in, going around the cake several times?
Or do you apply it to the fondant once it's rolled out, but before it's on the cake?
Thanks in advance for the advice!
You should definitely imprint the fondant with the impression mat BEFORE you put the fondant on the cake. I have done both: before I put the fondant on the cake, which is the recommended and after, out of desperation....The former definitely worked better! If you use the impression mat after you have the fondant on the cake, you risk damaging the cake and your impression is not as clean. I know with the brick mat, you have to press quite hard to get a good impression. Good luck!
Thank you so much for the info! If you put the impression on before you cover the cake, doesn't it get flattened out when you smooth the fondant onto the cake with the fondant smoothers?
I'd like to do a cake with the diamond shape impressions, I've seen it done so beautifully on many cakes posted here.
Thanks again for the help!!
Actually with that type of impression mat you actually cover the cake first and then you can take the mat and put it against the cake and rub it into the fondant. Then you lift it up and align the lines and do the next set until you get to the end. Sometimes they dont line up so you have a "back" to the cake. But Sharon (SugarShack) has that one her fondant dvd and some nifty tricks on how to do it. Well worth the money!
There are also the larger impression mats that you actually have to do before you cover the cake as well. Geraldine Randome sells these type of mats. You basically roll out your fondant and put the impression mat over it and then lightly roll over the mat with your rolling pin. Then you have to carefully smooth it on the cake. It takes a lot of practice on these type of mats not to smoosh your design. I actually have four of them that I never use and want to get rid of for the sake of lack of space! But they have some really nice designs on them that you cant get with the other mats. Its basically like a giant stencil.
Thanks for the info! I saw your tiffany blue cake, and the effect you have the top tier is the one I'm looking to recreate. Did you do that with a stiff impression mat, or something else?
I've been looking at some of the larger mats and stencils online, and they're very expensive...saving my $$ for a cake that has a budget for it 
I actually used another type of mat that I got from Alan at Global. Its a small one, about the size of a sheet of paper maybe, maybe a bit smaller. Then I went over it with a tracing wheel to make it a bit more deeper.
I know the large ones are expensive. I have four of them and they cost about $65 a piece! Im surprised when I put them on ebay that I didnt get a single bid for the price I was asking. It was a steal!!! lol Ohwell. Im just running out of room in my house. My cake stuff has taken over the whole kitchen,dining room and then also my storage room!!!
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%
