What is the best way to attach gum paste sprays down a cake, starting from the top and cascading all the way down?
When I made this cake, I wired all the flowers together, put a straw in the top of the cake, but it was too heavy and was sagging the cake down. I ended up wrapping a wire around the middle and stuck it in the second tier, but it was looking dumb with so many wires and droopy. 
Should I have made a few separate sprays and stuck them in straws? I don't know.... Thanx for any advice!!
You can place each wire inside of a lolly pop stick then you can insert the stick into the cake right where you want it. Close enough to where they still look wired together.
Cakepro, how do you get the toothpick stay in the flower? Because when I tried to do it yesterday, it was sliding off. Once it got hard, the base of the rose doesn't stick to the toothpick very well.
I don't have any wires in hand, maybe a tip could help. THANKS.
I dip the end of the toothpic or florist wire in some edible glue before I stick it into the flower then let it dry.
Edible glue
1/4 teaspoon (heaping) Tylose
1/2 cup water
Bring water to a boil. Pour into small container with lid.
sprinkle tylose powder into water and stir till disolved. cover and keep in refrigerator.
I dip the end of the toothpic or florist wire in some edible glue before I stick it into the flower then let it dry.
Edible glue
1/4 teaspoon (heaping) Tylose
1/2 cup water
Bring water to a boil. Pour into small container with lid.
sprinkle tylose powder into water and stir till disolved. cover and keep in refrigerator.
THANK YOU!!!!!
i love to use toothpicks and wires.. depends on what i am making.. that is how nicholas lodge, scott woolley, toba garrett.. and famous teachers teaches you how to make them.. you also use edible glue on wires too. after you make a bunch of g/p flowers, leaves, etc. on wires.. then you put them all together and make a beautiful bouquet, to lay on your cakes or cascade down the side.. nothing more beautiful..
do you then take out the toothpick or do you stick the toothpick into the cake.
thanks
The whole point of doing them on toothpicks or cocktail sticks is so you can stick them directly into the cake, as toothpicks and cocktail sticks are food safe.
I also dip the ends of the cocktail sticks in gum glue or egg white before pushing into the rose base (or pistil, or stamen, or Mexican hat flower...whatever it is I am working on).
But you don't need to go to the trouble of boiling water for gum glue if you don't want to. Just put a pinch in a couple of tablespoons of water, and in a few minutes, it will dissolve. I also store my gum glue at room temp and it stays good for up to 3 months.
Now, when I do gumpaste roses that are on wires, I make a hook at the end of the wire, heat it up to red-hotness, and stick it in the rose base. The heat caramelizes the sugar around the wire, so I don't have to wait overnight to use them. I make however many I need and then go back and make my roses.
Cakepro -
Heating up the wire? That's a great idea! Thanks for sharing it with us!
Theresa 
If you are worried about putting wire into a cake, dip the wire (with the flower already made on it) in melted chocolate. Then plunge it into the cake. No harm, no foul! 
Theresa, I wish I could take credit, but that wonderful trick was courtesy of a Mr. Nicholas Lodge.
Bob, I still cringe at that. Any flexing of the wire will result in the chocolate cracking off, and who is to say that the chocolate doesn't have lead or any other number of toxic nasties leached into it from the wire?
I NEVER put wire into cake, dipped in chocolate, paraffin wax, or anything else. Wires go into posey picks, straws, or coffee stir straws.
i, too, like using toothpicks. and for roses, i always used dumdum lollypops. easier then making cones and you don't have to wait for them to dry.
bobwonderbuns-completely off topic but were you the one who had posted about friends of yours in Indiana that had a cake shop?? the only 2 cake supply stores in my area have closed down and i was hoping that this place sold supplies. i remember thinking that they were about 35-40 minutes from me. again, not even sure if it was you so if it wasn't, just ignore this post!
i, too, like using toothpicks. and for roses, i always used dumdum lollypops. easier then making cones and you don't have to wait for them to dry.
bobwonderbuns-completely off topic but were you the one who had posted about friends of yours in Indiana that had a cake shop?? the only 2 cake supply stores in my area have closed down and i was hoping that this place sold supplies. i remember thinking that they were about 35-40 minutes from me. again, not even sure if it was you so if it wasn't, just ignore this post!
Probably. I have a couple friends who own the Chesterton Cake Boutique just outside of Valpo. I don't think they sell supplies though, just specialized cakes. Donna, the head decorator, is a member of CC as well.
It's sad to see so many of the cool cake places going under. I still cry myself to sleep over the demise of sweet celebrations. 
Oh, I'm going to try the red hot wire tonight! I hate waiting overnight for the center to dry. If I'm making something that I know I want a lot of flowers cascading down the side, I'll make more on toothpicks or cocktail sticks.
