How to make fondant or gumpaste icing chain for cakes - Tutorial Tuesday

This awesome chain tutorial was created for Kiwicakes by Lisa from The Whole Cake & Caboodle. Great for bags, necklaces, medallions, key rings, earrings etc

Use a colour that is going to be similar to your end colour if painting. I.E grey for an end result of silver. Yellowy brown for a gold chain. 

Roll out gumpaste or stiffened fondant to the thickness required.  If it's too thick it will be hard to deal with but it needs to be thick enough for support. In this case its around 2 mm thick. If making smaller links go thinner. If making larger links roll it thicker.

Using a # 2A Wilton tip punch numerous holes in the rolled icing leaving room to cut the outside link

Using a #1A Wilton round tip line up the inner hole and punch out each ring making a reasonable number but not to many that will dry out before joining. Around 30 is a good start. You can use any size circles cutters just make sure they dont cut too thick or too thin a link when used together.

Divide into lots of three and cut one of every set of three links at one point to split open as shown. I make small chains of three links to start as when it comes to joining them together they have dried enough to ensure they don’t buckle or become mishapen, and are a lot easier to handle. 

Open up the cut link and carefully thread two chains on to one end.

Dampen the end of the cut chain link with edible glue and gently meld the ends together with your fingers. Squeeze to reshape if necessary.

Leave links round or squeeze the side of each link to make into an oval shape.

Line the sets of links up with a slight overlap and work out how many sets of three you will need by measuring the length you have created and working out how much more you need and make them so they start to harden before joining

Stamp out the required amount of links to join your wee chains and cut to open. Join each set of three together on a joining link as shown. This will be a little fiddlier than joining three links together and the weight can pull apart the links if they arent joined well enough or are too soft. Leave for a few minutes to harden if necessary.

Make the chain to the length required and then either dust when completely dry and hard with lustres, spray with PME spray or give it a light airbrush cover with pearl or metallic coating. You can paint with metallic paints but be careful you don’t wet the links to much so they get mushy. Use chain as required