i remember seeing something on a food network cake challenge one time where michelle bomerito (??? maybe???) dipped her white gumpaste flowers into some type of liquid coloring. color and alcohol? i am curious what it was if anyone remembers or uses this technique. do you also steam them when dry to get the shine as when you dust them?
I don't recall Michelle Bommarito doing that, but Sue McMahon did on the Holdiay wedding cake show. She mixes liquid airbrush color with Everclear or rubbing alcohol, about 1/4 color to 3/4 alcohol. Puts it in a deep cup or bowl, holds the flower by the stem and dips it into the liquid. Spin above the color to remove excess liquid. Check the flower to see that all areas are covered. I have done this and you sometimes need to dip a small artists paintbrush into the liquid and dab it into small areas that didn't absorb the color. Stick the wired flowers into a block of styrofoam to dry. These take a day or two to dry completely and the color deepens as it dries, so go lighter than you want the finished color. And when you spin to remove the excess you need to do it in the sink or inside a box to catch the excess as it flies off the flower. She did pale yellow roses in pink color, it makes a lovely orange shade to the flower.
She didn't steam her flowers after they dried, they have a bit of shine on their own.
thanks shirley! i had a feeling it was the holiday show. thank you so much for explaining the technique to me. i am going to give it a try. i had tried recently to dust a flower and then steam it but it just didnt give me the look i am going for. i need deep deep reds and browns and i hate trying to mix all that color into the gumpaste before making the flowers, it gets so sticky. as always, your a life saver. thank you!
another question.
i'll be doing reds , browns and ivory. do you think that i should use the same method for the ivory? i kind of wanted them a little multi toned for a more natural look.. maybe dip them , dry and then dust the edges or undersides? insides? i am feeling a bit clueless, but i want to learn!
another question.
i'll be doing reds , browns and ivory. do you think that i should use the same method for the ivory? i kind of wanted them a little multi toned for a more natural look.. maybe dip them , dry and then dust the edges or undersides? insides? i am feeling a bit clueless, but i want to learn!
You can get an Ivory with petal or luster dusts and then steam. I have only dipped when I wanted really deep or dark color, not sure how the Ivory would look, it might be too muddy looking but you won't know unless you try it.
Just to be clear - I'm not arguing with anyone - you absolutely can get dark colors when you dip - I was just saying you also can get dark colors using dry dusting - just depends on the darkness of your chalks, IMHO. The leaves on the photo I attached also started out white. At the time I didn't know what colors I was going for when I made the flowers, so made them all using white.
But having both photos is a good comparison of the results. I don't dip only because I don't like the extra bit of shininess you get from that - but some people really like it very much and it can be a nice effect. It all depends on the look you are going for.
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