I know I’ve haven’t written a Blog for awhile and I need to write a few of them for videos I have posted in You Tube, so here I am trying to catch up.
One of the videos I posted earlier was about doing a simple fix on a broken gumpaste flower. I remember years ago I was working at a custom cake store and one flower broke. I was about to throw it away and my good friend Maria told me not to. She said we can use it in the back of the cake and hide the broken part. So I adopted that way of thinking.
For cake shows and competitions this is not something I would suggest doing since judges do thoroughly inspect the arrangements to make sure that all of the flowers are done perfectly. But when you are dealing with weddings, some things are more forgivable and hiding a broken flower by using it as a filler works great, as long as you place it in such a way that the broken piece won’t show .
On a cake I was working on, the flower that broke was one of my favorites. Yes, I do have flowers that turn out better than others and I prefer using them for the front of the cake. A petal from the flower broke off and it was a clean break. When you get a clean break at the base of the petal, it’s a bit easier to fix and can be easier to hide. When done well, no one will notice the break. I do make sure to place the broken area in such a way that it’s less visible.
I remember when I was just starting to decorate cakes, there was a cake decorator who told me he used crazy glue to fix broken flowers. I just don’t feel comfortable using it near anything that goes in my cake. I know that gumpaste flowers are really not for eating but I still have my reservations.
I prefer to soften a small amount of gumpaste with some gum glue (click here for gum glue tutorial), and place it in the broken edge and let it dry. This usually works great but you have to let it dry well before you can use the flower. So if I am in a hurry and I can’t wait, I use a small piece of super thin gumpaste and add it with gum glue. Sometimes putting this super thin layer on one side will give you a strong bond but if you want an even stronger bond, I recommend that you do this on both sides of the petal.
Watch the video tutorial to see how I do it. I hope it helps when one of your flowers gets broken while you’re working on a cake.
Hope you enjoy this tutorial and soon I will post a Blog on the cake I design with them.
Until next Blog, ta ta!
Edna 😉
Hi Edna, I want to thank u first off of ur wonderful videos u display they are so helpful, I have a question about cake batter and how donu know how much of it to use to put in the cake pans, I hope not a stupid question I’m just not understanding how to measure for the amount of batter.. thank u so much for helpful tips!!
Is not a stupid question. The general rule of thumb is to fill a cake pan two-thirds to three-quarters full, leaving enough room for the cake to expand and rise as it bakes. When you bake often you start learning that some cakes will rise more than others and you can play with how much you fill the pan. Just make sure not to fill it to the top or it will will spill. Too little batter can make the cake dense or flat.