I have about three dvds that I havewatched to learn about making gumpaste roses. I have the Wilton set to begin with, and the book. It looks easier than it is. My gumpaste is to limp whe I try to make petals. I am making a 40th anniversary cake for a friends parents. I think I am gong to have to do buttercream flowers for it because I do not have enough practice with the gumpaste ones yet. She does not care. Please give me some tips to help me out. I do want to master this someday.

Bump Also I need maroon color. Would you make white roses and then dust them or what?

I think I would just purchase them. You can find really nice gumpaste flowers on the internet and they don't cost all that much.

Good luck

I can't do the roses with cutters to save my life. I use the method from the wilton website where you make a cone, then little balls of gumpaste pinched into individual petals. The petals are stronger and the roses are a little larger and more natural looking, I think. Here is the link:

http://www.wilton.com/decorating/basic/fondantrose.cfm

HTH
Diana

Hi Ladies!

I took a class for fondant roses and I'll tell you I have been addicted since I have not checked out the website mentioned...but here is a tip I learned from class...the centers need to be made in advance and dry hard (I like to do this on a toothpick). next, find a cutter (looks like a cookie cutter) that has 5 petals (most supply shops carries this..wilton's I find is too small. Ok, roll your petals out as thin as possible (using corn starch on surface..I use a plastic place mat) cut out 2 flowers (has to have 5 petals).using a decorators thin sponge, soften the edges of the petals with your gum paste tool (has a ball on the end). I like to cut foil squares about 3 X3 square and use this for support.Now place one of the cut outs on the foil square. with one of the cutouts poke the toothpick with the ball through the center of the flower and the foil below it. ok..here goes..for your first layer of the flower pick two petals leaving one in between the two. on these petals.. paint (with very little water) a "U" on the bottom half (very important only the botton half). Now one at a time wrap over the ball to form a peak. do the same with the next petal. on the remaining 3 petals, on the left side only of each petal paint a thin line of water. one at a time place the left side of each petal to center. on your second 5 petal cutout you will paint(water) each petal again only on the left side and again press to the petals on the prior row..I know this is lengthy but trust me once you get the hang of this it is simple and goes quickly. I made over 2 hundred of these in October for a wedding cake...Pratice makes perfect please feel free to contact me with questions [email protected]

cakelover888 you should make a tutorial. I could picture it better if I could see some pictures.

Cakelover has given you some good instructions, I myself am not good at explaing, I am only good at showing. However just one thing to help you. Don't use water use Vodka or Gin. The alcohol dries quicker. I always have some in an old nail varnish bottle, the nail varnish brush is ideal for painting the alcohol on to the petals. I haven't made fondant roses, only made Gum Paste ones. I can get the petals very thin with gum paste & I use my ball tools a lot.
Let me know if I can be of further help.
June

Thanks. Keep sending me your tips.

The ball tool you use helps. I couldn't get my rose petals thin enough until I bought a heavier metal ball roller. I think Ateco makes it or something. The plastic one I had from Wilton was too light and didn't frill? the petals.

here it is. Hope it helps

http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/gumpaste/allinone.htm

If I want really dark red roses, I use a color called ponceu red.

Also add a little blue (just a touch) it will also make a lovely deep red.

I can't really help much, but I just wanted to say good luck! Let us know what you decide to do .

for red roses, I start with red gumpaste and then dust them afterward.

I'm attaching a photo of ones I just made - the red there is using gumpaste colored with RED RED and XMAS RED (a lot), and then dusted with garnet luster dust, and then steamed. The poinsettias have the same color.

also - while it is expensive, i can't rave enough about the DVDs produced by Scott Clark Wooley (www.cakesbydesign.cc). his techniques are wonderful and his DVDs give great step by step. his books are good too.

What did you dust them with? They are so pretty. Also what recipe do you use? Some call for egg white is this ok since they will be touching the cake?

I use the recipe from that website I gave you. You'll have to search a bit for it, but it is on there. And yes, don't worry about it having egg whites. Seriously - we worry too much!!!!!!! The gumpaste is SO hard and dry by the time you use it on the cake (like porcelin) I can't see how it would ever ever ever be an issue b/c of the egg whites. As I said, they are dusted with garnet colored luster dust. Then i steam them over the tea kettle.

here is the link for the recipe:
http://www.cakesbydesign.cc/GumPasteRecipe.html

I had a little trouble with gumpaste until I started using Nicholas Lodge's recipe. He uses Tylose, and it makes a tremendous difference in the handling of the stuff. Now I love working with it.

thanks, very helpful