Hi all, I'm newbie here.  Pls. can somebody help or can give me an advice if what's wrong w/ my gumpaste? I bake and decorate cake as a hobby or just for friends & family. I haven't tried gumpaste yet before, only fondant. Now, I tried making gumpaste using the recipes that provided over the web (egg whites, tylose powder, confectioner sugar). I set it for 24 hrs before I used it and started making figures. I set overnight the figures/toppers I made out of gumpaste. When I checked it, I observed/noticed that it didn't dry hard instead, it seems like melting/sweating. I felt disappointed. What should I do to dry it hard, not to sweat or sticky. Or Should I need to buy a premade gumpaste for figures and flowers decorations? 

Looking forward to your advice. Thank you!

It sounds like you placed your figurines in the fridge to dry/harden. Is that correct? 

Gum paste should be air dried, you outside on the counter.

After I made my figurines, I just leaved it at the pan tray with paper towel and just put it in the table overnight. :(

Personally I've never had good luck with the egg white/tylose recipe.  It's either too soft, too stiff or too rubbery when I make it.  I make Linda McClure's version of the Rosemary Watson recipe (Rosemary used gum tragacanth in hers, Linda uses Tylose).  You can google "Linda McClure's gum paste recipe" and find her video where she shows you how to make it.  It's handles well and dries very hard.

Or maybe I should need to buy premade gumpaste for fast drying figures and flowers. What brand of gumpaste did you used for your cake decors (specially flowers)?

@Jeff_Arnett  Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, I haven't found any baking supply store here in my local area that sell gum tragacanth so I use the tylose-egg whites gumpaste recipe I just don't refrigerate my finished gumpaste figures/decors. Although it won't hard like a rock ( lol! ). But it's better than nothing. 

When I'm pressed for time I place my pieces inside the oven with the oven light on. Put the pieces on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, or a cooling rack.  Do not turn on the oven, the heat from the light bulb helps dry the gumpaste.  I also put a note on the oven door so no one puts on the oven accidently. It takes a couple of hours depending on how thick the pieces are. I make my own gumpaste using homemade fondant. I use Michelle Fosters Fondant recipe and add tylose powder to it to make the gumpaste (2 tsp tylose per pound of fondant). I've made flowers,  figurines and name plaques and they always come out great. HTH

When I first started decorating I used Wilton's Gumpaste, but when I stared making my own fondant, I found a thread on CC where Costumeczar who sells Gumpaste flowers on etsy as well as a business owner talked about adding the tylose to fondant to make gumpaste. Tried it and never looked back, its way cheaper to make your own and you can tweek it to your personal liking.

@amiewid ‍ Linda McClure's gum paste recipe doesn't use gum tragacanth.....she adapted the orginal recipe to use Tylose (or CMC as it's called sometimes) instead.

It's really easy to make and use and dries rock hard.  Give it a try!  I'll post the link to her YouTube video where she shows you step by step how to make it.

Thanks Jeff_arnett for that gum paste recipe.  that looks really good.   ☺

@Jeff_Arnett Thank you for sharing the link/video :). Sorry for the late reply it's been a while since i haven't on here. I've been using fondant added with tylose powder for my cake decors/figures since i had failed with my gumpaste. :)

@Jeff_Arnett Thank you for sharing the link/video :). Sorry for the late reply it's been a while since i haven't on here. I've been using fondant added with tylose powder for my cake decors/figures since i had failed with my gumpaste. :)

The humidity where you live also has a big effect on drying! I live in a very humid area and I ended up buying a dehumidifier for my decorating room. Our humidity here sometimes will actually melt previously hardened items.

Hi, I use Satin Ice gumpaste and dries well.  Never put gumpaste figures or fondant in the refrigerator.  When I don't have any I just add tylose powder to my fondant, Satin Ice also is the one I prefer.