Ok, so I am fairly new to cake decorating and have not gone to any classes. Just teaching myself through experimentation and practice with good results so far. I have been seeing all these fantastic handbag cakes and want to try one. I made the handle out of gumpaste and thought that it was going fantastic until I picked it up to put on the cake and it crumbled in my hands! What went wrong! Since it was my first attempt at this type of cake, I used the Wilton gumpaste mix, but is there anything else I should do to make it stronger?

There are variables when using gumpaste.

Drying time can be altered because of humidity and thickness of the piece.

Perhaps it didn't have enough drying time.

Gosh....I don't like the Wilton gumpaste, but I've not had it crumble on me. I recently fell in love with Tylose and am singing its praises all over the place. But, if you don't have access to Tylose (have to order it online or something) - try making your Wilton gumpaste and then adding a tablespoon of Fixodent powder. Yesssss...Fixodent. It is pretty much the same stuff as Tylose, except it has a minty fresh taste and smell. It'll make your gumpaste stronger. I found that the scent faded somewhat after a couple of days.

That's what I'm thinking. Not enough drying time. Allow at least 1-2 days to let gumpaste pieces air dry. Try again and see how it works.

When you mixed the gumpaste, did you use enough water or maybe add too much PS? I know you have to add a little PS to the Wilton gumpaste. It sounds like the mixture was too dry and brittle.