I just finished a cake which happens to be my first sculpted and gum paste flower cake. I am happy with my cake over all. It is really only the 4th cake I have ever done and I feel that I have come a long way. My problem was with the gum paste. I found that it did not dry all the way even after waiting more then 24 hours. Is there a faster way to get the gum paste to dry?

I even (don't know if this was a bad idea) put a few of the flowers near a portable heater... not sure if it helped them along or not though.

Thank you in advance for any ideas or critiques on my cake. I am teaching myself to decorate so any advice would be great!

A food dehydrator helps to dry gumpaste and fondant. It also helps to roll your gumpaste out thin. What gumpaste are you using? They should have been well on the way to being dry within 24 hours. I think your cake is adorable. I feel the same way about my cakes and I keep practicing and practicing.

Thanks for such a quick response. I used a powder (can't think of the name at the moment) that you mix with water, powdered sugar, and glucose. I used the recipe that was on the back of the powder which is made by Wilton. Thanks for the tip about the food dehydrater. I don't have one but maybe I should look into it... I guess I will try a few other gum paste recipes first.


Thanks again!

For a first time and teaching yourself your did very well! I teach classes and have had students who really struggle and I have seen it all. You did quite well!
To answer your question, When making gum paste flowers or other items you really need more time than 24 hours. When teaching a class and all of the classes I have taken, the flowers are made a week ahead of time to give them adequate time to dry. I have found you can help the process along by putting the flowers on a dry paper towel covered with a light layer of cornstarch but really to get the best results you need to give them more time. Some flowers even need to be done in 2 stages where the bud is dried first and then the rest of the flower made a day or 2 later. Another thing that does help with the drying process though is to have a fan running in the room. Just don't put it on until the flowers are made or it can contribute to frustrations of parts of the flowers drying too quickly while you are still working on the. Hope this is helpful and good luck with your future endeavors!!