For the A is for Addalyn party, I knew I wanted to construct a ruffle cake with a large gumpaste peony on top.
only issue? I don’t have a peony cutter for gum paste. My neighborhood (amazing!) cake supply store, ABC Cake Decorating, was where I intended to pick one up. They didn’t have one, and I didn’t have time to get one online because I had waited until the last minute. Oops. Time to get creative.
Save the day with heart-shaped cookie cutters! Even though it wasn’t essential, I had some with scalloped edges, and they worked perfectly to create a peony.
I used scalloped heart cookie cutters in two sizes (all I had). I used two of the larger and three of the smaller heart cutters to create a total of five layers of petals. Each layer of the flower was created by simply cutting out three gum paste hearts, ruffling and smoothing the edges using a gum paste ball tool, then arranging the hearts in a circle with the heart’s point in the center. Only a small, round lump of gum paste in the center served as support for the center’s furled-up ball of petals.
As the petals dried, I supported them with large, regular, and mini cupcake papers so they would fit together neatly to form a single peony. It worked quite well despite the fact that I had never attempted utilizing muffin, cupcake, and tiny cupcake wrappers for this reason previously. I was able to stretch the paper out and make some slightly larger and some significantly smaller thanks to the fluted edges. and quickly fashion the ideal support contour.
I added a little color and dimension by brushing on dry luster dust after the petals had fully dried. It’s a very straightforward procedure, but it greatly improves the interest and realism of gum paste flowers.
The petals simply needed to be stacked so they nestled together to form a single peony blossom. Each layer of petals was joined to the one before it using a tiny quantity of vodka as adhesive.
The beautiful thing about gumpaste cake decorations is that they may be produced weeks, even months ahead of time, despite the fact that I left it until the last minute.
So that you may finish it and avoid worrying about that aspect of the celebration during those last, busy days before an event.
Simply place it on top of the cake the day of the celebration. Even a completely simple cake from the grocery store would appear romantic and magnificent thanks to it.