I'm doing a cake for my gym's company picnic and doing cut outs of silhouette people doing exercises with gum paste (These will be pegged into the cake and free standing). My problem is that they are coming out with a jagged edge across the top where I cut along the edge. Im using an extremely sharp exacto knife and no matter what, still get the same results. I've tried cleaning it up but it's just not working. I'm doing them on the thicker side so they can stand up on their own. Also it seems to show a weird film along the top. I tried mixing black paste but showed all the imperfections and changed the consistency of the paste. Then I painted and liked the results of the paint better but still you see all the imperfections. I even went as far as making another batch of GP. Do you think its the gum paste Im using or the thickness? I bought the Gum Tex powder and mixed it. Im thinking of trying a recommended Gum Tragacanth recipe to see if the Trag makes a difference. See following images with issues. Ive seen cakes done with silhouette people and they are perfect. Am I using the wrong medium to create these? It'll be out in the heat and I don't want them to collapse. Please pass along your expertise.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/phattatz/6105527517/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/phattatz/6105527263/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/phattatz/6105527853/

Im a perfectionist and this is driving me absolute NUTS! Ive done a wine bottle to look just like glass and didnt have these problems :-/

What are you using to cut out the shapes? The ragged edges look like the knife may be dragging through the paste. With paste that thick, I think you're going to have the problem if you try and trace the outline with a knife.

I would recommend either rolling it much thinner and using an exacto knife to cut out the image.
Or if you have to have it that thick, then I would use a brand new exacto knife and instead of dragging the knife around the edge of the design, press the knife in along the edge..does that makes sense. So it would be push the knife in, lift up, scoot the knife down a bit to the next area and press in and lift up. This should give you a cleaner edge then pulling the knife towards you.
Also since you're struggling with the texture of your gumpaste, you may want to add some fondant to it. A lot of people do a 50/50 gumpaste/fondant mix for work like this.

Hope that helps a little.

You can also wait until they are dry and use an emory board to smooth off the edges. Just go slowly and don't apply a lot of pressure in order to not break them and they should turn out great. I have done this many times as I use an exacto knife also. Good Luck!
evelyn/cakegrandma

Thanks. I am using a brand new exacto knife :-/ I tried the straight up
And down cut too. I'll try the emory board and see if that fixes it. I think the 50/50 idea would be unstable in the heat.