Well I tried gumpaste for the first time today. I wanted to make footballs to go on a cake for this Sunday.

I used the Wilton gumpaste mix that I got at the craft store. I followed the instructions on the back of the can. When I first started to mix it, it seemed so DRY. Like it would never come together. So I added a little more water than what the can said..and I ended up with a sticky glob of glue that I couldnt get off my hands no matter how hard I tried.

After adding a bunch of powdered sugar, it became more workable. I wanted the footballs to be brown of course so I added some Wilton gel color with a toothpick. Ive learned a little goes a really, really, really long way and somehow the dye got all over my shirt too. The footballs are too dark they look almost black

I was having a hard time getting the shape I wanted before it started to harden. Is it supposed to harden up so quickly? Also, as it set up, it got like a kazillion little itty bitty cracks in it. Anyway to prevent that from happening in the future? I wanted to put white lines on the football (to look like stiching) but the natural color of the gumpaste is more of a dough color and I didnt have a white dye. Is there such a thing as gel dye in the color white?? I ended up using some white royal icing but it came out looking kinda runny.

When all was said and done, my footballs came out looking like little turds Im embarrassed to say. Hopefully my next attempt at making something with it will turn out better.

What kind of gumpaste is everyones favorite?

I'm sorry, but I'm laughing at the thought of the little football turds!

I make my own gumpaste from a couple of different recipes. There are a lot of recipes online that you can search for and experiment with until you find one that you like.

Have you tried candy clay? That might work better for footballs. Get a bag of the brown Wilton candy melts (If you've never worked with candy clay before it will be easier to use those than real chocolate to start with.) Melt them in the microwave (30 seconds and stir, repeat until it's smooth) and add 1/3 cup of corn syrup per bag of candy melts to the melted candy. Stir it until it seizes up, but not much more than that or the oils will separate out a lot when they cool off. Wrap the clay in plastic wrap and let it set up overnight. It should be the texture of tootsie rolls by the next day, and you just knead it a little to make it workable.

It will hold the shape without cracking, and you can score lines on it for the stitching on the football. If it gets too hot while you're working with it just put it in the fridge to cool off and harden up a little.

Thanks so much for the candy clay idea. That sounds much better! Im going to try that for sure. It does sound easier.

Thanks again!

Just to respond to the white question, yes you can get white gel color. Americolor sells it.

Ugh, I HATE that Wilton mix! I have tried it a few times because it's a bit cheaper, and it never comes out right. I don't use gumpaste much, at least not enough to go to the trouble of trying to find ingredients to make my own, so I just buy the bag of premade Wilton gumpaste. No mixiing! Just take what you need, knead it and use it. I have never had it crack or anything on me. I think it tastes a little wacky, but I don't personally know anyone who eats gumpaste decor anyway, so it works fine for me.

When I first started with gumpaste, I bought the Wilton pre-made just to know what the texture was supposed to be like. I messed around with the mix (hated it!) and finally settled on making Nicholas Lodge's version of gumpaste. I love working with it.

Gumpaste is very stiff when you start working it and it takes it a while to loosen up. So, when you added the extra water, it became, as you put it, a glob. It sounds like you then added too much powdered sugar and made it too dry, which causes it to dry out so quickly and looked cracked. Add some shortening too it.

This is a learning process. I suggest you get some of the premade and play with it just to get a feel for it, how stiff it is, consistency, etc. Then you can start playing with some recipes and find something you like working with. I call gumpaste and fondant work my 'play time'.

Wilton mix is really not very good (and that's being kind.) HOWEVER, Wilton pre-made in the bag is actually quite good. I use it all the time. Flowers. Figures. Objects. I'm a hobbyist, so I cannot afford the more expensive gumpastes and don't want to mess with making it from scratch.

This was one of my most recent projects and all these flowers were made from Wilton's Ready to Use Gumpaste:

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1776199

I use the Wilton Premade Gumpaste all the time.

If you need a little time to shape things, then do a mixture of fondant and gumpaste. This gives you more time to work with it before it dries but still hardens faster than just fondant to help hold the shape you want.

Thank you for the responses. Im so glad you suggested adding shortening to it Tracy. At least I know I can maybe save it and not have to trash the rest of it.

Win: wow! The flowers are the bomb! Really beautiful

I found that the Satin Ice gumaste from Global Sugar Art was much less expensve than purchasing the premade Wilton from my local Michaels store. Seemed easier to use and doesnt taste as bad.