Creating Wedding Cake Flowers With Gumpaste Perfection

Gumpaste flowers are a beautiful addition to any wedding cake. They can be made at home or bought pre-made, and are a great way to add a delicate and elegant touch to your special day. In this guide, we will walk you through the process of creating your own gumpaste flowers, from making the gumpaste to attaching the flowers to your cake. We will also offer some tips and tricks to ensure your flowers look beautiful and are food safe. With the right tools and instructions, you will be well on your way to creating stunning gumpaste flowers that will impress your guests and make your wedding cake truly memorable.

Making gumpaste from scratch

Gumpaste, also known as florist paste, is a type of sugar paste used to decorate cakes with realistic flowers and figures. It can be rolled out very thinly and holds its shape well. While it is edible, it dries quickly into a hard and brittle surface and is not very tasty.

Gum Paste Using Tylose Powder

• Place the egg whites in a mixer and beat them for 10 seconds at high speed.
• Turn the mixer to its lowest speed setting and slowly add in the confectioners' sugar. Set aside 1 cup for later.
• Turn the speed up a notch higher for about 2 minutes. At this point, make sure that it is at its “soft peak,” meaning the peaks should fall over.
• Turn the mixer to a slow setting again, while at the same time, slowly sprinkling the Tylose powder into the mixture. Note that you should sprinkle, not dump the powder to prevent clumping. This powder should thicken the mixture.
• Spread the remaining sugar onto a clean surface. Scrape out the paste from the mixing bowl and put it onto the surface.
• Put some shortening into your hands and knead the paste into a soft dough. Once you pinch the dough and your hands come away clean, it is ready!
• Put the dough away in a double ziplocked bag and in an airtight container, and place it in the refrigerator for the next 24 hours. The dough will be good to use for the next 6 months.
• Before using the dough, allow enough time for it to adjust to room temperature. Put some vegetable shortening on your fingers before you begin kneading the dough again.

Gum Paste Using Gum Tragacanth

• Add the gelatin to the water in a container, making sure it’s completely dissolved.
• Next, add the liquid glucose.
• Add 3 cups of the confectioners' sugar and the gum tragacanth.
• Mix everything together.
• Knead the mixture on a clean surface using the leftover sugar until it does not feel sticky at all.

Tips for Making Gumpaste

• Gum tragacanth is the ingredient that makes the gum paste more malleable. You might have difficulty finding this at a supermarket, but you can source it at your local bakery supplies store.
• An alternative to gum tragacanth is Tylose powder, which is cheaper, whiter in appearance, and holds up pretty well despite the humidity.
• Gumpaste dries quickly and hardens, so always store it in an airtight container.
• If you are making flowers, a ball tool and foam mat can be used to make gorgeous and delicate sugar flowers.

Using pre-made gumpaste

If you don't want to make your own gumpaste, you can buy pre-made gumpaste from a variety of brands, including Squires Kitchen, Satin Ice, Wilton, Renshaw, and PME. Pre-made gumpaste flowers are also available from online retailers such as Etsy and Amazon. These pre-made flowers can be used as cake toppers or finishing touches, and can be accented with petal and luster dust or airbrush spray to make them look handmade and unique.

When using pre-made gumpaste, it is important to store it properly to ensure it stays fresh. Gumpaste should be wrapped well in plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container. It can be kept in the fridge for up to six months and can even be frozen for longer-term storage. Before using, bring the gumpaste to room temperature and knead a small amount of vegetable shortening into it. Lightly dust a surface with cornflour or cornstarch and begin to roll out the gumpaste with a rolling pin.

Gumpaste dries quickly, so it is important to wrap it up and store it properly when not in use. When attaching gumpaste flowers to a cake, do not stick the wires directly into the cake, as this is not food safe. Instead, use special floral picks, regular straws, or bubble tea straws, depending on the size of the stems. You can also attach smaller flowers with buttercream, candy melts, or royal icing.

Making Jasmine flowers

Firstly, you will need to prepare your gumpaste. You can make your own gumpaste or buy pre-made gumpaste. To make your own, you will need the following ingredients: 1 tablespoon of gelatin, 1/3 cup of water, 4 cups of powdered sugar, 1/2 cup of cornstarch, and a pinch of cream of tartar (optional). Dissolve the gelatin in water, then mix in the other ingredients. If the mixture is too dry, add a few drops of water; if it's too sticky, add some powdered sugar. Store the finished gumpaste in an airtight container.

