Sugarpaste Flower Making Equipment
Delicate sugar flowers are perfect to finish off larger cakes and cupcakes, and because they keep well, you can make a few extras each time you need some so you have a ready-made supply on hand for decorating last minute cakes.
Sugar flowers are best made out of flower/florist paste or gum paste, which can be rolled very thinly without breaking, but also sets very hard. You can also add gum tragacanth to regular sugar paste to make it set hard. You can buy ready-made flower and gum paste in a variety of colours, or buy white and colour it up yourself using gel or paste food colours. Always store pieces that you aren’t using wrapped in clingfilm or a food grade plastic bag as they will dry out.
There are a few pieces of equipment that are very useful when making flowers, including:
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• Petal pad – a foam pad which is great for cutting out and shaping petals on. |
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• Ball tool – double-ended tool used for smoothing and frilling the edges of leaves and petals. |
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• Wires – often available in many colours, these thin wires can be cut to the desired length and can be inserted into the centre for your sugar flowers or added to flowers sprays. |
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• Cutters – there are a huge range of cutters available to make sugar flowers and leaves. The simplest to use are the plunge cutters, which stamp out a plain flower that can be shaped on a petal pad. Sugar roses can be made using individual petal shaped cutters, sets of 5 petals cutters or using small round cutters. You can also get cutters for various leaf shapes and calyx. |
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• Stamens – available in a range of colours, these tiny stamens are great to add lifelike details to your sugar flowers • Floral tape – this stretchy tape can be used to bind sprays of sugar flowers together. It is often available in several colours. |
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• Small non-stick rolling pins – when you are rolling out such small pieces of flower or gum paste you will need to use small rolling pins, and non-stick will make life easier for you. |
When rolling out flower paste and gum paste it is best to rub some vegetable fat such as Trex or White Flora onto the work surface to stop the paste from sticking. It is not a good idea to use icing sugar as this will make the paste difficult to handle and may cause it to dry out and crack.
If you are making flowers, such as roses, that require several layers of petals, it is often helpful to allow the paste to harden between each layer. You can use edible glue and a small food-safe paintbrush to attach each layer of petals.
If you are making a flower on a wire, you can keep the flower upright by sticking the wire into some florist’s oasis or a piece of sugar paste while it dries.
When inserting a spray of flowers into a cake it is best to use a posy or flower pick. This is a small plastic cone that houses the wires before it is inserted into the cake stopping the wires from coming into contact with it. They come in several sizes and are often coloured so they are easily seen when removing them from the cake.
