This cake was covered in fondant that was textured to imitate the look of ruching on fabric.
Ruching is basically small gathers that form a surface that has ripples on it.
I started this cake with the inspiration of the ball gowns from the 50’s that had ruched bodices, but ruching is still used a lot on contemporary wedding dresses, so it’s an effect that could be used on a cake for a bride who had a ruched dress.
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(Another cake that has a ribbon rose effect made from fondant is in this tutorial.)
To create this effect, cover a refrigerated cake tier (so that it’s more solid and you’ll be able to press it) with a layer of fondant that’s a little thicker than normal, between 1/4″ and 1/2″ thick.
Take a dogbone tool and drag it across the cake, using a photo of a ruched dress bodice or skirt as an example of what the final design should look like.
And for wedding cakes with ruffles, click here.
A quick method for cake texture.
Doing the cake this way is a lot faster than applying the ruffles or ruching individually, so it can be a real time-saver.
I’d suggest that you test out any method for creating a ruched or gathered fabric texture on a cake before you commit to the decorating time.
This cake is a lot faster than the one that I did that took 8 hours for a tiny tiered cake (see that one here.)
Adding texture to fondant is much faster, and it still gives you an interesting and pretty look to the cake.
Other fondant fabric options.
If you’re looking for fondant draping techniques, click here. Draping fondant like fabric is a really nice look that is really elegant and works well on wedding cakes.
There’s also a fondant strip technique that will work to create a fabric look, you can see that here.
