ok- well, not roses, ranunculus actually, but the same concept. I have a wedding cake needing about one dozen gumpaste ranunculus in three weeks. they need to range from two to three inches diameter- how much drying time will they need? one week? two???

unfortunately i didnt do them in advance, and i need to get started!

I always have a heap of the centre "cones" made ...these take a least 24 hrs to dry.....as for the roses, because the petals are rolled so thin they dry really quickly....easily within a few hours... I normally let them sit for a day after colouring and steaming..just to make sure they are really hard!!



HTH

I do the same, its takes about 3 days for me to complete a rose from cone to steaming. I do make cones in advance as well, it saves time

thank you both! so- i feel a bit of relief that i still have nearly three weeks.

another question. i am doing deep red, brown and ivory flowers. should i color the gumpaste first or do them white and dust them? both? what gives a better end result? i have gel colors as well as non toxic chalk.

thanks again for the help. can you tell i'm a gumpaste rookie? LOL....!

Hi Melysa...
The deep red and brown should probably be colored paste with overdusting....
Depending on the deepness of the ivory, personally, I like to use white paste with ivory dust...perhaps mixed with a touch of a darker brown such as 'mushroom'....but it's a matter of personal taste and experience. Overdusting on colored paste gives a much deeper, richer, more intense effect.
Dusting over white paste gives a softer, more translucent effect. I hope that helps.

thanks stewart, helps a bunch! i appreciate your description.

here are my flowers, thank you for your help! i know they arent totally botanically perfect, but i am so proud, they are my first!

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1148830

and on the cake...

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1148823