Draw Open Book on Cake

My second fondant decoration was an open book!  I really loved this one–

And here is how they were made:

First let's flashback to the last tutorial, because all of this still applies–I used Wilton's fondant in white, and Wilton's icing coloring to tint it.  Other useful and necessary items: A rolling pin, toothpicks, a cutting board, and a sharp knife.  It's also a good idea to have a container with a lid or a zip-lock bag handy for any fondant that you aren't using, because it will dry out if you leave it exposed for more than a few minutes.  It's also important to make sure that your hands and your work surface are clean and completely free of lint or crumbs–any bit of dust will stick to your fondant and look vile (especially against the white).

Your first step is (shockingly) a lot like the first step in making the closed book–just take a piece of fondant and shape it into a rectangle.  Make it thinner and larger than your last rectangle–

Lay your fondant rectangle on your very clean work surface, and gently use the back of your knife to make a deep crease in the middle–this forms the spine of the book.  Don't go too deep! Halfway should be about right.

Then gently press the crease open and smooth the edges to get a nice curve–I used the flat of my knife for this, but you can also just shape it with your fingers.  You want the curve to be highest near the middle of the book and to slope down towards the edges.  The shape you're looking for is a bit like a mustache, or an upper lip–

All of that shaping may have made your rectangle less distinct, so you might want to trim the sides to make them even

Now it's time to trim the edges of the pages–you don't want to cut straight down for this.  Instead, hold your knife at a slight angle and trim the edges so that they have a slant–

Now that you have your basic shape you're ready to make the lines for the pages!  This is the same method that you used in the last tutorial–just use a gentle sawing motion with your knife to make shallow cuts on the slanted edges.

You can even cut a little deeper into the corners and curl them up slightly–I thought that the result was really cute–

Use the tip of your knife to draw lines on the top and bottom of the book–they should start at the center and go out, following the curve of the upper edge–

Set this piece of fondant aside, and add color to a smaller piece of fondant to use for your book cover, just as you did in the last tutorial.  This time you just roll out the colored fondant, set the pages that you made on top, and trim the cover to size around them (leaving just a bit of space, so that the cover shows around the edge).

Turn the book over and use a toothpick to make two grooves for the spine–gently rub the toothpick back and forth to get a distinct mark–

Also, try not to make nail marks in your fondant.  Ahem.

Turn your book back over–I put mine on top of two toothpicks, to help it keep its shape–

And you're done!  If you leave your book out in a container with no lid the fondant will harden, making it easier to handle when you're ready to set it on your cupcake.

(Thank you to Angela for taking these pictures!)

Tagged: cookery, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, party themes, tutorials

Draw Open Book on Cake

Source: https://agreyeyedgirl.wordpress.com/2010/10/12/how-to-make-and-open-book-out-of-fondant/

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