Also, if you were going to use a half of a round styrofoam, how do you adhere the styrofoam to the top of the cake? In the Wilton book, it said to get this crystal bowl thing, but won't it just tumble right off the top?
Oh, I'm going to try the red hot wire tonight! I hate waiting overnight for the center to dry. If I'm making something that I know I want a lot of flowers cascading down the side, I'll make more on toothpicks or cocktail sticks.
Also, if you were going to use a half of a round styrofoam, how do you adhere the styrofoam to the top of the cake? In the Wilton book, it said to get this crystal bowl thing, but won't it just tumble right off the top?
Hot glue the half-ball onto a cardboard cake circle the same size, and cover it in fondant. You can then just use a dab of royal icing to adhere the cake board to the top of the cake. Once you have the GP flowers stuck in it, it will be fairly heavy. Then they have a nice keepsake to take off of the cake.
I also do the hot-wire method in calla lily stamens so there is no waiting overnight for them to dry.
OK...I am new to this gum paste flower making - here is my question(s)...
I now make my little cone centers from gum paste, dip the end of a wire that I have bent over at the end in glucose - stick that into the bottom of my little cone and let it dry over night.
So you are saying that I can make my little cone, take a wire, heat the end up and shove it into my little cone right after I make it and then I can continue to make my rose? I don't have to let it dry. I thought the purpose of letting it dry was to dry the cone to keep the shape.
But I am thinking that the purpose of letting it dry is to secure the wire in the bottom - is that what you are saying?
If you make a cone and don't use a wire or tooth pick are you saying that you can continue to make the rose also - you don't have to let the cone dry?
Am I understanding this whole thing correctly?
...the purpose of letting it dry is to secure the wire in the bottom - is that what you are saying?
If you make a cone and don't use a wire or tooth pick are you saying that you can continue to make the rose also - you don't have to let the cone dry?
Am I understanding this whole thing correctly?
Correct. The purpose of letting it dry overnight is so the toothpick, wire, whatever will be secure in the cone. You don't really manhandle the rose cone while putting petals on it, so it's not going to get misshapen.
Now, about putting petals on a rose that doesn't have a toothpick or wire in it, you probably wouldn't want to do that because it would make it very difficult to work with and secondly, you need to let your rose dry upside down for the last layer of petals. Without a toothpick or wire, you couldn't do that.
Thanks Cakepro
You also answered my next question about drying upside down.
But do have one more question - what do you hold your wire over to heat it - lighter, candle? Doesn't it get black - sooty - sort of.
And I am also going to ask about cone molds - the ones that First Impressions sell and also the one that Nick Lodge sells. Expensive - but I would spend the money if they were worth it cause I have a hard time getting my cones the same size every time.
Are there any of you out there that use the molds and how do you like them and how do you use them? Where does the gumpaste get pushed in I can't tell from the picture and then how do you get it out without wrecking your cone. Does it save time? What size of FImp would be the ones to order?
Thanks for you help.
I use a burner on my stove to heat the end of the wires, and they don't get sooty...just red hot. I would use my kitchen torch but my kids commandeered it for fireworks and I have not yet bought another one. LOL
I bought the FI rose cone molds a couple of years ago when I took my first class from Nick Lodge but they are still in the package. You simply cram a ball of gumpaste in the mold, pop the mold in the freezer for half an hour, and then pull the cone out. Personally, I prefer to make my own because I like doing the fishtail for the rose center....it saves an entire step.
Cakepro
Now you knew I was going to ask this - fishtail - I don't suppose there is a tutorial or pictures some where of this. have you ever taken pics of the steps when you do this? I am sort of a visual person and this sounds complicated.
I live in a small town in Wisconsin and there is nothing offered any where within hundreds of miles for any type of classes other than basic Wilton. What I wouldn't give for a Nick Lodge class!!!
Thanks for the info on the ruber molds - sounds like it would take more time - with the freezing and all. I am so glad I asked before I spent the money. I just love this site - I have learned soooo much from all of you.
Thanks a million times over!
This post has been amazingly helpful. Thanks so much everyone.
I agree, what is this fishtail? I love making gumpaste flowers but something just never looks natural about them. I hate the roses because I like bigger ones and can never get them large enough with my cutters.
this thread is exactly up my alley as i have my first request for a 3 tier cake with cascading fondant roses and i was wondering if everybody else just stuck a million of them into the cake with toothpicks (like i learned in the wilton class). all the info here has been so helpful, thanks everybody!!
now i am curious about this fishtail too!
Over here in the UK we use posy picks to place into the cakes, When you are taping flowers together then you need to reduce the weight of the wires , this is done by cutting the wires on an angle when taped together, also because your spray is heavy its better to make 3 small bunches, cut the wires then tape the 3 bunches together, hope this makes sense!!!!
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