Today, we are going to be fancy! Ruffles, whether fondant or buttercream, continue to be in high demand for cakes of all occasions.
We have made a beautiful (yet simple!) ruffled buttercream video in the past, and so I am happy to add a ruffled fondant cake tutorial to our collection.
I have to say, although rolling & ruffling strips of fondant is time consuming, applying them to the cake comes very easily and was actually fun for me. The final look is simple elegance, I hope that you enjoy the tutorial!
Materials:
I used Liz Marek's fondant recipe for today's tutorial. It seems to be my first choice these days, but is especially wonderful for ruffles as it can be rolled extremely thin. Other brands would be fine too, but I would advise against Fondarific/Duff's (unless you do a practice run), as it is very soft & may be more difficult to work with.
Buttercream (The cake tiers were frosted before covering with fondant.)
6" tier - 18 oz. fondant (tinted with a touch of Americolor Deep Pink)
8" tier - 24 oz. fondant, + 2 lbs. for the ruffles!
Gel Colors: Americolor Deep Pink
Wilton Sugar Pears (for details on top tier)
FMM Multi Ribbon Cutter (Optional, you can cut your fondant strips by hand)
Cel Pad
Ball Tool -Helpful for frilling. (Other options: cel stick, toothpick)
Supports: I used 4 bubble tea straws cut to the height of the bottom tier to support the 6" top tier.
Cake Boards- I used cardboard cake circles beneath each tier.
Cake Base/Pedestal of choice
Glues of Choice- Sugar Glue (¼ tsp. tylose combined with 2 tablespoons warm water), Melted white candy melts for adhering ribbon roses. (I also used piping gel to attach my sugar pearls.)
More Elegant Ruffled Cakes
In addition to today's cake, you may also enjoy some of these other elegant styles! There are endless options when it comes to these beautiful cake decorating techniques!
Beautiful Floral Fondant Appliques
Elegant Vintage Buttercream Piping
This cake is gorgeous. I've been wanting to try these ruffles for so long. I just practiced and every time I use the ball tool on my strip it tears. I'm so frustrated. Any idea what's wrong? Am I maybe not letting the fondant sit out long enough? Is the fondant too soft? I'm just practicing with Satin Ice, it might need a little tylose?
@Lori--I'm sorry, we haven't tried it yet! We have some extra ganache in the fridge, will try to frost a little cake this week and give it a try! I really think that it should work since the ganache sets nice and firm.
@stephanie72- I'm sorry that you are having trouble with the ruffling! Is your ball tool metal? I don't have very good luck with the plastic ones. A little tylose wouldn't hurt...you could try that if leaving it out a bit longer doesn't do the trick. You could also skip frilling the edges altogether, as you'll get some nice waves anyway as you pinch and make gathers in your strips when placing on the cake. Let us know how it goes! ;0)
Yes my ball tool is metal. What I'm finding is happening is as I'm rolling it over, the fondant edge is buckling on itself causing tears. I just need to keep practicing. I think maybe the fondant is too soft. I'll keep trying - I'm determined! Thanks for your advice!
I loved the way you added extra fullness to the ruffles, very pretty.
Thanks Kimberly!!
Hi Melissa
I have tried the ruffle cake and had some trouble with the ruffles falling over. I kept them up with tooth picks but it seemed messy. Does letting the fondant strips air dry for 15 minutes help the ruffles to stay up?
I am also curious about how much time it takes to apply all those ruffles.
@Lorrie-- I'm sorry that you had trouble! Were the strips falling off...or did they remain attached but were just droopy? I'm thinking drooping but let me know if I'm misunderstanding. Yes, I do think that allowing them to dry more before placing on the cake will help if the strips seem overly soft. You could also knead in a little tylose and that will help also. What type of fondant do you use? I really love Liz Marek fondant for this project because I can roll the strips so thin.
@Melissa-- I would guess around 45 minutes?
Your cake is beautiful. Can you do this on a buttercream cake ? And if so which would do better and ALL BUTTER buttercream or 50/50 butter and shortening? Also what would be the best thing to use as your glue?
thanks so much
Hi Wendy--Do you mean you'd like to attach the fondant ruffles directly to buttercream? I would be a little worried that the weight of the ruffles would cause sliding issues but I've never tried it. If you mean that you'd like to cover your buttercream-crumb-coated cake with a layer of fondant & then add your ruffles, that would be fine.
Finally, we do have a buttercream ruffle cake in our Videos section if you'd like a similar look but using all buttercream. Hope this helps!
I enjoyed this video. I have applied fondant ruffles directly to a buttercream cake with no weight/sliding issues.
Oh, and I should add it was a bit difficult to cut. The ruffles "mushed up" under the knife. Couldn't get it to cut cleanly. Pretty, though.