Making The Gumpaste Flowers For Panoramic Sugar Eggs

Traditionally the sugar egg is decorated with

flowers made from piped royal icing.

The first time I traveled to England in the late

70's I was introduced to cakes iced with rolled

fondant and decorated with stunning flowers

made with sugar paste, also called gum paste or

pastillage.  I purchased a couple of cake decorating

books while there and my love of sugar paste began.
Besides, the flowers I make from piped
royal frosting are down right horrid!

  Sugar paste is an edible sugar based dough

that's used like clay, it's very pliable and dries hard. 

 I used to make my own sugar paste from scratch,

 but take a stroll down the cake decorating isle 

at the local craft store and it's amazing what's
 available.  So, I bought mine pre made, and it
 works beautifully!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Most of these sugar paste flower cutters are

too big for eggs, but I will use some of the

leaf cutters.

These push molds designed for sculpey clay
 work great with sugar paste.

I have assorted pastel Wilton colors and pearl dust.

I also use:

Thin floral wire 

 Long floral wire 28 or 30 gauge
Floral tape
Scissors
Small wire cutters
Styrofoam

Ribbons

On the left side of the plate below is a chunk of sugar
 paste.  On the right is a dollop of Crisco shortening.
Crisco is used to prevent the sugar paste from
 sticking to your fingers and it helps keep
the sugar paste from drying out.

I add coloring to the sugar paste sparingly and
 kneed between my fingers and palms.
Try taking photos with greasy hands!
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You will notice my fingers have lots of
color under my nails, I promise my
hands are clean!

Rosebuds

I colored 3 balls in 3 shades of pink to make 

some rosebuds, and roses.

Sugar paste dries out incredibly fast, so I keep it
 wrapped in plastic wrap I've greased with Crisco.

I cut my wire into pieces about 4 inches long.

I am making lots of flowers and some 

may be used for another project, so I want the
extra length.  All you really need for eggs is about
 2 inches of wire.

I make a little hook on the end with my wire cutters.

To make a rose bud, I start with a small cone of
the darkest shade of pink.

Insert it on the wire and smooth out the 

bottom by twisting the wire and gently pulling

 down the paste.  It makes a little spiral.

I make a ball from the medium shade of pink.

I flatten this out between my fingers.
I don't worry about making a perfect
shape, each petal of a flower is slightly
different in nature.

Then wrap it around the cone.

With the tip of my finger I roll the edges

of this petal down.

Then I make a ball out of the lightest shade of pink.

Flatten it out.  Sugar paste is very pliable and
you can make it paper thin.

Wrap this around the bud by placing the middle of 

this petal so it covers the spot where the previous

petal ended.  Basically, overlap the prior petal.

I gently squeeze the bottom layers together.

I roll down the edge of this petal too.

I cut off the bottom section.

Then shape the bottom of the bud.

How easy is that?

Several rosebuds drying.

 Roses

I start with a  center cone & one petal in
 the darkest shade of pink.

Next is 3 balls of the medium shade.
Make them similar in size but not
exactly the same.

Flattened into 3 petals.

Add the first petal overlapping the prior petal.

I try to gently pinch the bottom together

after I add each petal.

I then add the second petal overlapping the prior one.

It looks like this.

Then I add the third petal and gently roll the

edges down giving shape to the petals.

Again pinching the bottom.

The last row has 5 petals of the lightest shade.
Make these balls a little larger than the previous
balls but, not exactly the same.

I add each petal overlapping the prior one
 just like the previous row.

1st petal

2nd petal

3rd petal

4th petal

5th petal

All 5 petals

Roll down and shape the petals.

Remove the wire.

I cut the bottom flat with scissors.

I set my roses on a piece of foam to dry.

Lots of roses drying.
Not a single perfect rose in the bunch, but
aren't they pretty anyway!

 This is pearl dust. I use a soft brush
to paint the petals.

See the difference.

The girls I'm making these eggs for
like bright colors, frilly ribbons and bling, so I
 will use this on all the flowers and leaves.
I prefer the softer version.  Sugar paste can
make the thinnest petals and they 
 have a translucent look to them.  Lovely
and delicate.

 Now my nails have purple,
pink and yellow stains!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All my flowers from the push molds are
made the same way.
The photos are self explanatory.
I use this little wooden sculpey tool
to press the paste into the
mold.

 Daisies

 

 

 
Really, how easy is that!
Lots of daisies.

Lots of little daisies.

Pansies

 

 

Lots of pretty pansies big and small.

Violets

Lots of violets.

Leaves
Leaves are made slightly different.
I roll out the sugar paste with a small
rolling pin on a lightly greased board.
Sometimes I actually cut a leaf shape
out with scissors, that works fine too.

 

I press the leaf petal into the mold with the tip of
my finger.

 Lots of leaves.

 These little flowers and leaves are so
simple and easy to make!
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Along the way I made tiny eggs with the
 leftover bits.

Ribbons

 

I use floral tape to wrap the sprays of ribbon.

Here is a tip.
Cut a length of tape, stretch it to activate the
stickiness.  Kind of like a flea collar.

More ribbons.

Lots of ribbons.

I wrap every flower and leaf with
floral tape.  Most of this will never show,
but if it does, I'd rather see green than
bare wire.

This is 2 bags of sugar paste.

 I'm very proud that my photos look like
I am so neat and orderly.  In reality
my dining room table looked like this
for about 10 days!

All these flowers have really
 put me in a Spring mood!