How to make “feather-inspired” leaf cake decorations

I wanted to decorate a cake with leaves but not just basic green leaves. These leaves were inspired by pictures of exotic birds with beautiful/colorful feathers that I recently saw in a nature magazine.

NOTE:
If you want to make regular feathers, you will still find this tutorial helpful….
– Just use white gum paste instead of pink gum paste.
– Use a longer, narrower leaf cutter OR just cut a long/narrow feather-like shape, freehandedly .
– Then just follow steps 1-5.
– If you are making  peacock feathers, you can use different shades of petal dust to add color to your feathers.

Anyways, let’s get started…

You will need the following supplies:

Pink gum paste
Wilton’s big and small leaf cutter
Leaf veiner
Veining stick
Paintbrush
Rolling pin
Leaf drying tray
Foam pad
Small cutting wheel tool
Yellow petal dust
Golden pearl dust
Blue petal dust
Blue pearl dust
Green petal dust
Green pearl dust

Here are the instructions:

Step 1:
Roll out pink gum paste fairly thin.

Step 2:
Use a leaf cutter to cut out some pieces… big and small.

Step 3:
Place the leaf on a foam pad.
Press the leaf veiner on top of the leaf until the pattern transfers onto the gum paste.

Step 4:
Use the leaf veining tool to make an indentation along the center of the leaf.

Step 5:
Use the small cutting wheel tool to cut lightly along the outer edge of the leaf.
The direction is indicated by the arrows.
This makes the ends look slightly rough and jagged.
Make sure not to press your cutter too hard or you will just rip the leaf.

Step 6:
Mix some golden pearl dust and yellow petal dust.
Brush this mixture all over your leaf.

Step 7:
Now, mix some blue petal dust and blue pearl dust.
Brush this mixture along the central line of the leaf as well as the outer edge of the leaf.

Step 8:
Mix some green petal dust and green pearl dust.
Brush this mixture lightly around the center of your leaf.

Step 9:
Place the leaf on a leaf drying rack on an angle so that it dries with a natural curved shape.

And you are done!

Follow the same steps again for as many leaves as you need.

Allow these pieces to dry overnight.

Then, glue them onto your fondant-covered cake with gum paste glue.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

Happy caking everyone!