Sugar flowers are great additions to any home creation you make. While they are generally made for huge fantastic cakes, you most certainly can use them for edible cupcake toppers.
There are several ways to make sugar flowers. The easiest way would be to decorate it much like you would a basic cake; using icing. Many professional cake icers are very good at what they do but there are limits to realism and beauty in these types of flowers. It all depends what kind of crowd you’re trying to please. If you’re at a wedding, regular icing sugar flowers may or may not do as a cupcake topper, it all depends on the people you are planning for. These types of cupcake toppers would be far and away easier to make than making them out of sugar dough, but the effort is oh so worth it.
Sugar flowers made from sugar dough are a great creation that almost has the consistency of porcelain. They are made from a sugar dough known as gumpaste. These types of flowers are often created in a factory but there are many people out there that hand craft them. The hand crafted sugar flowers are amazing. Their attention to detail beats most factory jobs hands down. The downside is that they are often more expensive. If you’re looking to make your own gumpaste, here is a recipe from cake decorating corner.
Preparing a gum paste recipe is similar to making fondant, but the addition of gum tagacanth gives the dough the added flexibility for making delicate flowers and forming figures.
Gum paste can be rolled out much thinner than fondant can, allowing you to make realistic-looking flower petals.
When making gum paste drapes or lace impressions, attach them to the cake right away. Flowers and figures should be allowed to dry. Once dry, they can be dusted with petal dust or painted with a combination of lemon extract and powdered food coloring. Then they are attached to the cake with a dab of royal icing.
Ingredients for Gum Paste Recipe:
2-1/2 c. confectioner’s sugar
1/2 c. corn flour
3 tsp. gum tagacanth
5 tsp. cold water
2 tsp. unflavored powdered gelatin
3 tsp. shortening
2 tsp. glucose
1 large egg white
In the bowl of an electric mixer, place confectioner’s sugar and corn flour. Mix them together and then sprinkle the gum tagacanth on top. Set the bowl in a pan of boiling water and cover with a cloth.
In the top of a double boiler, add the water and gelatin. Allow the gelatin to soften for 5 minutes.
In the bottom of the double boiler,bring water to a simmer. Set the gelatin mixture on top. Add the glucose and shortening to the gelatin mixture. Stir until the shortening is completed melted.
Add the gelatin mixture and egg white to the confectioner’s sugar mixture. Beat on low speed until all ingredients are combined.
Beat on high speed for 5 – 10 minutes, or until the dough looks stringy.
Place the gum paste recipe in either plastic wrap or an airtight plastic bag and refrigerate for 24 hours.
The gum paste recipe will be very soft at first. After it sits in the refrigerator it will become stiff. As you knead the gumpaste, the warmth of your hands will soften it. Add a dab of shortening and work it in to the gum paste to make it pliable.
You can roll the gum paste out on either a greased surface or one dusted with corn flour. Dust the rolling pin to prevent sticking.
Use only paste food color to tint gum paste. Add a tiny amount at a time,using a toothpick. Knead the color into the gum paste recipes until the color is uniform throughout. Some colors tend to darken over time, so tint the gum paste slightly lighter than the desired color. After you add color, you may find that the gum paste becomes too soft. Allow it to sit for 15 minutes and it will return to its normal texture.
Gumpaste dries quickly when exposed to air, so only remove what you need from the plastic.
Now that you know a little more about sugar flowers, feel free to use them on your cupcakes as well!
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