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TEXTURING TECHNIQUES IN FONDANT AND MODELING CHOCOLATE
Notes for Practical Work and Demo
BY JULIE BASHORE
SUGAR ARTS INSTITUTE
PAINTED COW HIDE:
Painted cow hide can be done in dark brown, light brown or black. It depends on the type of cow. The technique is
the same. Google cow hide, to choose your favorite design. Work directly on a fondant covered cake.
1. Mix gel brown or black food color with vodka. Use a 1” old bristled brush. Dip it into the gel/vodka mix and
texture on the fondant. Do not have too much color on the brush.
2. Work the paint back and forth from the inside out, feathering the edges, until the design begins to dry as you
are streaking it with the brush, giving a bristled hair effect.
3. If the paint clumps too much, spritz your bush with a little vodka and brush over the clumps thinning them
out.
GIRAFFE HIDE:
Giraffe hide consists of rectangular spots with curved edges.
1. Roll out thin fondant to approximately 1/16”. Flip over the fondant then brush on a little cornstarch so that it
can be easily removed without stretching or tearing. Place back onto the mat, cornstarch side down.
2. Use a medium brown gel color mixed with vodka and your old bristled brush then brush back and forth
giving a hair effect. Be careful to keep the brush strokes smooth and light. Let the white fondant show
through the brown hair strokes. Allow to dry for approximately 10 minutes. Brush with cornstarch to dry the
paint.
3. Cut out your giraffe spot shapes in a variety of sizes, using an Xacto knife and place the spots upside down
on lightly greased waxed paper (so the paint does not stick) then brush a small amount of piping gel onto
the center of the spots. Do not use too much gel because you might need to move the spots after you have
placed them on your cake, and the gel should not be visible.
4. Leave a clear edging of white between the spots, but arrange them relatively close together.
ZEBRA STRIPES:
Zebra stripes look more realistic and are easier to handle if made with modeling chocolate because the black color is
less likely to smudge on the white background.
1. Roll out black modeling chocolate to approximately 1/16”.
2. Remove from the mat and grease the back. Place greased side down on the mat and roll gently to adhere.
Use an Xacto knife, cut out stripes of similar widths and lengths. Cut the stripes in the same direction.
3. Remove the excess MC leaving the stripes on the mat. Carefully lift the stripes and place them on a
fondant or MC covered cake. The shortening should keep the stripes attached to the cake. A little piping
gel may also be used to adhere stripes. Use sparingly.
LEOPARD SPOTS:
Cover your cake with fondant, not modeling chocolate as the gel paint does not adhere effectively on MC.
1. Mix brown gel color with vodka and color-wash by lightly brushing onto the cake using a 2” old bristled
brush, brushing back and forth, giving a smooth hair effect.
2. At various intervals darken areas vertically.
3. Allow to dry for a 10 minutes then brush over the color-wash with cornstarch. This will remove the shine
from the wet color-wash giving a more realistic appearance.
4. Work with a darker brown gel color, without vodka, and add spots. The spots should be larger on the lighter
areas getting smaller and closer together.
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5. Use a fine tip bristled brush with black color add two or three lines around the lighter brown. Add a few
small black dots to the darker areas. Dry for a few minutes. Brush again with cornstarch to remove the
“shiny wet-look”.
FISH SCALES:
Make the fish or mermaid scales colorful so that when the luster/shimmer dust is brushed over the scales, the colors
do not become too faint or insipid.
1. Use any color combinations of your choice. You can use dark and light green, pink and white or make a
true rainbow color.
2. For a rainbow effect, knead three colors; yellow, red and blue. Roll each color into log shapes
approximately 3” tall by ¾” wide.
3. Place the colors next to each other in this combination: Royal Blue, Lemon Yellow, Christmas Red, Royal
Blue. Push firmly together.
4. Roll out in one direction vertically (up and down only). Trim top and bottom edge evenly.
5. Fold over and roll again. Do this 6-10 times until colors meld together. You should have this color
combination.
6. Blue, green, yellow, orange, red, purple and blue.
7. Roll thinly to cover fish or cake, or cover a panel to attach to the cake.
8. Use a “slurpy” straw to create scales. Lift the edges of the scales to give more dimension.
9. Dust with luster/shimmer dust using a soft brush.
10. Open scales edges, if necessary.
TREE TRUNK:
Cut Log:
1. Cover a round cake with 16” thickness of white fondant.
2. Use a veining tool to make a few crack lines on the edge of the wood approximately 2 ½ inches long and a
couple of shorter cracks closer to the center. Place cake on a turntable.
3. Put brown gel color mixed with vodka onto a paper plate. Use an old bristled 3” brush, dip into color and
brush on to the fondant. Turn table keeping the brush in place. Keep turning moving the brush to the
center. Repeat until the paint is almost dry.
4. Make sure that you do not use too much color and that the white fondant shows through. You may add
darker areas, but continue to brush through in the circular motion.
Bark Wood Edges:
1. Roll aluminum foil into a tight ball.
2. Roll out brown fondant to 1/16”. Roll over the surface with the aluminum ball giving a mottled texture.
3. Cut out strips to the height of your cake. Gather the fondant together creating uneven bulges and place on
the sides of the cake. Trim off the excess on the top edge using scissors.
4. Use both ends of veining tool to create thin and thick, uneven vertical lines. Match the cracks to the notches
on the side of the bark.
5. Paint black gel color into the cracks and notches, then use darker shades of brown to wash over the bark.
6. Brush dry using cornstarch.
7. Add off-white wash and a little green-wash to the bark for a realistic appearance.
8. Paint black gel color into the cracks on the top and on the side notches in the bark.
WHITEWASHED WOOD PLANKS:
1. Roll out dark brown panels, or cover cake with dark brown fondant. Lightly grease the surface with
shortening.
