gumpaste flower contest daffodils and whimsical flowers and vines

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Comment by Susan on April 3, 2011 at 5:00pm

Lisa,

 

This is the cake the customer requested and she emailed the photo to me.  I'm not sure who the original designer is, but this is the basic design I'll be doing, but tweaking it to customize it and make it unique.  I love this cake and wish I knew who made the original!  You can see by the flowers that I thought of this cake while looking at your cake photos and flowers!  It's actually going to be three tiers tall, so the top tier, spacer, and bottom two tiers.  Her bridesmaids will be wearing a pretty spring-like green...not as lime-green as this picture, so her cake will match this as well.  This has been fun, Lisa...thanks for all the input!

 

Susan

Comment by Lisa J McCammond on April 3, 2011 at 4:38pm

What a beautiful cake!!! It is gorgeous. Is that the final product? Or is that the cake you are going to make? If it is a cake you are making, who is the original designer, or is it a previous cake of yours? It's a really great design and beautiful colors. I love visiting about cake and sharing ideas. Take care, Lisa

Comment by Susan on April 3, 2011 at 3:09pm

Thanks again Lisa!  I'm going with the tyloglue then and will have to purchase some with my next order of cake supplies.  I've glued smaller flowers and fondant scrolls, polka dots, etc to fondant just using water or gumpaste glue, but these flowers are so heavy, being double-blooms that it really concerned me how to get them to adhere.  I like the quick drying factor too!  My other option would have been to use white melted chocolate, as that sets up quickly, but being an hour away from home and my microwave to melt the chocolate, would have been a battle.

 

Thank you also for the tips on airbrushing.  I think when I went to attach my colored piece of fondant to the cake (it was a monogram), I went a little crazy with the gumglue causing it to smudge.  I'll try it with less adhesive next time.  This will save so much work in having to color and knead the fondant for each color I'll need for this cake-especially the black, so thank you so much for your advice!  The cake is pictured below:                                                                                          

 

 

 

Comment by Lisa J McCammond on April 3, 2011 at 2:31pm

Wiring flowers to the side of a cake that is going to be relocated for over an hour would cause ripping in the fondant most likely. I do teach Wilton, and Wilton teaches to make glue with about 1/4 tsp gumpaste ripped into tiny pieces and 1 tbsp warm water, mix, wait one hour, and use. This is obviously what I teach in class and use in class. It is not; however, what I would use at home to glue such a heavy flower, with 15 stamens on top of the weight of the flower and large center. I prefer the tyloglue which is stronger and dries quicker. The gumpaste glue is another option, or if you have gumtex, you can make a gumglue with gumtex and warm water as well. The key is letting it sit over night in the frig to really work well (my understanding is that on a chemical level it is something similar to letting gelatin bloom properly before making fondant). The key to using airbrushed flowers without messes is letting them dry thoroughly before you use them and then using a small amount of strong glue so that they stay in one place and do not move around, leaving paint trails on the cake fondant.

Comment by Susan on April 3, 2011 at 12:35pm

Thank you so much Lisa~I truly appreciate your input and quick response!  Can this also be achieved by mixing a little gumpaste in with water and letting it dissolve?  I've done this before and know what you mean by the slipping and sliding!  I wasn't sure if I would need to wire the flowers and was hoping that they would respond well to a "glue" of some sort..wiring flowers isn't my favorite :)   I was also even considering airbrushing the fondant flowers (my new toy!), as I get such even beautifully vibrant colors this way, but I've found that as soon as the color gets wet (from the gum glue when attaching), it gets messy and I run into issues of it smearing the cake in the wrong places as I'm trying to affix the flower onto the cake.

 

Anyway, I'm thinking out loud and rambling :)

 

Thank you again Lisa!

Susan

Comment by Lisa J McCammond on April 3, 2011 at 12:06pm

HI Susan, I actually make a Tylose glue that I use to attach my flowers and I dry them on the fondant; however, if you are relocating the cake over an hour drive, attaching on site would definitely be preferable, just keep in mind it takes about 20-30 seconds of holding a heavy flower in place to keep it on the fondant before you let go. With the tylose, I mix 1/4 tsp. with 1 tbsp of water, leave it over night in the refrigerator and the next day it works beautifully. Be sure to use it lightly as the more you use, the longer it takes to dry. A common mistake is over gluing and then the glue won't dry in a reasonable amount of time and the decorations slip and slide, making  a mess of your fondant. Good luck, and let me know if you have any more questions, cheers, Lisa

Comment by Susan on April 3, 2011 at 11:52am

Hi Lisa,

 

I love this cake...so whimsical!  May I ask you how you attached the pink daisy-type flowers to the sides of the cake?  I have a wedding cake coming up in the near future which has whimsical flowers like this, that I"ll need to attach to the sides of a fondant cake.  The flowers are actually doubled up (one flower with another smaller flower attached on top of the larger one, then the center circle as you have yours).  I think it may be heavy and just wondering if you think I may have to wire them, or do you think they'll attach with melted chocolate or royal?  I have about an hour drive for this cake also, and thinking it best to attach the flowers at the venue as well?

I appreciate any of your thoughts on this!

 

Thank you!

 

Susan