Heeeeelp - royal icing 'leaves'

[kiwidreamer]

Hoping someone can give me some experienced advice, I started the prep for DS's birthday cake last night which was rolling out coloured royal icing and cutting out leaf shapes, the instructions said to drape them over wooden spoons to dry so they would be shaped and not just flat. This morning I thought the leaves felt hard-ish so I tried to move them into a container for storage but the leaf broke apart :( I can stick that one on the bottom of the leaf pile but now I'm terrified the rest of the leaves will break as I try to move them. Is it just that the leaves need to dry out more and they will be more robust or are they only going to get weaker as they dry?? The party isnt til Sunday so I will be decorating the cake on Saturday night, shall I just leave them alone until then??

Thanks for any advice.

Not sure what you mean by rolling out royal icing.

The best stuff for leaves / flowers is petal paste, it is much stronger than sugar paste and dries hard. If you can get some of that you could make them, but otherwise let them dry out some more.

How thin are they?

Hiya Kiwi

Well done you for having a go

It sounds like your leaves are a bit too brittle - did you add anything to the royal icing? It's true that icing leaves etc are delicate, but you should be able to handle them with care.

I suggest that you try moving another leaf, if it breaks, start again. You have plenty of time to experiment before Sunday.

I add gum tragacanth to make the icing more workable & drape leaves over tin foil as I can make more realistic shapes with foil.

And remember you are bound to be more critical of your work than anyone else. People are usually too impressed at your courage in having a go & talent in making such a success to really look carefully at your cake - so what it you have to hide some broken bits .

I'm using one of the Australian Womens Weekly kids birthday cake books, its usually pretty spot on with its instructions, it said to use ready to roll soft icing so I bought Renshaw Professional, Regal Ice, Ready To Roll Icing (from Hobbycraft) - that's the right stuff?? The instructions do say that the leaves are best done a few days in advance to harden up so maybe there is time for them to harden? I'll just have to find a safe place for them as they are all over my kitchen bench right now and I've got loads of party prep to do over the next few days.

oooh I could clear out the airing cupboard - would that dry then faster / better do you think?

Airing cupboard is good but be prepared that they may not dry entirely. The will be very fragile so make a good few extra.

If you have the time/inclination and right shop you could always try and get some CMC/Tylose power which if you add to ready roll will make it harden quicker and also more rigidly so they won't break as easiiy.