Gelatin Gems

Posted 04/02/12 • Last updated 04/02/12 • 5436 views • 34 comments

I came up with this last summer after struggling to try and find a way to fill small candy gem molds with isomalt. Its fast, cheap and easy when you need a quick gem and dont fill like working with hot sugar.

List of Materials

candy gem molds
food color
paintbrush
unflavored gelatin (I use knox)

You need to make the gelatin, in order to do that mix 2 1/2 parts water to 1 part gelatin. I normally do 3TBSP gelatin (about a box and a half of Knox) to 7TBSP Water. Mix the gelatin and water together than place in the micorwave, heat slowly (it can boil over easy so start off 30 seconds the first time you heat it) Sitr occasionally till all gelatin is dissolved in the water (it will still will have a brownish color to it but no more clumps) Let it sit at room temp for about 10 minutes, it will form a white foam like surface that you can remove peel off with a utensil. I like to reheat once more, stir and let sit again removing any more white foam you see. Once thats done its ready to use. Keep the gelatin covered when your not using, it forms a clear layer pretty fast.
Gem-tutorial-2

Next I heat up the gelatin a little at a time since we are using small molds you have to work faster, the warmer the gelatin is the easier it is to work with. Mix the desired food coloring into the geltain once its warm. Go slightly darker than you normally would on the colors cause it will dry thinner. Use the paint brush and paint the inside of the mold with the gelatin, you do not want to complete fill in the molds just outline it really good. As it dries it will become thinner if the mold is too fill the gem will pull and loose its shape. Let dry, tiny gems can take as short as 10 minutes, large gems have take anywhere from a couple of hours to a day. When you move the candy molds the gems should shake loose.

Comments (34)

auntbeesbaking 4/2/12 at 11:26am

WOW! Thank you for sharing!!

athenarose 4/2/12 at 11:30am

I got more pictures under my notes on my facebook page, I never done a tutorial on cakecentral and wanted to share it hoping to helps some follow cake decorators out. When I posted I didn't realize since I did 2 steps it was only going to let me add two pics. So if I can edit this I will otherwise I got more pics on what not to do and finished pieces there.

danihurricane 4/2/12 at 12:02pm

I want to try these! looks awesome, quick question: how they handle layered over frosting or fondant? How about refrigeration and heat? I live in Hawaii so I referigerate all my cakes and cupcakes and most people do their parties at the beach.. mahalo DD

athenarose 4/2/12 at 12:35pm

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2300791/gelatin-gem-cake I just put on a test cake I did with these gems. I live in Alaska so hard to say what it would be like somewhere that it isn't so cold. They went on fondant, a couple of gumpaste tiaras and even royal icing cookies (I don't recommend using on cookies just cause no one wants to eat gelatin) but they went on and stayed in place. You can use royal icing, piping gel or even fondant. I like piping gel the best since the gems can be slightly transparent you don't want to see the the royal icing white behind the gem. It went on great using a piece of fondant too. I put them on dried gumpaste with piping gel and had no issues. I even put them on a cake put the cake in the fridge for a couple of days, than moved to the freezer for a couple of weeks than pulled the cake out at room temp for a couple of days and saw no change. That particular cake I used fondant behind the gem to apply it to the cake. Got any other questions just let me know! Some tips I tried (the pics of this test are on my fb page under my notes, first tutorial didn't realize when I put two steps I was only uploading two pics) 1) Don't fill the gems to the top, they pull away from the side of the molds and get a little funky, just coat the mold well and to the top of the edges really well. 2) Make extra, these take only a few minutes to make and the small ones can dry within a hour (I have had some done in 10 minutes). You will have some that will pull and curl regardless of what you do. I made these for months to test maybe why some would come out bad and the only thing I can come up with is it might have something with the gelatin getting cooler when I'm still fill the molds so I reheat from time to time if I'm making a lot. 3) Make the color slightly darker than you plan on, these thin out so if you want to appear to be more solid. 4) You can not add another coat of gelatin, I tried to see if I could get them thicker by adding a second coat of gelatin, some after they dried, some part way through. Regardless they all shriveled up and were completely useless. HTH!

LMC76 4/2/12 at 12:43pm

This is SUCH perfect timing, I JUST bought a gem mould last week! Thanks for this!

Marianna46 4/2/12 at 4:11pm

I have a gem mold, too, and I've just been staring at it because I didn't want to go to all the trouble of heating up isomalt. I'll be trying this really soon, since I adore anything to do with gelatin. Thanks for the idea!

sweetflowers 4/3/12 at 8:32am

What a coincidence, I taught how to do these at Cake camp last July with the bubbles. Small world isn't it! Yours look great.

auntginn 4/3/12 at 10:04am

Thank you for sharing. Great idea. I always have a hard time making candy gems

sprinklescakery 4/3/12 at 8:21pm

Totally great idea!!!! How are they on buttercream or whipcream?

athenarose 4/3/12 at 9:24pm

Sprinkles I haven't tried on buttercream or whipcream, I hardly use whipcream. But I will try it out on buttercream soon and let you know!

sweetflowers 4/4/12 at 7:44am

Athenarose, forgive me but I can answer, they not only work great on buttercream, but you can put them in the refrigerator without a problem. The whipped cream one I haven't tried yet. The only enemy of these is water so I would guess they will last only a little while on the whipped cream before starting to melt.

Deecee64 4/5/12 at 2:48pm

Brilliant idea, I have just used gems that I bought for my princess castle cake and they were a nightmare to handle, even with tweezers. Any tips on where to buy the gem moulds ?.

TheTattooedCakeLady 4/5/12 at 4:16pm

Can I just say THANK YOU!!! I struggled to make these last year for a crown cake. Working with sugar means bubbles which means an imperfect gem! Thanks so much. Looking forward to trying this instead :)

TheTattooedCakeLady 4/5/12 at 4:17pm

DeeCee64 I got my gem molds from First Impressions Molds. http://www.firstimpressionsmolds.com/gems.aspx

Cookie4 4/5/12 at 9:22pm

Absolutely brilliant!!!!! I've played with the Gelatin making bows and butterflies, even stained glass windows for cookies but never thought of making the gems. This is definitely on my must-do list for next week. Thanks for sharing :)

athenarose 4/7/12 at 5:34pm

Sweetflowers ty for letting me know! I know water is the enemy, I know I got a few drops on some before and it didnt melt but never tried it on b uttercream, most likely the fat in the buttercream, funny how it works sometimes. Let me know about the whipcream :)