Gumpaste Filler Flowers | Beginner Friendly
Starting the process of using gumpaste and make pretty delicate flowers is not as hard as it looks. Filler flowers are a great flower to get started with if you are new to cake decorating and have limited equipment. The great thing about making these ‘Filler Flowers’ is they need NO PETAL CUTTERS! Yes, that’s right, NO PETAL CUTTERS!
To get started, you will will need my homemade Easy Gumpaste or you can purchase some gumpaste. Just so you can see how easy these filler flower are to make, I’ve made a step by step YouTube tutorial, showing you not 1 but 3 flower designs in real time, so you can see for yourself.
I hear you ask... If no cutters are required? What equipment will I need?
Florist Wire
I have wired these filler flowers with paper covered florist wire, but you could leave them unwired if you wish to do so. Unwired flowers look great on top of buttercream piped cupcakes. If you do use florist wire, it will need to be either 24 or 26 gauge wire cut into quarters, with each cut piece measuring 3.5”/9cm in length.
I have tried to keep this tutorial as easy and inexpensive as possible by using a washing up sponge to shape the flowers rather than a foam board usually used in cake decorating. Just make sure that you only use this sponge or any other alternative equipment for cake decorating purposes only.
Sugar Glue/Edible Glue
Like the gumpaste you can purchase this pre-made, however it is super easy to make sugar glue at home once you have CMC or Tylose powder
Click here if you do not know what CMC or Tylose powder is yet.
Click here for full details and top tips on how to use Edible Glue.
This recipe is for a small quantity to get you started if you need more, just double the recipe. Take a clean container, add 1/4 tsp of CMC or Tylose powder, then add 1/3 cup of boiled water (that has cooled slightly), pour the water over the CMC or Tylose powder give it a stir or a shake. Leave it overnight or for at least for 4 hours until cooled to room temperature. It may look cloudy at first, with lumps, but don’t worry about this, the lumps will dissolve and you will be left with a clear solution, that can be used on any edible creation. Once made up, it must be stored in the fridge and can be kept for up to 1 month.
Here is a complete list of all the equipment I’ve used:
24 or 26 gauge wire
Pointed nose pliers
Wire cutters
Ball tool (plastic or metal is fine)
Cone tool
Ruler
Scissors
Paint brushes
Tweezers
Sponge x2 (this is a cheaper alternative to get started rather than using a foam pad)
Lemon Extract or high alcohol content vodka
Sugar glue* Container for storing sugar glue if you make it yourself
Petal dust - 3 colours* Optional, you can choose to leave the flowers white
Corn flour/Corn starch
Trex/Crisco
Small Sugar Pearls (white)* Optional, you could choose to not add anything or add a small ball of gumpaste
Helpful Link
You can purchase a beginners Cake Decorating kit from:
Amazon, click here
