Is the process for making gumpaste roses the same as making fondant roses? I learned that recently in my class and thought it was very easy and I got a very nice result. I would like to start experimenting with gumpaste now.
Yes, you can make gumpaste roses just like you make them out of fondant, either with the all-in-one quickie technique or petal by petal. Just make sure you keep the unused gumpaste covered because it will dry out much faster than fondant.
they are done exactly the same as the fondant rose, except that it does dry out faster. You can do them on wires by taking floral tape and wrapping it several times (about 10) around a 20 gage wire, wet it with a little floral glue (a pinch of gum paste disolved in about a TB water). Insert it through your base/cone to the top, hook it, then bring it back inside and pinch around the bottom. If you do a lot of these and let them set, you can then do different stages of the rose, from closed bud through full blown, but they need to dry first.
The bigger you make your cone/center, the bigger the petals should be. many sites sell the bigger cutters, but Wilton's are a great start. There are also veiners and dusts to make them look more realistic. Nicholas Lodge and Scott Clarke Wooley both have web sites and great information on how to do any flower you could want. Have fun! Here are some that I just did after going to a demo class with Nicholas Lodge.
Wowzers sugarnut, those roses are beautiful!!!
thank you! I feel like I'm improving every time I do them, but taking even a demo with Nicholas Lodge helped 100%!
for seashells, have you thought about just doing chocolates? I did those on a cake for my mom and just used the mold. You can use the mold for the fondant ones, too. Makes it easier and less time consuming. Have fun!
OK..I know this might be a dumb question, but I am new at this...what is the big difference between fondant & gumpaste? 
On a side note I just want to say how friendly everyone is on CC, and how willing everyone is to share. 
Now if I could get my kids to share 
Life would be good
OK..I know this might be a dumb question, but I am new at this...what is the big difference between fondant & gumpaste?
On a side note I just want to say how friendly everyone is on CC, and how willing everyone is to share.
Now if I could get my kids to share
Life would be good
Gum paste is made of sugar, cornstarch, gum (Arabic or Tragacanth) and gelatin, added to give the material a more "claylike" properties. Because of the added gum, the dough is very elastic and soft, making it able to be rolled out thinner and worked with longer,it's used primarily to mold realistic-looking fruits and flowers to garnish cakes rather than to cover the entire cake cause it dries harder.
Fondant is made out of mostly powdered (confectioner's) sugar with a tiny bit of liquid glucose and egg white added, there are several kinds and remains soft for quite a while, but will harden over time, it never really gets bone hard. It can be used to make decorations and is great as a cake covering.
Thanks! And WOW Sugarnut!! Those roses are beautiful! 
Frosting111 is right, the gum paste is MUCH better for doing roses and such, because you can roll it much thinner- you can see through it. You don't get that elasticity with the fondant, though it does taste better. The Gum paste also dries really fast, so it's great to work with.
I took one of his demos, though I'd love to actually get a class with him. He was VERY patient and helpful. Excellent at explaining things. He travels all over the world. I got to see him in TX at the ICES convention (ICES.org) which is all about sharing and LOTS of fun. He also has his own school and supplies (which are great!) in Atlanta, GA for those of you near the east coast. http://www.nicholaslodge.com/ is his website. Sugarcraft sells his videos and books, too.
Gum paste is made of sugar, cornstarch, gum (Arabic or Tragacanth)
Concerning using gum arabic or tragacanth...are they the same measure for measure? I have arabic but the recipe I found calls for tragacanth.
I'm not sure about the same measure for measure on these two ingredients..if I were you I'd look up a recipes using them both individually in the mixture and see what the difference in the equivalences are.
I am just getting started with making flowers (in fact today is the first day I am going to practice with them). I bought some Wilton pre-made gumpaste and hope this works well. For those of you that use gumpaste, do you make your own or bought pre-made? What kind?
The fondant and gum paste Wilton flower tool set is totally intimidating me this morning. Isn't that crazy? Any of you ever feel that way when you are starting with something new???
Suzanne
Thanks, I will look around for a gumpaste recipe using Arabic. I didn't know it was a possible substitution til I read your previous reply.
I am new to gumpaste - just bought my 1st supplies over the weekend. I bought a can of gumpaste mix to get started with but thought I would eventually try my hand at making it from scratch. I had arabic on hand from another class I took, for use in royal icing cookie decorating.
I only use the arabic to mix with water to make glue for the flowers, so I can't tell you how much to use for making gum paste. I don't use tragacanth, either. The Wilton premade gum paste works great, just make sure you put shortening on your hands and work it like fondant before you start trying to roll it out.
To make my own gum paste, I make royal icing, then add Tylose powder to it, kneed it and wrap it up to set overnight. This works great, and is cheaper than buying it premade, but not as easy as just buying it!
Don't let it initimade you! It's just like making sculpy or playdough, just make sure you roll it REALLY thin- if you're using a Wilton mat roll it thin enough that you can read the words underneath! Keep everything you're not using wrapped and covered, and only cut out one or two flower sets at a time and keep them covered (I use the flap on my practice board).
Good luck and have fun!
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