Fixing a Broken Gumpaste Flower

Posted on September 10, 2019 by Edna De la Cruz Design Me a Cake

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.

Click here to watch tutorial.

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 😉

Rosette Cake Design

Posted on June 13, 2019 by Edna De la Cruz Design Me a Cake

I just got 2 new molds and I asked on Instagram which one you guys would prefer to see in a tutorial. I should have known that most of you would say both. LOL. I’ve decided to do both but I started with the rose mold first.

The Rosette Mold comes from a very popular design that creates beautiful roses by using stripes of fondant that are ruffled, and then placed strategically on the cake forming roses. This technique reminds me of the lace fabric I used to work with years ago when I designed clothing. Even though the design is so beautiful, you can expect long amounts of hours working on this design. It’s very time consuming.

I always love anything that shortens the length of work time when I am working on a cake. Not only can the customer save some money but I save time and earn more money too, so for me this is a win win. Now I can give the customer an option and if they want the original design, then they know they have to pay more for the work it involves, or just simply save some money and labor by using this shortcut.

I decided to see how the mold looks in a 2 tier cake and this is the finish product.

I finished the cake with some of my favorite flowers gumpaste Orchids and Roses with some filler flowers and tropical leaves. I have a tutorial on Orchids posted in the website already but soon I will be adding a section with advanced tutorials that you can access anytime and will include more flowers, plus I plan to add more tutorials to it.

And here is a close up of the pattern for the Rosette Mold.

I will do another tutorial as soon as I can using the other mold I got. In the meantime I hope you enjoy this tutorial. I am posting the links to the products below for those of you who ask.

You can click here to watch the tutorial!

You can see it in You tube if you prefer. Here’s the link. Don’t forget to Subscribe to my channel!

Until next time.. ta ta!
Edna 🙂

Click here for more info on this beautiful mold.

Edible Paper and Cake Decorating

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Edna De la Cruz Design Me a Cake

Sugar Roses and blossoms fillers by Edna De la Cruz

I love this cake. Just one single tier, but it’s so delicate and elegant.
I designed this cake last year and some people were asking me how it was done.
With so much work on my hands, I postponed doing a blog or tutorial because I really wanted to do a You Tube video about it. I suppose for now I will do the blog and eventually I will let you know when the video tutorial is finally done.

Let’s get started!
This cake was covered in Fondant. I used Americolor Neon Green liquid-gel to color it. I love that tint. It can go from very delicate, if you use a little, to very funky, if you use a lot.

Edible Image Paper from Icing Images Co.

In the photo above you will observe a very delicate lace was used. The lace was made with a Martha Stewart cutter and an edible paper from a company called Icing Images, (link posted below).This particular paper has a pearl finish to it and they offer many beautiful colors you can choose from.

Martha Stewart Deep Edge Punch-Garden Gate

The name of this cutter is Deep Edge Punch-Garden Gate. These punch cutters are really fun to use for scrapbook projects but they also work really well for cake when you combine them with edible image paper. It’s very important to use paper of very good quality. Some papers are too thin or they dry too fast. This is why I love the Icing Image papers. They are thick and give you a bit more time to work without the paper breaking or cracking. NEVERTHELESS, still it’s a good idea to work fast so the paper doesn’t break.

I always keep my edible paper in the original plastic bag it came in and sealed well so it doesn’t dry. I also store it in a dry place because humidity can affect the paper, just as it affects anything with sugar in it. Just make sure to take care of the paper and store it well. Never leave the paper uncovered so it will last longer.

The Martha Stewart punch is packaged with the sides closed. This is a great way to store it. To use, just open the wings. I cut the paper with a guillotine to make sure I have a straight edge. Doing this will save the rest of the paper from drying
too. Make sure to take of the plastic backing that the paper has before you start
using it for this type of work.

Once the paper is cut, I place it in the punch, carefully aligning it to the back line of the cutter. This will ensure a straight cut every time. After you cut the first part you move that and align the cut with the side wing of the punch where the design is imprinted. This is very helpful when you make cut after cut, always ending up with a perfect pattern.

First practice with a regular piece of paper until you get used to it. I will be doing a tutorial of this soon to better show how to use it.

How thick you want the strip is just a personal choice. Just cut it to whatever thickness you prefer it to be. To finish the design, I used the Perfect Pearl Mold. I love this mold when making pearls. Here below is an old tutorial I made on how to use the mold. I am planning to redo this tutorial but for now this is still the way I make pearls.
For those who want the mold, here is the link to it. Click here.
I use this mold all the time as it has 3 delicate pearl sizes.

Click to watch Pearl Tutorial

For the roses, I used my fast rose method on how to make roses. It’s part of my DVD “How to Make Sugar Roses”. This DVD has 4 hours of tutorials on the many ways to do roses. It includes the fastest way but also how to do the separate petals. This is in case time is not an issue and you opt to make a tight center. It also includes how to make

leaves, stems and even thorns. Then it teaches you how to color your roses.

Gumpaste Roses, blossoms, leaves and fillers.

The blossoms and buds are part of my DVD “Blooms and Vines”. This DVD shows how to make Hydrangeas, blossoms, buds, their leaves and Ivy vines. It even includes how to make these flowers without cutters, another way to make flowers. Finally, it teaches how to color and finish them.

Remember that in my website there are a number of tutorials that can help you get started in the wonderful world of cake decorating. You will find them under tutorials. If you are a beginner and have never done gumpaste flowers, I suggest you start with my tutorial on “How to Make Calla Lilies”.

I am posting all the links below too, so you can go check them out.

Basic Cake Tutorials:
http://designmeacake.com/tutorials.

Perfect Pearl Mold:
https://www.designmeacake.net/collections/molds/products/perfect-pearls-molds

Sugar Rose DVD and Blooms and Vines:
https://www.designmeacake.net/collections/advanced-tutorials-dvds

Icing Images:
http://www.icingimages.com/

Follow me on Facebook and share your cakes:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Design-Me-a-Cake/263955423295?pnref=lhc

Follow me on Instagram:
http://instagram.com/design_me_a_cake

Follow me on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/tonedna

I hope you enjoy this “How Did I Do That” blog. I will also do a tutorial soon.
Until next time, ta ta!!

Edna 😉