So I had sort of sworn off gumpaste flowers… I bought tons of tools and cutters and made several flowers- all of which didn’t quite look like the flowers I was seeing on the cake decorating websites and I got discouraged and lost interest. Lately – I’ve been browsing techniques and I’m going to use a few points I’ve picked up to try again. Here is a summary of what I’ve gathered:
1) Use cornstarch. This is probably a no-brainer, but I didn’t have any at the moment and figured I could get around it. ERRR WRONG! Using cornstarch helps the ball tool (and other tools) glide across the petals and cause them to curl. Mine kept sticking and tearing so I wasn’t able to make them very detailed.
2) Use floral wire – Many flowers are made using floral wire. Parts of the flower are strung on a piece of wire and then layered – which really helped keep the pieces together and make it look like a real flower. Here is good example of how useful wire can be from Yasmin’s Baking Project blog and website. She gives photo tutorials on how to do many flowers and it is extremely helpful – I’ve been looking for something like this for awhile!
3) Use floral tape and fake stamens – This way if you make individual petals with wire and want to tape them together – it works great. Also – incorporating fake stamens help create a very realistic look.
I’ll work on improving my patience with gumpaste flower making and see what I can come up with!
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