I have a wedding cake for this weekend for which I've made about 50 gumpaste roses (first time). They are meant to be burgundy but have faded to a kind of very dark pink.

Trying not to be dismayed, I've bought some burgundy petal dust, and from what I have experimented with, everything should be fine if I just dust each flower.

Can I just check with you pros: I dust them before they go on the cake, right? Does the dust come off as the flowers are handled? Is there anything else I should know about this before plowing in?

Many thanks in advance.

giving you a bump up while you wait for the gumpaste experts to sign on .

i pass mine (quickly) thru steam to set the dust.

diane

Definately do the brushing off the cake. You will get loose dust on the cake otherwise. Then go for it. You may end up with red finger tips so you may want to wear gloves. When I use cold porcelain to make roses they dry so pale and allmost see through so I dust the entire flower.

If the roses will have different shades of color in them and you have to go from color to color a great tip i learned here is to clean your brush in between colors with cornstarch. Dip brush in , and rub it on a paper towel...cleans the color right out, no need for washing brushes.

Thanks for the tips. Keep'em coming!

Well, they turned out pretty well actually - I will upload a pic later, once the cake is delivered and I can breathe again. I brushed them all over with the dust, and it made a real difference and made them look really rich - I'm glad I tried it.

Nobody warned me about the burgundy boogers afterwards though!!

Can't wait to see your pics.

Here are the roses I did. I was pleased with the way they looked on the cake. The colours completely matched the napkins and table linens when I delivered the cake, so it was definitely worth the extra work!

Beautiful! Such a rich red...i guess i'm easy to convince since that was my wedding color.lol ;0)

gorgeous!