Our editor, Rebekah Wilbur, test drives the new knit mold collection from Marvelous Molds. Designed by Pink Cake Box’s Anne Heap, the large collection offers a broad selection of knitted panels, borders, buttons, and decorative elements. Rebekah shares a step-by-step tutorial for some sweet little-knitted flowers using the Simpress Rib and Cable Knit Mold from the collection.
Knitted Fondant Flowers
by Rebekah Wilbur
One of my favorite things to do here at American Cake Decorating in my role as editor is to test drive new products. I was more than a little bit excited when these new knit molds, designed by Anne Heap and produced by Marvelous Molds, came on the market. I had the opportunity to put these molds through their paces and I was VERY impressed with the results.
The molds are easy to use, well made (as you would expect from a Marvelous Mold product), well designed (thanks to Anne), and offer a lot in the way of diversity in texture and design. I really liked all the different button options (especially the toggles) and thought that the border pieces were all very cute. The larger pieces in the collection (the Simpress molds) offered three distinct knit patterns. I decided to try all three designs out on my cozy-cake. The panels were easy to transfer to the cake and lined up well to create a seamless look. My only wish was that they were a touch longer- with the popularity of tall tiers, it makes covering the entire surface area a little tricky, though the cute borders are perfectly sized to cover any gaps.
I found that of the whole collection, the larger Simpress molds were my favorite, they offered the most value for money in terms of what you can do with them. Yes, you can cover a whole cake, but you can also use sections of the mold to create borders, brooches, decorative elements, buttons, and even flowers. I’ve included a cute step-by-step of a simple knitted flower below.
Components:
- Marvelous Molds Simpress Rib and Cable Knit Mold
- Small Rolling Pin
- Cornstarch for dusting
- Crisco/vegetable shortening
- Colored gum paste (I used Satin Ice)
- Sharp Knife
- Edible glue/Water
- Small Paintbrush
Roll out some colored gum paste to approx. 1/4 inch in thickness. I’ve used a warm yellow color, but you can use whatever color you like.
Place the fondant over the mold and work into the mold using your fingers. You can also follow the instructions on the back of the Simpress packaging, but it’s important to make sure that for this technique, the fondant/gum paste isn’t too thick.
Using a small rolling pin, roll over the mold to cut away any excess fondant. Place the rolling pin on the inside of the mold to roll the paste into the texture of the mold.
Turn out the mold and lay flat. Allow the paste to set for just a couple of minutes. This will make it easier to cut.
Using the pattern as a guide, cut vertically along the different sections of the rib and cable knit.
Taking one of the wider rib pieces. We will begin to make the flower.
Bend the gum paste around and over on itself to create a sort of “ribbon” shape.
Roll the outside perimeter (edge) of the ribbon over to give a more rounded appearance. This will also help to disguise the “cut” edge.
Trim away the excess to create a petal shape. Repeat using the other wider pieces of rib knit to create 5 larger petals.
Using the thinner pieces of rib knit, follow the same procedure as in the previous steps to create the smaller (inside petals).
You should have 5 smaller petals and 5 larger petals to create a full flower.
Place a petal down and then lay another over-top, slightly overlapping the previous petal. Use a little edible glue or water to secure in place and press to seal.
Continue adding petals until you have created the first row as shown.
Add the smaller petals following the same steps to create the inside flower.
Roll a small ball of gum paste in a contrasting color and place onto the rib section of the mold. Press down to flatten the ball and imprint with the pattern below.
Carefully peel off the “button” from the mold. You could use the Knit Mold Button Collection to make the centers but I wanted to show how the look could be achieved with just the Simpress mold.
Glue the button to the center of the flower using a little water or edible glue. The flower is now finished and ready to be placed on your cake. Attach the flowers with a little royal icing or melted white chocolate.