I will be making a cake this weekend and trying gumpaste flowers for the first time. I have made many clay/ceramic flowers, so I have an idea about modeling technique, and I have purchased the ingredients, but I'm not sure what to do about stamens.

Should I use wire, toothpicks, what? Also if anyone has ideas on flowers other than roses, I would love some suggestions because I don't have cutters.

Thanks I'm 14 and new to this so

You can purchase them at your local craft store like Michaels. Wilton makes them in different colors. They are not edible but look pretty. when the flowers are made.

Is there any alternative to purchasing the wilton ones? they don't carry them at my local michaels. Also, is there any way I can give my flowers a more real look without petal dust because they don't carry that either.

Newcaker1314,
Where are you?
Shanter

North Vancouver (canada), and there are other michael's stores in my area but quite a drive away and I likely won't have time to get stamens as I am making these flowers tomorrow for a cake to be made on saturday

You could try making the stamens out of gumpaste, although it might be hard to get the thin part thin enough, but as anyone knows who has been doing this for a while, practice makes perfect and it's amazing what you can do when you have to! About the petal dust, the first thing I'd tell you is to look for it at other craft or cake supply stores. The other thing - and I'm not sure it's a good idea, but people used to do it all the time before these dusts got so popular - is to shave colored chalk into a dust and apply it like luster or petal dust. Make sure it says "non-toxic" on the box, but be aware that "non-toxic" is not the same as "food-safe". If you're going to do it, I'd be sure to discourage people from eating the blooms.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to say it, but good luck with your cake. If you like it, post a photo so we can see how it turned out!

Here's an idea: Is there a place that has extra-cheap artificial flowers? You could buy a few and rip the stamens out to put in your gumpaste flowers?

Or you might find artificial flowers by themselves or on hats at a thrift store.

Are there other craft stores in the North Vancouver area besides Michael's?

Shanter

Depending on the look you want, you could try making your own stamens. Maybe wrap some yellow thread around a finger a few times, take it off and twist the loops into one figure eight, then wrap some thin wrapped florists' wire around it. After the thread is secured by wire, snip the loops open and trim your "stamens" to the length you want. To stiffen your stamens, you can dip them in gum glue, shape, and allow to dry.
If you look at tonedna's website (designmeacake.com), she shows you how to make calla lillies, which would not need a stamen (plus many other great tutorials).
Good luck and have fun!

Thanks Marianna for the tips

Also, would steaming my flowers give them a slightly more real look? I really want them to be edible, so chalk isn't an option. Could I paint them with gel colour around the edges?

Thanks CWR41

I guess I'll just have to say not to eat them, but I love your idea for the stamens! I definitely have cord and coloured sugar, so I will use that for the stamens. Thank-you

If you use cotton thread for the stamens, you can color them with gel colors mixed with a bit of extract or alcohol. Synthetic thread might not take the color so you'd have to make sure its the right color on its own. I have used cotton kitchen string with some success, but have no photos of that technique yet.

As for painting the edges of your flowers with gels, that will work if you mix the gel with a bit of alcohol or extract. If you use just the gel it might stay sticky. The carnations in this photo have the edges painted with a mix of vodka and Wilton's no taste red http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1938387/1938388, and the daisies in this one are done with vodka and Wilton's peach http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1923723 . It does require a light touch, but I love the effect for carnations in particular. Here's another example of carnations thought they don't show up as clearly http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1924472.

Thanks so much cakeyouverymuch! I am doing an almond cake with raspberry filling and white chocolate buttercream so I'll mix a little bit of gel colour with some almond extract to paint on the flowers. I think I'm just going to do fondant ribbon roses and leave the gumpaste for another time though.. Too much for right now

I am in the process of mass producing my own stamens in bulk to replicate those you can purchase at the cake store. My plan is to fold over the tip of the wire the depth that is desired for the stamen tip and then dip it in melted fondant or gumpaste .You can nuke this stuff as well as regular royal or buttercream icing and it becomes a viscus liquid depending on how long you heat it. So, if it is left thicker when you heat it, it will create a hyperbolic shape over the "bubble" zone of the wire fairly easily. To get the slightly conical shape you see in the manufactured ones, poke the dipped wire tip into the colored heated icing and then sink it into a piece of foam to cool and dry hard. In the brief time necessary for it to set up, it will slump slightly on the wire making the top pointier and the bottom thicker. Repeat as necessary to get the size you desire.

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