2. Roll out very thin white fondant and place over the brown.
3. Use a veining tool to create a few spirals with the lines going vertically up and down the cake or panel.
Indent vertical lines around the spirals to create a wood plank effect. Press firmly so some of the brown can
be seen through the white.
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4. Use white gel paste color mixed with fondant and white-wash color horizontally over the grains of wood.
5. If using a panel, cut out strips to look like a fence. Approximately 3”- 4” long by 1 ½” wide.
6. Position planks on the cake butting sides and ends together. Make indentations for nails and paint with dark
brown.
WORN LEATHER:
Color fondant a dark grey. Put 4 layers of heavy duty aluminum foil together then scrunch slightly. Spread out
leaving cracks and bulges. Mix black gel paste with vodka.
1. Roll fondant to 1/16”. Dust lightly with cornstarch so that it does not stick.
2. Place dusted fondant on top of the aluminum foil and press down with a sponge or paper towel.
3. With textured side up, color-wash some of the area with the darker black. Dab with paper towel.
4. Paint dark cracks with black gel and then wash with plain brush.
DENIM:
Making jeans or denim textures on a cake is fun to do and recognized by all. Denim comes in a variety of blue or
black hues.
1. Rub a little shortening on your hands and rub the surface of a piece of plastic canvas. It is better to make a
separate panel for the sides and the top of the cake and after color washing, attach them separately. The
top should be done first, and then the sides.
2. Mix navy blue gel paste with vodka. Roll out a panel of white fondant slightly larger than the height and
diameter of your cake sides. The edges need to be trimmed after color-washing to remove “color pooling” on
the edges.
3. Using a 2” paint brush, color-wash back and forth vertically, (do not brush diagonally or horizontally) keeping
the grain in the same direction. Continue brushing until the brush strokes are prominent while the white
underneath remains slightly visible.
4. Be careful not to let the color-wash get too dry (if it does, spritz a little vodka to re-moisten).
5. While the color-wash is still damp, press the greased side of the canvas against the fondant at a diagonal
angle to create the “denim” texture. The textured design does not need to be constant.
6. Trim away the edges of the fondant where pooling of color occurs. Allow to dry for about 15 minutes. If
some of the areas are still wet, sprinkle cornstarch on the damp areas and gently brush off.
7. Place a piece of greased wax paper on the top of the denim to transfer the fondant to the cake.
8. Roll out fondant the same size as the top of the cake. Repeat 1-6 above.
9. Roll out strips of fondant ¾” wide to create the seams.
10. Use a flat brush then color-wash the seams dabbing as you pull the color down. This should have a rippled
effect. Allow to dry for 5 minutes.
11. Use a PME stitching tool to create the stitches on each side of the seam.
BRICK:
Create a rustic brick effect with grey grouting.
1. Squash a sheet of aluminum foil into a tight 3” ball. Modeling chocolate is best used for this project as it is
easier to cut the bricks for a clean edge.
2. Mix a little black modeling chocolate to white to create a light grey grout color. Then add a tiny amount of
black modeling chocolate to the red to darken MC to make a dark brick red. Knead together so that the
color is slightly mottled.
3. Cover your cake with grey fondant or roll out a panel of grey fondant. Roll the ball of aluminum foil over the
surface of the grey fondant to create the grouting texture.
4. Roll out the red fondant to 1/10”. Texture by rolling the foil over the surface.
5. Mix some black gel color with vodka and spritz lightly over the textured red MC. Use a sponge to remove
and move the color over the surface so that it is uneven in color and texture.
6. Mix white gel color with vodka and randomly dab the brush on top of the black as bricks often have a whitish
hue to them. Continue to dab with a sponge.
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7. Spritz at intervals to give different hues.
8. Texture again with the foil ball so that it lifts off some of the paint to give a matt, chipped brick effect. Allow
to dry for a few minutes.
9. Release the red fondant from the mat, then cut 2” x ½ strips of fondant to make the bricks. As you cut the
bricks, place them upside down on wax paper. You will need to cut some of the bricks in half, for the
alternating rows. The second row should start and finish with half a brick.
10. When you have the required number of bricks, pipe a small amount of clear gel onto the center back of the
brick and attach to the cake leaving spaces between each brick so that the grout is visible. The bricks
should alternate spaces for each row. Make sure that you do not use too much gel or the bricks will slide.
Use a ruler to ensure the bricks are in a straight row vertically and horizontally.
STONE TILES:
Stone tiles make great walls for castles and old buildings. Make a putty colored fondant (very light grey). Make
stone panels, then attach the panels to your cake. The panels should be the height of the cake. Although the stones
are different sizes, make sure that some of the stones in the panels match up when joined together.
1. Roll out fondant to 1/10”. Texture with the foil ball.
2. Using the pointed end of a veining tool, indent the stone shapes on the panel.
3. Mix dark brown gel paste color with vodka and brush this color into the grooves.
4. Use a paper towel to remove excess color.
5. Add lighter browns, reds and yellows to the stone using a smooth soft brush.
6. Finish off by texturing again.
7. Allow to dry for 10-15 minutes, then place a piece of greased wax paper (greased side on brick) to transfer
the stone panel to the cake.
8. Butt edges together.
COBBLESTONES:
Cobblestones make great pathways or streets, perfect around a castle or old building.
1. Make mottled grey fondant balls of different sizes. Place in a plastic bag to prevent them from drying out.
2. Brush a thin coat of clear piping gel on the pathway to be created.
3. Stick the balls on the pathway, making sure they touch.
4. Use a rolling pin or a cake smoother to press the stones down and to flatten them slightly and squash them
together.
5. Roll over the surface with your foil ball.
6. Add highlights of white gel paste mixed with fondant. Dab dry with paper towel.