Flowers
I am new to cake decorationg but have always wanted to get into it...Just need to know the basics really...
What is the best way to make flowers and figures? Fondant/Sugar paste? Is it best to buy ready made icing or to make it myself?!
Thank you for your help (:
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Deah on
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Anytime you purchase buttercream there are preservatives added to extend the shelf life. While it is convenient it isn't necessarily the tastiest option. Besides, buttercream and royal icing are a sinch to make.
As far as mediums go, flowers can be made from buttercream, fondant or gumpaste. It depends on the flower and the look you want. Figurines are normally made from gumpaste or fondant.
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Permalink Reply by Jess Shelton-Smith on
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Any easy recipes for gumpaste? Thank you for the tips x
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I normally purchase Wilton pre-made gumpaste. With a coupon it's pretty cheap. Here's a couple of recipes though. I haven't tried either one.
The following recipe will make approximately 2 pounds of gumpaste.
Gumpaste
Ingredients
4 – Large Egg Whites
1 – 2 lb. bag 10x powdered sugar
12 – Level teaspoons Tylose
4 – Teaspoons shortening (Crisco)
Instructions
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.
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. During this time measure off the tylose into a small container.
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. You can check by pinching with your fingers and they should come away clean. Place the finished paste in a zip-top bag, then place the bagged paste in a second bag and seal well.
9. Place in the refrigerator for 24 hours if possible before using to mature the paste.
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.
11. Always store the paste in the zip-top bags and return to the refrigerator when you are not using the paste. Will keep under refrigeration for approximately 6 months. You can keep the paste longer by freezing. Be sure to use zip-top freezer bags. If you will be freezing a batch of paste, allow it to mature for 24 hours in the refrigerator first before placing into the freezer.
Tylose is an alternative product to use in making gumpaste instead of gum tragacanth. The advantage of the tylose is that the paste is less expensive,, easier to make, holds up better in humidity and is whiter in color. The 55g container makes approximately 3 pounds of finished gumpaste.
I had to use more powdered sugar when working wth it. I hope this works for you.
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Nicholas Lodge's Tylose Gumpaste
Tylose is an alternative product to use in making gumpaste instead of gum tragacanth. The advantage of the Tylose is that the paste is less expensive,, easier to make, holds up better in humidity and is whiter in color. The 55g container makes approximately 3 pounds of finished gumpaste.
The following recipe will make approximately 2 pounds of gumpaste.
4 - Large Egg Whites
1 - 2 lb. bag 10x powdered sugar
11 - Level teaspoons *Tylose (Available in our online store)
4 - Teaspoons shortening (Crisco)
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.
3. Reserve 1 cup of the powdered sugar and set aside.
4. Turn the mixer to the lowest speed, 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 two minutes.
During this time measure off the Tylose into a small container.
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 5 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. You can check by pinching with your fingers and they should come away clean. Place the finished paste in a
zip-top bag, then place the bagged paste in a second bag and seal well.
9. Place in the refrigerator for 24 hours if possible before using to mature the paste.
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.
11. Always store the paste in the zip-top bags and return to the refrigerator when you are not using the paste. Will keep under refrigeration for approximately 6 months. You can keep the paste longer by freezing. Be sure to use zip-top freezer bags. If you will be freezing a batch of paste, allow it to mature for 24 hours in the refrigerator first before placing into the freezer. The paste can be kept in the freezer for several years with no problems.
*This recipe is for Tylose C Composition 1000 which is usually under the brand names of
JEM Cutters and Confectionery Art Int'l.
If using Pfeil & Holding Tylose C, reduce the amount of Tylose to 9½ teaspoons for a 4 egg white batch, for best results.
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Permalink Reply by SeriousCakes on
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I'm a buttercream gal myself, I love making flowers out of it and it's fun to see how many different kinds are possible :D
Here's an index to my videos, recipes and techniques alike:
http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=137879896226758¬es_tab=...!/note.php?note_id=119268291455298
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Permalink Reply by Les Brown on
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hi Jess
the best way for flowers is to use either flower paste or gum paste (its the same thing just different names in different parts of the world) you can make your own but I usually buy it ready made and coloured and then add further colour once you've made the flowers to achieve the shading etc. Youtube has some very helpful video clips to help get you started and a couple of books are always useful.
modelling is best done with mexican paste although i've not tried that myself yet.
hope this helps and good luck.
Les
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Permalink Reply by Colleen on
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goto Youtube and look up Mayen ... she has really good tutorials on figurines.
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Thank you all for your help (:
How do you go about the coupons for wilton to buy gumpaste etc?!
Will test the recipes and tips and will purchase some more books x
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Hobby Lobby coupons can be found on their website. Sometimes they are for specific types of items - like Krylon paint or wood products but most times they are 40% off one item. I copy and paste one into a Word document and then duplicate it several times. They don't care what size they are. You can use 1 per purchase so it gives you a week to get what you need. Every once in awhile the coupon is specifically for Wilton products - all you want to buy. That's when I stock up on the colors and small items.
Coupons for AC Moore and Michaels can be found on their websites also.
Jess Shelton-Smith said:Thank you all for your help (:
How do you go about the coupons for wilton to buy gumpaste etc?!
Will test the recipes and tips and will purchase some more books x
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Permalink Reply by Dorit Tabori on
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Personally I prefer working with gumpaste to make flowers (the truth is that I don't know how to work with buttercream at all and am afraid to try). I have worked with fondant mixed with CMC powder (tylose) and with ready made gumpaste from Satin Ice and find that the ready made gumpaste is a little stronger than the fondant w.CMC, less breakage of thin petals. But you will have to try for yourself and see what works best for you.
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Permalink Reply by Stacy on
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I am also new to cake decorating :) I just recently took a cake decorating class and the instructor had us make the flowers using fondant with the Wilton gumpaste cutters. I had only worked with gumpaste, which I like much better for anything I would want to hold it shape faster. The fondant she had us use was the Wilton brand, which tasted so gross to me!
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Permalink Reply by jeri c on
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I have used premade gumpaste and prefer Satin Ice Gumpaste myself.... it just is nice to work with but I have also purchased the Mexican paste from Global Sugar Arts and love it too. Getting into making flowers can be very expensive with gumpaste if you invest in cutters. I have a about a thousand dollars tied up in all my gumpaste cutters. If you are just starting out purchase the Wilton plastic kit or one of the JEM kits. There are a lot of cutters for not a lot of money. However, I do prefer the metal cutters. They just cut a cleaner edge with the gumpaste. If you are serious about flowers, there are some fantastic DVD's out there. Edna has some wonderful Tutorials on Youtube and she is so helpful. I also have a couple of her DVD's that are just amazing. Nicholas Lodge's DVD's are also well worth the investment as is Jennifer Dontz's DVD's. The key to making flowers is having the right tools. Best of luck. The flowers are time consuming if you make them from gumpaste but so life like if done right.
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Permalink Reply by Karen Marie on
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You can make flowers from buttercream, gumpaste or fondant.....it just depends on how you want them to look. If you want them life like then gumpaste is what you use. I make the gumpaste recipe that Edna De La Cruz has on her site which is the first recipe posted here on this thread. It is very important to make sure the royal icing is at medium peak stage or the gumpaste will be too hard when you add the tylose. I have tried a few other types but I always come back to this one. It is very easy to use. The other thing is that you must knead in the shortening after you mix the paste to keep it soft. It hardens quite a bit in the refrigerator. Divide the finished paste into 3 or 4 pieces and wrap individually so you dont have to take the whole batch out to use what you need.
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