Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Heart Shaped Love Knots

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These little heart shaped knots are made from fondant that was extruded from my handy dandy clay tool.
Such a great tool to have in your toy box!

Here are a couple of styles that work well:

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I used this one from Walnut Hollow with a crank style handle along with the disc with 12 holes.



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This one works great if you ever want to extrude your lines directly on to your cake.

This is a tip I learned from one of the smartest bakers in the world, my sweet friend Jessica.
She piped the trim on her precious purse cakes one handed right onto the corners and other parts of the cake!
Amazing stroke of genius and a fabulous trick!
That way you don't have to worry about stretching or marking up the strand before it reaches its new home.
She really does make everything look so easy by working smarter, not harder.

This love knot concept would also work for wedding or anniversaries.
Or add any number of strings to represent a family instead of a couple.
Since Valentine's Day is around the corner, I decided to try them with a little non-traditional coral color added in.

To make the heart knots:
Color the fondant to desired shades.
I added a bit of shortening to make sure it would be easy to work with.

Load one color of fondant into tube of tool and extrude onto waxed paper.
Lay the individual strands slightly apart and not touching.
Cover with plastic wrap while forming the second color of strings.
I made my strands about 9-10 inches long so that I'd have
plenty of room for my clumsy fingers to tie the knot.

Using one strand of each color, carefully tie into a knot.
It's best if the fondant is slightly dry so that the strands don't stick
to each other but still pliable enough to form the knot without breaking.
Using your thumb and index finger, gently pinch the
bottom to form the point of the heart.
Allow to dry slightly.

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Place on cupcake or cake and trim ends to desired length.

Place a dot of royal icing to hold the pearl dragee in the center of the heart.

I could get carried away with these.
Can't you just see a whole line of "heart string" related creations?

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Happy Caking!

1 comment:

N8TRWMYN said...

Adorable cupcakes! My friend and I are planning a tie the knot theme for our friend's wedding and are using this suggestion. Thanks!