I received a lot of requests on how I made the gum paste strawberries for my Cath Kidston cake. So here is a tutorial on how to make them. I have used a store bought red rolled fondant, mixed with a little Tylo powder for the red strawberry. You can use the gum paste strawberries for decorations on your cakes and cupcakes.

This is what I use:
White gum paste
Red rolled fondant, mixed with a little Tylo powder (CMC)
Food gel colors: pink and leaf green
Pink non-pareils
Non-stick board
Rolling pin
Tylo glue
Corn starch, to prevent the gum paste from sticking to your work board or hands.
Small paint brush
Dresden and veining tool (JEM) or another pointy tool
Ball tool
Frill stick
Flower foam pad
Small 5 petal blossom cutter, 20mm (3/4″)
6 petal flower cutters
Strawberry Leaves & Calyxes/Set of 4 (JEM)(I did not use the calyxes for these strawberries)
Classic D/S multi purpose veiner (Sunflower Sugar Art)
Small plastic palette, to dry your flowers in

The strawberry flowers
Step 1:
Start with the white small flowers. Roll out the white gum paste thinly and cut out the flowers with the 5 petal blossom cutter. Place the flowers on the flower foam pad and thin the petals slightly by carefully pressing down the ball tool on every petal. Transfer the flowers to the plastic palette and set to dry.

Step 2:
When the white flowers are dry, brush a little tylo glue in the middel of the flowers and sprinkle with a little pink non-pareils in the center. Set aside.

The strawberry leaf
Step 1:
Roll out the leaf green gum paste thinly and cut out the leaves with the strawberry leaf cutter. If you are having trouble getting the leaf out of the cutter, then use a toothpick to release it.
Place the leaves in the multi purpose silicone veiner. Give it a light press with your hand to get them veined. Arrange the leaves in desired shape and let them dry.

The strawberries
Step 2:
To make the strawberries take some red or pink gum paste in the desired size and roll the gum paste into a ball. Make sure, that there are no cracks in the ball at this stage!. Model it into a strawberry shape.

Step 3:
Take the dresden/veining tool and make indentations like on a real strawberry with the dresden/veining tool.

Step 4:
Roll out some more of the leaf green gum paste and cut out “flowers” using the 6 petal cutter. Flatten the petals slightly with the frill stick and glue it on the the top of the strawberry. Make an indentation with the frill stick and brush a little glue in the hole. Take a small piece of leaf green gum paste and roll it into a little stem and put it into the hole. Let the strawberry dry thoroughly.

Happy Caking!

Louise