Gumpaste

Making your own gumpaste can save you some money and allow you to fine tune your flower making. Generally egg white gumpaste is a little more resilient and can be rolled thinner, making more lifelike petal. Try this recipe and see for yourself, you won't be disappointed.

The following recipe will make approximately 2 pounds of gumpaste. Tylose is an alternative product to use in making gumpaste instead of gum tragacanth. The advantage of the tylose is that the paste is less expensive, easier to make, holds up better in humidity and is whiter in color. A 55g container of tylose makes approximately 3 pounds of finished gumpaste.

Gumpaste

Ingredients

  • 4 Large Egg Whites
  • 2 lb. bag 10x powdered sugar
  • 12 Level teaspoons Tylose
  • 4 Teaspoons shortening (Crisco)

Instructions

1. Place the egg whites in a Kitchen Aid mixer bowl fitted with the flat paddle.
2. Turn the mixer on high speed for 10 seconds to break up the egg whites.
3. Reserve 1 cup of the powdered sugar and set aside.
4. Turn the mixer to the lowest speed and slowly add the remaining sugar. This will make a soft consistency royal icing.
5. Turn up the speed to setting 3 or 4 for about 2 minutes. During this time measure the tylose into a small container.
6. Make sure the egg mixture is at the soft peak stage. It should look shiny, like meringue and the peaks fall over. (If coloring the entire batch, add the paste color at this stage, making it a shade darker than the desired color.)
7. Turn the mixer to the slow setting and sprinkle the tylose in over a five second time period. Next, turn the speed up to the high setting for a few seconds. (This will thicken the mixture.)
8. Scrape the mixture out of the bowl onto a work surface that has been sprinkled with some of the reserved 1 cup of
powdered sugar. Place the shortening on your hands and knead the paste, adding enough of the reserved powdered sugar to form a soft but not sticky dough. You can check by pinching with your fingers and they should come away clean. Place the finished paste in a zip-top bag, then place the bagged paste in a second bag and seal well.
9. Place in the refrigerator for 24 hours if possible before using to mature the paste.
10. Before use, remove from refrigerator and allow the paste to come to room temperature. Take a small amount of shortening on the end of your finger and knead this into the paste. You can add paste color at this stage.
11. Always store the paste in the zip-top bags and return to the refrigerator when you are not using the paste. Will keep under refrigeration for approximately 6 months. You can keep the paste longer by freezing. Be sure to use zip-top freezer bags. If you will be freezing a batch of paste, allow it to mature for 24 hours in the refrigerator first before placing into the freezer.

Comments (18)

on

one question is more smooth the finish that pastillage, because I made a recipe for figures that use 1 pound 10x, 4 tblps of water, 1 tblps of corn syroup or glucose and 1 tblps of unflavored gelatine....

on

In your recipe you state 2lb bag 10x powdered sugar. What does 10x mean? Sorry if it sounds like a stupid question but if I were to interpret it would be 2 lbs bags 10 times and I know 20 lbs of powdered sugar is to much. Thanks alot

on

I believe that 10X means that it has been sifted 10 times so it is super fine and mixes easier..hope that helps =)

on

sorry! fueyo is probably right. sifted 10 times. I however just use powdered sugar whenever it calls for 10x, so I use the terms interchangeably.

on

Substituting for Meringue Powder sounds interesting ... what would be the amount needed and its process? thanks!

on

The measurement of sugar - Is it 1 lb or 2 lbs. Or is it approximately between 1 and 2. I really want to try this recepie but need to know before I do so I get it right

on

one two pound bag.

the 10x refers to how many times it has been processed or ground up in order to obtain the powdery finish. (also contains cornstarch to prevent clumpong)

on

i use this recipe all the time and have had no problems with it as with the others i have tried. I live in the caribbean and this paste holds up well

on

Hi I was just wondering if it's necessary to add the bit of shortening at the end?  I'm in Australia and shortening isn't easily come by.

Thanks

on

BronnieJane; In my experience shortening makes the gumpaste much easier to handle and slightly more flexible. Can I suggest you sub a bit of whatever you have instead of shortening? In the UK we have Trex. Shortening is just a vegetable version of lard, you must have something along those lines..? But don't use lard- it goes rancid! Good luck :-)