Gumpaste is a pliable dough usually made with sugars, egg whites or oils, vegetable shortening and a gum agent, which makes the paste elastic and allows it to be rolled very thin. This makes it ideal for flower making, and it can also be used for modeling, ribbons and other fine detail work. There are a lot of wonderful pastes available; from homemade to ready-to-use commercial brands. As with other aspects of sugarcraft, gumpaste is sensitive to different weather conditions and environments, so it’s best to try a variety of pastes to find what will work best for you. When working, keep cornstarch (cornflour) handy to dab on hands if the paste feels sticky, and a bit of vegetable shortening on fingertips if the paste feels dry.
The gumpaste recipe I have used for years was created by the fabulous Chef Nicholas Lodge, and he has graciously given me permission to share it here. It’s quick and easy to make, smooth and elastic, and dries beautifully.
1. Place egg whites in a mixer fitted with the flat paddle attachment. Turn mixer on high speed for a few seconds to break up the egg whites.
2. Turn mixer to the lowest speed; slowly add the 725g of powdered sugar to make soft consistency royal icing.
3. Turn up the speed to medium-high for about 2 minutes.
4. Make sure the mixture is at the soft-peak stage. It should look like shiny meringue with the peaks falling over. If coloring the entire batch, add the gel color at this stage, making it a shade darker than desired.
5. Scrape down the bowl and turn the mixer to the slow setting and sprinkle the tylose powder in over a 5 second time period. Turn the speed up to the high setting for a few seconds to thicken the mixture.
6. Scrape mixture out of the bowl onto a work surface sprinkled with some of the reserved 100g of powdered sugar. Place shortening on your hands and knead the paste, adding enough of the reserved powdered sugar to form soft but not sticky dough. Check by pinching with your fingers, they should come away clean.
7. Wrap the finished paste in cling-wrap and then in a zip-top bag. Place the bag in a second zip-top bag, and keep it well sealed. Place in the refrigerator and mature for 24 hours if possible.
8. When ready to use, allow the paste to come to room temperature. Cut off a small amount and knead a little vegetable shortening into the paste. If coloring at this stage, knead the gel color into the paste until the desired shade is achieved.
9. When not in use, store the paste in the refrigerator. The paste will keep under refrigeration for approximately 6 months. You can keep the paste longer by freezing it.
10. Less tylose can be used if you do not want the gumpaste to dry as fast, or if making dark colors that typically dry out the gumpaste (black, dark greens, purples).
When using cornstarch (cornflour) and shortening, use very small amounts to prevent the paste from drying out or becoming greasy and separating.
To color gumpaste add gel color with a toothpick and knead the paste until the color is blended completely. Remember that the color will deepen a bit while it is resting, but will get lighter as the paste dries.
To create pretty pastels, make a small amount of the desired color but in a dark shade. Once this base color is created, add white paste to it until the desired lighter shade is achieved. I find this quicker and easier than trying to create the correct shade with a larger ball of paste.
For greens, we use the following shades most frequently to keep our arrangements looking pretty and fresh. Begin by making a base color of moss green (Wilton Moss Green) or avocado green (Americolor Avocado). We like both colors as is for some of our leaves. The second shade is created by adding a bit of yellow (Americolor Lemon Yellow) to the base green for a soft color that works easily with pastels and is nice for small leaves and calyxes. The third shade is created by adding a bit of dark green (Americolor Forest Green) to the original base color to create a deeper color for darker leaves. These three shades can cover a wide variety of greenery and are easy to replicate with other brands of gel color in similar shades.