gumpaste roses

making gum paste flowers usually requires a bit of equipment. i'm writing this post under the assumption that you have it. if you don't, read this to get the general idea of your desired out come. after that, wing it, and see what you're capable of.

you will need, gum paste, a small rolling pin, confectioners sugar, rose petal shaped gum paste cutters (like a cookie cutter), maybe an exacto knife, and a bone tool for thinning out your edges.

roll out your gum paste and color it whatever color you want. if you're using a liquid food coloring a little bit of cornstarch might be necessary to keep your gum paste at the right consistency.

first, take a piece of gum paste about the size of a dime, roll it into a ball, and then give it a dull point at one end, it should look like a fat candy corn. this will serve as a base for your flower.

roll out your gum paste very thin, (using confectioners sugar like you would use flour to keep dough from sticking).
then just cut out your forms, you'll need four to make a small rose.

starting off

then use your bone tool, shown with the petals below, to thin out the edges of your rose petals. the soft round edge of the bone tool can be rubbed against the edges of the petals without snagging if the gum paste is a good consistency. if you do get a lot of snags, try a pressing motion instead of a rubbing motion, it will take more time, but you'll avoid tears.

this step makes the edges of the petals more life like and will give the whole petal a better shape.

thinned out

the cutters will have given the petal a distinct point at one end. during construction the point will always be facing the fatter end of the base. this will be the bottom.
the first petal will be making the bud of the rose, so wrap one side of the petal around the base completely, then wrap the other end over that. there should only be a small hole at the top, if any. no one needs to know what's going on in there.



the second leaf needs to be secured to the bud, i use a little bit of sonfectioners sugar and water, (a very thick mixture)

the center of this leaf should be directly on top of the seam from the first petal.



press down one side of the petal, but leave the other open. the third petal will slide under the second.



and the fourth petal will slide under the open edge of the third one.



in a perfect world, your petals will each overlap half of the petal before it. and your last petal will overlap half of the first.



to make a bigger rose, cut out an addictional five petals and start a new row. remeber to over lap them with each other. if you dare to add another row after that, you'll need seven petals.

gumpaste is great for making flowers, but it doesn't taste like much. i prefer to use modeling chocolate so i can eat em!. =D