Gumpaste Questions!

Decorating By solidezca Updated 11 Sep 2007 , 7:26pm by peg818

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solidezca Posted 10 Sep 2007 , 2:39pm
post #1 of 5

Hello everyone! I am preparing to make my son's 4th b-day Batman Cake in a couple of weeks and I have some question.
I will be making a two-tiered cake with buildings on the sides... I have seen wonderful pictures of this cake in the gallery, but I have questions about the buildings...
I was thinking to use gumpaste to make them, but I have never worked with gumpaste before! so here are my questions:
1. How thick should I roll the gumpaste to make lets say, 8 - 12 inches tall uildings.
2. How long will it take to dry, and how far in advance can I make them?
3. Do I stick it together with vanilla, like with fondant? lets say I make windows for my building, can I stick them up to the building with vanilla or water?
4. When dry and ready, how will the gumpaste react to the buttercream, will it stay hard, or will it weaken and bend...
5. If the party is at 3pm, when should I put the buildings in the cake?
6. I bought this gumpaste from Sur La Table, I forgot the brand name, I think it is silk something, should I add something to it when I am going to use it or is it ready to roll and use?

I know it is a lot of questions, but I will really appreciate any advices I can get from any of you wonderful cake decorators out there!
Thanks,
Shirley

4 replies
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shkepa Posted 10 Sep 2007 , 6:45pm
post #2 of 5

Ok so I am not an experts but here are my suggestions
1 - I have to say the thinkness of a quarter, and if you want you can cut the windows out just make sure you lay it flat to dry.
2 - they will dry very fast, so work in small quantities becasue I mean fast.
3 - I would let it dry for 24 - 48 hours and then glue it together with gum glue. break off a small amount of gum past like the size of a pea and put it in 2 tblsp of water and let it dissolve
4 - It will not get weak next to the frosting.
5 - I would have all the buildings build and put on the cake in the morning.
6- gumpaste you can mix it with fodant put you dont have to i guess it depends on how long you have for it to dry. But be careful with it and keep it wrapped will because it hardends quickly

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solidezca Posted 11 Sep 2007 , 4:29pm
post #3 of 5

Thanks for the advice! if anyone has any other trick or advice for me, I will surely appreciate it!
Thanks.

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KHalstead Posted 11 Sep 2007 , 4:46pm
post #4 of 5

not really a trick......but for the building you might also consider using cookies and decorating them (more tasty than gumpaste) but if you don't care if they get eaten....gumpaste is definitely nice and strong! I don't think you can do them too far in advance with the gumpaste (nobody will probably eat them anyhow)

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peg818 Posted 11 Sep 2007 , 7:26pm
post #5 of 5

You could also do the buildings in color flow or run sugar (royal icing) The kids will love to eat them, and this is much more tasty then gumpaste. Chocolate is also another option. All of these can be made ahead

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