Cooking recipes

Homemade gum paste is better than premade in most cases because it is less expensive and creates a product that is easier to use. Premade gum paste tends to be a little stiffer and more likely to crack. There are four elements to making gum paste which are ingredients, mixing, kneading and storing.It is important to allot enough time when creating gum paste because each step is crucial to the finished product and ultimately the flowers you create. I started learning with fondant, because I could go and buy the ingredients. I moved on to gum paste now and loving it. Gum paste is similar to fondant  in many ways. It is a pliable sugar dough that you can roll, mold and shape into virtually any figure you desire. Many fondant tools also work with gum paste. The major difference lies in the fact that gum paste dries much quicker, and harder, than fondant. 




This is a good video I learned from on You tube.

Tylose powder is a very specific cake decorating supply item which can only be bought from online sources or specialty stores. The recipe is very simple to follow for beginner cake designers as long as they have a heaver duty mixer. Hand mixers will not be strong enough to beat the gum paste after the tylose powder is added.

      Ingredients:
4  Large Egg Whites
1 pkg  2 lb. bag 10x powdered sugar
12  Level teaspoons Tylose powder

4  Teaspoons shortening (Crisco) 

You will need: 
Fondant and Gum Paste Molds by Wilton 
Wilton Gum Paste & Fondant Student Kit

Egg cartons or Wilton flower formers
Corn starch




1.  Place the egg whites in a Kitchen Aid mixer bowl fitted with the flat paddle.

2.  Turn the mixer on high speed for 10 seconds to break up the egg whites.

Measure tylose powder.

3.  Reserve 1 cup of the powdered sugar and set aside.

4.  Turn the mixer to the lowest speed and slowly add the remaining sugar.  This will make a soft consistency royal icing.

5.  Turn up the speed to setting 3 or 4 for about 2 minutes. 

6.  Make sure the mixture is at the soft peak stage.  It should look shiny, like meringue and the peaks fall over.  (If coloring the entire batch, add the paste color at this stage, making it a shade darker than the desired color.)

7.  Turn the mixer to the slow setting and sprinkle the tylose in over a five second time period.  Next, turn the speed up to the high setting for a few seconds.  
This will thicken the mixture.

8. Scrape the mixture out of the bowl onto a work surface that has been sprinkled with some of the reserved 1 cup of 
powdered sugar. Place the shortening on your hands and knead the paste, adding enough of the reserved powdered sugar to form a soft but not sticky dough. 



10.  Before use, remove from refrigerator and allow the paste to come to room temperature.  Take a small amount of shortening on the end of your finger and knead this into the paste.  If you are coloring the paste, add the paste color at this stage.




Separate the gum paste into at least two smaller balls so it is easier to knead. Add extra powdered sugar in very small amounts as you knead the gum paste because it is hard to remove too much sugar if your texture becomes dry!
Gum paste dries out very easily if left exposed to air so wrap all of it, that you are not using. As soon I cut the flowers out I placed left over gum paste in the zip lock bag. Even the flowers started drying out before I pressed to form em. Its best to work on one flower and keep everything in the ziplock bag.



I started with making Daisies. Cutters are from Gum Paste Flower Cutter Set by Wilton. This is a really nice kit it has a book with all the steps for making beautiful flowers. 
Color a piece of gum paste with your desired color and roll it then use 2 sizes Daisies cutters. Use the end of a paintbrush or pen to press petals out into the shape you want. Use the paintbrush to dampen the center of one daisy. Place another flower on top of it.
Roll a piece of yellow color gum paste for the middle of the daisies. Use the paintbrush dipped in water to dampen the center of the top daisy.  Add a yellow center, pressing down gently. Use shimmer dust on top. Put the flower on a  inside the curve of a bowl to shape it or use egg cartons. 
I love this Fondant and Gum Paste Mold by Wilton  It makes such a pretty decoration. Use corn starch to sprinkle the mold. This video on You tube explains how to make these. I dipped my fingers into corn starch if gum paste was sticking to me. 
I kind of played around with it.
Then I made other flowers, just for fun.
If you buy Gum Paste Flower Cutter Set by Wilton  it has a book with all the directions on how to make these flowers.
The leaves are really easy to make with Flower Impression Mat by Wilton. Roll a piece of gum paste on leaf impression and use a leaf cutter. Then use egg carton to dry it to make curled shape.  
I made play dough for kids and gave them cookie cutters so that kept them occupied. I was  exploring with gum paste flowers all day. It does not look much but it took me all day to make all this. Now I have enough to decorate a few cakes.
Keep the decorations in the ziplock bag the ones you dont want to dry out, so it will be flexible to decorate the any cake. I hope you enjoy this post and try to make gum paste flowers. I learned from You tube. If I can make it you can too.