I have a few favourite tools that I always have ready whenever I make gum paste decorations. I like to call them my gum paste helpers:
A: The “egg foam trays”, are always good to have. They are great when making Hydrangea’s and 5 petal flowers.
B: My cornstarch container. I use this for gum paste decorations such as pearls and other types of decorations that is round in the shape. This way can I prevent a “flat” backside on the decorations.
C: For roses, lillies and other types of flowers these Celformers (from Celcakes) are good to have. I also use them when making heads for my figurines. You can even make them yourself with a glass and foil. Cheap and easy!
D: Small plastic palette trays for small cut out flowers.
There are one gum paste helper that I dont have but would soo love to have. One of those “trees” with lots of dowels, where you can hang your wired flowers and dry your bow loops on. I have thought of maybe make it myself with a little help from my DH. I just need to work at little more on how I (he) should make one π
Here are some simple DIY tips on how to make some “gum paste helpers” yourself:
1: Ziplock bags in different sizes and filled with dried beans or rice. Perfect to mold in shape. These are especially great if you need to dry larger items, like long leafs ect. Remember to give the bag a light dusting of cornstarch to prevent the gum paste from sticking to the ziplock bag.
2: Appel foam trays or other types of fruit trays from your local grocery (well cleaned of course) are also good to use when drying wired flower petals.
3: A long wooden dowel or broomstick placed between a pair of chairs, are a good place to hang your wired flowers or bow loops to dry in perfect shape.
You are welcome to share if you have a good tip on what you use.
Happy Caking!
Louise
Thank you so so much for posting this. I have been looking all over for a cheap way to dry flowers. Everyone just assumes that you just buy the wilton formers but I knew there was another way π
Can you please tell me how I can make item “C” by myself?Β Is it just pieces of foam that I can press my thumb and fingers into to make the shapes of petals?
The C’s are Styrofoam cups to hold gum paste flowers. You could use the tip with the glass and the foil.
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Louise! ParabΓ©ns, este site Γ© maravilhoso.
For drying wired leaves and flowers I stick them into a block of polystyrene. Leaves without the wire over corrugated fibreglass or cardboard. For lifting the fondant icing on the cake, bleach your x-ray sheets, rinse and dry, and perfect, justΒ slides under. Hope this will helpΒ many. Greetings from S.AfricaΒ
Hi, your cup and foil idea is simply fantastic – Thank you for sharing.
also…thanks for all the gumpaste tips…who knew???
Jessica, I recall that someone wrote it in their comment… I got mine from a shop that sells all sorts of foam and mattresses.
how can you make gumpaste/ sugarpaste with australian ingredience and where can you get them from?
You can get most ingredients either at your local food store or buy the more special ingredients from here:
https://carolines.com.au/index.html
https://www.floralartandsugarcraft.com/index.html
For gum paste please see the video on gum paste roses for recipe: https://cakejournal.com/archives/gum-paste-rose-tutorial-on-youtube
The foam egg trays are available at Walmart and other discount stores in the bedding dept as mattress toppers. The twin size will give you enough to cut a few flower former sheets and the rest I use in the back of my van to transport cakes. It absorbs the vibrations and keeps delicate work from being damaged in transport. I also cut a few sheets to like sheet cake boxes. these I use for transporting flowers and delicate embellishments to be added to a cake on site. That’s a lot of protection and function for about $15!
The foam egg trays are available at Walmart and other discount stores in the bedding dept as mattress toppers. The twin size will give you enough to cut a few flower former sheets and the rest I use in the back of my van to transport cakes. It absorbs the vibrations and keeps delicate work from being damaged in transport. I also cut a few sheets to like sheet cake boxes. these I use for transporting flowers and delicate embellishments to be added to a cake on site. That’s a lot of protection and function for about $15!
Louise,where do I get the egg foam trays? Your help is really appreciated. I can’t seem to find them anywhere.
Hi Louis,
I was wonder what sugarflair colour to use if I want to get the perfect skin tone colour?
Thanks!
Thank you, Louise, for your wonderful site! I just love opening it up to see what you have for us next!! I keep 3-4 small plastic/glass cups like for punch(_/) in my gumpaste/fondant tools (GP/F) for small bits of GP/F so that it doesn’t dry out while I am working with another color. Just turn the cup upside down over the bits and when you need that color, there is is, no messing with plastic bags!!
hi,im portuguese and i love your site.im starting in cake decoration anh im loving! in portugal there are some cake desing but there not very good.tank you.
Hi, Thank you so much for your beautiful site. I love all your work, colors and sweetness. As flower wire holders, I use the microwave’ steel rack, the one used for the grill: it has three legs and it is good enough for hanging small flowers… As an alternative to ziplock bag, you can use some little cup of coffee, filled with cornstarch or fine sugar, and you have perfect Celformers alternatives for single flowers!
Note to self: Never read about cakes or cake decorating when you are hungry. Bad move. Charming site. Thank you for some great ideas.
