I have been trying to ruffle my gumpaste to make a peony type flower that I need for an upcoming cake. First, the details of my materials... I first started out using Wilton gumpaste, but didn't like it so I make my own using CAI Tylose Powder and the recipe that comes with it. The ball tool I use is a metal one that has no seams. I also use Americolor gel paste to tint my gumpaste.

Putting any amount of shortening on my hands to keep the gumpaste from sticking to me seems to only make the gumpaste stickier! My ball tool sticks to it and it sticks to my board and foam. I have tried dusting in a 50/50 cornstarch/P Sugar mixture and that just seems to dry the gumpaste out. Also when I try to ruffle the edges, they do get thinned out but the edges just stays flat....no flowing ruffles. I know you aren't supposed to get a true ruffle...just a softening effect. But I need SOME KIND OF MOVEMENT; NOT JUST FLAT! What am I doing wrong?!!! I have the ball tool half on half off the edge of the petal...could it just be the high humidity and heat we have here in Texas? And if so is there an easy fix?

What kind of foam are you using. I using tap my ball tool into my cornstarch puff and then roll it half on gumpaste/half on the thin foam to ruffle. I can get a pretty good ruffle with a decent amount of pressure. If you're really struggling with the gumpaste drying out, try adding a little bit of fondant to it. Maybe a 70/30 gumpaste fondant mix to give you a little more workability. I use the Wilton gumpaste all the time and although it's sticky, I don't find it unmanageable. Wish I could be more help. Pics might help as well.

I have tried the thin purple and the thin pink Wilton foams. I am going to try adding some fondant and see if that works better. The gumpaste only dries out if I dust it with cornstarch. Thanks for the suggestion! I will update a bit later when I try it out!

For ruffling, use the thin pink one only. The thick purple one is for shapping not thining and ruffling. Good luck. Hope it goes well.

I decided to try a different ball tool before adding fondant to my gumpaste. I really didn't want to add the fondant because I had already tinted my gumpaste black and didn't want my color to change So the ball tool I switched to was just an ordinary plastic one (Wilton I think) and it worked great! For some reason my metal one was sticking so bad that it was stretching and tearing instead of thinning and ruffling; And since it was metal, cornstarch wasn't coating it well... I am currently waiting for my flower to dry so I can dust it. Thanks so much for all your suggestions!!!

So glad it worked out! Goes to show how the right tool can make all the difference

.........didn't want to add the fondant because I had already tinted my gumpaste black .......

Glad to hear trying another tool worked but your main problem is probably the black. As much gel/paste needed to make BLACK changes the texture/consistency of gumpaste

I completely agree about it changing the consistency. I added some more powdered sugar after I tinted it and then let it sit for another 24 hours in the fridge. That brought it back to the original texture.