Gunging 2 - Sugar Spackle For Your Less Than Perfect Fondant Cakes

For her 17th birthday my niece requested a 2 tier cake with turquoise and white roses.  Sadly her cake just wasn't meant to be.  I didn't finish the gumpaste roses, one of the cakes collapsed in the oven, and the new fondant I was trying out had some serious issues.  Everything went wrong with this cake, so my frustration level was off the chart.  In the last 30 minutes I threw this together.  Nothing Pin-worthy, but good enough for family.

Beyond the collapsing cake, the biggest issue with this week's attempt was the fondant.  It was just released in the USA, and I had serious problems with it right from the start.  I finally contacted the company, and they agreed that there was a problem and offered to send me a new bucket.

But silly me I went ahead and used the "messed up" fondant.  Big mistake, cause this is what I got!!  

But actually I didn't worry too much about the TEN gaping holes in the fondant, because I had a secret weapon.  A secret weapon called Gunge.  Gunge is essentially sugar spackle for your cake.  With it you can cover up any imperfection with a quick dab of your finger and a swipe of your wrist.

The first step in this magical fondant cure is mixing up a batch of gunge ...
(Note: recipe is at the bottom of the post.)

Fill the holes in your fondant with a big dollop of the sticky paste...

And then scrape it off...

Easy Peasy.  You may have to do this a few times, but when you are finished, the hole is completely gone.   Can you even see where the original crater was??

What a difference a little gunge makes...

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Gunge (recipe from  Kaysie Lackey at Innovative Sugar Works)

Ingredients:

 

200 grams  Fondant

15 grams  Whole Milk  (Soy Milk works too)

15 grams  Vodka

Directions:

• Start out mixing 100 grams of the fondant will all of the liquid.  I use an electric hand mixer fitted with a whisk.  Be patient, this takes a while.
• When the original 100 g of fondant gets incorporated into the liquid, slowing start adding pieces of the remaining 100 grams of fondant until the mixture starts to look like stiff peak royal icing.  You don't need to add all the remaining fondant; just add enough till the consistency look right. 

Tools Used:

• Sugar Smoother/Scraper by  Innovative Sugar Works - This tool is great for scraping the gunge from the cake.  It is light and thin, but super strong.  The scrapper has other uses, but it is the go-to tool for gunge repairs.  You can get Smoothers with a ruler inked on the side or Ink Free.
• Sugar Shapers are another great tool to use with gunging.  If you have a gap between your stacked tiers, you can pip the gunge in the gap and smooth it out using the Sugar Shapers.
• An the best tool of all the the TurnTable Expander.  When draping the fondant over the cake, my regular turntable is not large enough to hold all the extra fondant that pools at the base.   The TurnTable Expander gives you an extra 8 inches of working space. The Expander fits my Cake Boss Turntable perfectly, but Innovative Sugar Works now sells their own turntable.
• And, No, I don't work-for or have any relationship with Innovative Sugar Works.  As a hobby baker I just love their products.

Note 1: You can also half or quarter this recipe.

Note 2: If you use just water or just vodka as the liquid, the gunge patch will have a shiny appearance and stand out from the fondant around it.  The milk is used because the fat in the milk gives the gunge patch a matte finish that will make the repaired area blend seamlessly into the surrounding fondant. I have also used Soy Milk and it works just as well as the whole milk.

Note 3: The vodka is used because it quickly evaporates when exposed to air so it helps the repaired area dry quickly and lose its stickiness.  If you use water, the gunge will stay sticky for a much longer period.

So when your fondant is less than perfect - just  GUNGE  IT and forget it!!

Happy Decorating,

Carol