I use a cupboard dish rack ( the kind that makes more room in cupboard for storing dishes) to dry my wire flowers works great and some can fold down for storing. living in a small apt. I need all the dual use things or compact things I can find. Love thee new ideas that I gog from thisd site.Thanks Cathy
wow! your site is awesome, I learn so much from you. Thank you so much
hi, I am really new to cake decorating, and i was wondering, about the cornstarch box: do you let the fondant pearls dry in the cornstarch? does the cornstarch stick to them? will it change their color? will it come off if brushed off? thank you. love your site
Soooo happy to see you back and writing about your creations again. Honestly? No one can do it like you can – you have such a wonderful voice, and easy-to-follow pictorials!! I have a question when you get a chance, Louise. In the past you have referred to standard-sized cupcake wrappers that are just slightly (1/2″) higher than the norm, as “wonder” liners. I have looked high and low to no avail. Louise, where can I find these in the U.S. and what are they named? Thank you so much for all that you do!
Hey that tree you were talking about, you can use a pasta dryer. It is found at most pasta or cooking stores, as well as some Italian bakeries. Hope that helps!
Martine: Regarding the ebook. I can confirm that we have sent an email the 28 of February and again the 5 of March both with the ebook pdf-file attachment. I also wrote an email last evening, asking you to please confirm that email.
I hope that you see this and contact me again. Thank you.
First thank you for all your brilliant ideas and shares for the “tree” and your own ideas π
I got my “egg foam” from a store that sells foam rubber? dont know if that is the corect name for this?
The question from Becky about a photo on where I store all my things…. let me just tell you that I store it everywhere in the whole apartment. I could really use a whole room just for my tools π
Γznur Tuncar: You can get them from most of the UK online shops. They are called: Celformers (Celcakes)https://www.apieceofcakethame.co.uk/view_products.aspx?cid=5
Dear Louise, Thank you for all of your tips posting here. I am sharing with few bakeristin my city.
I ordered your Easter cookie e-book over a month ago and have yet to receive it. I also contacted you via email over a month ago and never received a response. Please issue a refund through PayPal.
Thank you as usual for taking the time and sharing with the rest of us your tips and tricks.
Hii. I live in Turkey/Δ°stanbul. Where I buy C number gum paste helper. Can you bring website name mine. Thank you verymuch..
hi Louise. I’m from malaysia and i really love your site and tutorials. your creations are beautiful and perfect. Keep on inspiring! p/s: do come to malaysia and conduct some classess!!
I am not sure if I have the wrong thing in mind. But for drying my wired flowers I use a block of florists foam. You just poke in the wired flower when complete and it stays away from all edges so dries in the shape that you make it. Becuase it is foam you ust poke in holes anywhere. I have yet to go through a block and it is quite cheap to use. Thanks for all the other tips.
Thanks , is a necesary helps gum paste for decorating cakes ,you are my heroe
Thank you once again for all your fantastic ideas, especially the cornflower one. I made big pearls the other day and the do have an ugly flat bottom! π A jewelry hanger would work to dry out your flowers! regards,
Jill Cape Town
Great info as always!!
Sometimes I use a rolling pin for drying leaves or petals that need to be curved.
Also…what would really help me is a picture of where you store all of this equipment!!! π
Where can i find these egg foam trays? So clever!
thank you … you r so kind for sharing with us your useful tips π
For drying flowers I use a high shelf rack, the ones with plastic rack and metal pull out legs. They are the kind that can be used as kind of instant shelves in pantry cupboards. Works very well. Hope it helps. If you arent sure of what I am talking of, let me know…can send you a photo!
Louise, KitchenAid make a pasta drying rack that you might want to consider buying. It works like the little trees you mention. The arms are not perfectly round but they work perfectly for drying flowers etc. And you could always say you might make your own pasta so you *need* it. π
What I use to hang dry my flowersis the wire dish rack , is a very inexpensive way and practical, try it.
Hi Louise!! Great post as usual!
You know, I’m new at cake decorating, I started taking classes last year and haven’t worked a lot with gum paste yet. We are going to start this year, at level 2, so I guess I’ll find this really useful.
Regarding your “tree”, I have one made of wood, which is supposed to be used for drying pasta like spaghetti, but I use it to hang my royal icing flowers (they will soon become gum paste ones!) Perhaps you could get one of those, at least here they are easy to find and they are not expensive at all
Greetings from South America!!
Dear Louise,
I just wanted to thank you for all the tutorials and tips you publish, you really help me a lot and you are great inspiration for me!
My sugarcraft ability needs improving of course…but I always follow you!
happy caking to you too π
Alice
thanks for the tips,specially the one of the zipploc bag and constarch and the tree with dowels,i ever use ziplocs bags to save my buttercream bullets, gumpaste or fondant its more organize that have lot of bowls in the fridge, so i wrap about 1/2 cup of buttercream, fondant or gumpaste (so if i need a small amount its very easy to take just a bullet then the hole pound of it), then i envolved in a plastic wrap and then put about 4 or 8 bullets (depends de size of the bag)on each zipploc bag and put a label with the date i made… this helped me a lot to keep my fridge organize. so i think i gonna create a similar way to storage dryes figurines with the foam tray method π ty
Ilove your item B suggestion! I would have never thought of that!
Thanks for sharing!
I also use my wire cookie rack to hang flowers from or lay them across the top. I’ve got a tiny NYC apt and space is in high demand π