Leave a Comment / By Bea / 18 August 2020
Cmc or tylo powder: what is it for? Well, today I am going to solve you this question.
Cmc or tylo powder: what is it?
It is a white or yellowish powder use to make fondant toppers and glue.
When combined with sugar paste or fondant, speeds up the drying process and makes the pieces harden sooner.
Although it is also possible to use it to make edible glue.Here you can see my recipe for glue with cmc for fondant. But let’s focus on what was said above.
CMC or tylo powder: what is it for
Combined with sugar paste or fondant, it speeds up the drying process and makes the pieces harden sooner. This combination is a good substitute for gum paste or modelling paste. So you can use it in all the pieces, so that the paste has a greater consistency and you will prevent it from deforming so easily.
Another option is to use it in those pieces that you need urgently and you cannot wait for them to dry. Or in those that support a lot of weight and it is necessary that they do not lose shape.
Homemade modelling paste
Add a teaspoon for every 500 grams of fondant. Knead it too well, or it won’t do its job properly. In this way, instead of fondant, you will be working with a paste similar to modelling paste.
Alternative
You can also add a pinch to the fondant you are going to use, as long as it is less than 500 gr. In this case, add it little by little so as not to overdo it. If you add too much, fondant will dry out and it will crack. Please, use it with caution.
The best thing is you experiment with it and see how it works. That is, how long does it take to take effect or when is it too little or too much? This will only be taught by practice.
- How do you know it is working? You will notice that the consistency changes. It will not be so soft, it will be a little more laborious to knead or shape it.
- How to know if I have use to much? You will notice it has dried too much, cracks appear when modelling it or even, it will offer a lot of resistance.
- How do I know if it needs more? If you notice fondant warps very easily and is still too soft, you need to add another pinch.
TIP: weigh the amount of fondant you are using and count how many pinches it took to get the desired consistency. This small process can help you the next time until you are fluent and know how to do it.
REMEMBER: once added, the drying process will be faster, so you should try to work faster if you have always worked with fondant.
Hope you already know what is it for.
NEVER use it to cover a cake, as it will not be edible due to its hardness.
CMC substitute for fondant
A substitute that you can use, but that I do not recommend that you abuse it, is cornstarch. You can add a pinch to the fondant you are going to use. It will absorb the moisture from the fondant so it will dry faster. But personally, better to use cmc.
