Flower decorations:

Equipment and ingredients:

Petal paste (also known as gum paste) – you can also use sugar paste but you will need to add some gum trag or CMC so that your flowers set hard

Gel colours of your choice

Small amount of white fat (such as Trex)

Rolling pin

Blossom cutter

Flower mat

Palette knife

Bone modelling tool

Profile foam

Edible lustre dust in a colour to match your flower

Stiff paint brush

Unused blusher make-up brush

Small amount of piping consistency royal icing, coloured to match your flower

1.                  Smear a small amount of the white fat on a clean work surface (this will stop your petal paste sticking)

2.                  Knead your petal paste until soft and pliable. 

3.                  Add small amount of colouring by dabbing a little onto your paste with a cocktail stick and re-kneading your petal paste until the colour is even, repeat until you reach the depth of colour you require (I use gel colours as you only need a little tiny dab.  You can use normal liquid colours but it may change the consistency of your petal paste)

4.                  Smear a little bit more of the white fat onto your work surface and your rolling pin.  Roll out a small piece of the petal paste until approx 3mm thick, keeping any that you’re not working with in an airtight tub

5.                  Cut out blossom shapes with your cutter – only do a few at a time and keep the rest of the petal paste covered to stop it going hard.

6.                  Lift the blossom shape with the palette knife and place onto the flower mat.  With the bone modelling tool, frill and curl each petal

7.                  Place your blossom into the cup of the profile foam and allow to dry – ideally overnight.

8.                  To add the detail to the centre of your flower, use the stiff paintbrush and dab the lustre dust into the centre of each flower, brushing the dust up the centre of each petal, brush away any excess dust with the bluster brush.  To add the stamens, fill a disposable icing bag with the royal icing and snip a tiny bit off the end (or use a writing icing nozzle) and pipe lots of tiny dots in the centre of the flower

Where to buy:   All equipment used above can be purchased from Beavis of Newport, www.lakeland.co.uk or www.cakescookiesandcraftsshop.co.uk