Most of my decorating is to make goodies to photograph, rather than to eat. I was wondering if any of you have tried the following, and what you have found to be advantages and disadvatages.

1. Royal icing + a gum agent like Tylose or Gum-Tex?

2. Buttercream + a gum agent like Tylose or Gum-Tex?

3. Royal icing made with granulated instead of powdered sugar?

4. Butter cream made with granulated instead of powdered sugar?

Also, for decorating work (and for making cookies/cakes for hubby but not for paying customers) is there any major difference in using Tylose vs. Gum-Tex (or other agents) in fondant or in other recipes? I like to make him decent tasting goodies, but we really are much more concerned with how well things photograph.

Thanks in advance for any comments/thoughts.

Lynda

I am not sure why you would add a gum paste to royal. It is intended to dry hard.

the same for buttercream- it is supposed to be softer- some recipes can dry firm

Softer sugar is required for buttercream and royal so it will whip. There are a couple of buttercream recipes- real buttercream- that use real sugar, but they are more fragile, and would not be a real help for just the photographs.

Tylose is more white than Gum-tex. both work fine.

I have done none of the above but I guess you could always try. Although you might end up throwing out a bunch of ingredients while you experiment. What are you trying to acheive by changing the recipes?

Thanks for your responses on this.

I just love all of the different frosting textures, and was just curious what other textures youmight be able to get with gums. Thought I'd ask the forum first since I don't have Tylose of Gum-tex and can't get it in town. (We live out in the middle of nowhere.)

Looks like I need to get a mail order together and then do some more stiring and mixing.

Lynda