Once you have your gumpaste, you can start making the Jasmine flowers. One method is to use the 'Mexican hat method', which involves using a small, 5-petal round cutter to shape the flowers. Another method is to follow a tutorial for making small sugar flowers, such as the one by Elaine MacGregor on YouTube. You can also find tutorials for making similar filler flowers, such as Stephanotis flowers, which can be adapted to make Jasmine flowers.

To make the flowers look like Jasmine, you will need to colour the gumpaste. You can use icing colour in leaf green and buttercup yellow, combined to make a pale green shade. You can also use colour dust in lime green, pink, and goldenrod.

Finally, you can attach the Jasmine flowers to your cake using floral tape, floral picks, or by inserting wires or toothpicks into the stems. If using wires or toothpicks, make sure they are food-safe and do not insert them directly into the cake. Instead, use straws or bubble tea straws and melt candy melts or chocolate to secure the stems.

Making Hydrangeas

The Hydrangea is made up of many small blossoms all tied together to make one gorgeous flower. To make hydrangeas with gum paste, you will need the following tools and ingredients:

Tools and Ingredients

• Icing colour: Delphinium Blue, Moss Green
• Colour dust: Periwinkle Blue, Juniper Green (you can also use Lime Green)
• The Flower Making Kit
• 26-gauge florist wire
• Green floral tape
• Purple and pink shaping foam pads
• Gumpaste (you can use Satin Ice or make your own)
• Gum glue adhesive (1/4 teaspoon of gumpaste dissolved in 1 tablespoon of water)

Steps

• Make your gum paste using a recipe like this one.
• Once you have your gum paste ready, you can start creating the individual blossoms for your hydrangea.
• Use the flower making kit to cut out and shape the petals for each blossom.
• Dust the petals with the icing colour and colour dust to give them a realistic look.
• Assemble the blossoms by attaching the petals together with the gum glue adhesive.
• Once you have created enough blossoms, it's time to assemble the hydrangea.
• Cut a length of florist wire and wrap it with green floral tape to create the stem.
• Attach the blossoms to the stem by wrapping the wires of each blossom around the stem and securing them with more floral tape.
• Shape the hydrangea by bending and adjusting the wires of the blossoms until you achieve the desired look.
• Finally, add some purple and pink shaping foam pads to the hydrangea to give it a more realistic look.

Now your gum paste hydrangea is ready to be used as a decoration on your wedding cake!

Attaching gumpaste flowers to a cake

Gumpaste dries faster and harder than fondant and is very easy to make. You can also buy pre-made gumpaste. It's important to store it in an airtight container.

Before attaching gumpaste flowers to a cake, it's important to consider the types and sizes of the flowers and the cake. Different types of flowers can be added to the cake in different ways. If using tiny flowers, attach them with a bit of buttercream for buttercream cakes, or candy melts or royal icing for fondant cakes. If using medium-sized flowers, you can use melted candy melts, but this works better on fondant than buttercream. If you've made your gumpaste roses on toothpicks, you can insert them directly into the cake, especially if you're doing a cascade floral design.

If you're using medium or large gumpaste flowers made with wires, you'll need to arrange the sugar flowers into bunches. First, wrap the stems with floral tape. Pull the tape first to activate its stickiness. Then, attach the leaves to the large gumpaste rose by bending the leaves out and wrapping floral tape around the wires. Arrange the smaller roses together, bending them out so they don't crash into each other. Ensure the stems aren't too thick or heavy.

You can use bubble tea straws or regular straws to insert the gumpaste flowers into the cake. Bubble tea straws have wider openings. Insert the straws into the cake, one at a time, where you want to add the flowers. You can add melted candy melts or chocolate inside the straws to create a barrier between the cake and the wires. Then, use needle-nose pliers to hold the stem of the sugar flower arrangement and push it into the cake. Adjust the flowers as needed.

Remember not to make the flower arrangements too heavy, as they can rip the cake. Also, avoid making too many holes in the cake, as it can affect its stability. Always leave a note listing the non-edible items in the cake.

Frequently asked questions