Tulip Time!

Hello Sugar Friends!

Wow, we have been so busy filming and editing new DVDs, that is has been a while since I posted a tutorial. I know it is not spring, but how about some pretty yellow tulips?

This bride came to me with her cake design and colors already determined. A very classic, simple cake with a small nosegay of tulips on the top.

Buttercream stenciling on buttercream. With our pretty creations on top.

So let's do this!

Use a piece of white gumpaste to form the.... the.... the...... the little thingies that stick out the sides of that middle stamen thingy. Yeah, make a bunch of those. The mold can be found here.

Then dust them with shades of mossy green petal dust.

Now, to make that yellow middle stamen thingy, form a sausage of yellow gumpaste and insert a wire into one end.




Use your thumb and forefinger to pinch around the top of the sausage three times.

It should look like this from the top.

Then take five of those green stick out the side thingies, dip a little bitty bit of each end in water or gum glue, and stick into the bottom of the yellow sausage, going all the way around.

Here is the top view.

Roll your yellow gumpaste thin (number 5 on my pasta roller). Cut out the smaller petals with the tulip cutter and vein in the double sided press.

Give them a little pinch on one end and lay them over a former, which in this case is a half egg chocolate mold sheet.

You will build your flower inside the half sphere candy mold. Put a disc of yellow gumpaste in the bottom and poke a hole through the center with a wire. Poke holes through the center of the sphere molds as well.

Attach three petals with water or gum glue when they are firm enough to hold their shape.

Insert the stamen wire through the holes and attach the base of it to the petals with a very light dab of water or gum glue.

Use cotton (if food safe) or paper towels to prop the petals up.

Here is a whole sheet drying at once.

You want the inner three petals to be tight around the center stamen. Allow this to dry fully.

When the first portion is dry, make another set of three petals with the larger petal cutter and vein. When those are firm enough, hold the partially made flower upside down and glue 3 more petals on in another row. (This step was not shown). You can dry the flowers upside down at this point, or you can put them back in the formers. I used paper collars to hold the outer petals at just the degree of openness I wanted.

Allow those to dry fully and give them a light dusting with the shade of yellow petal dust you desire. A very light puff of super pearl can be applied also for a little sheen.

Wrap your wires in floral tape, and then tie them up in a pretty satin ribbon.

And now you can tiptoe through the tulips with me!

Give these a try, they are not difficult and a lot of fun!

Happy Caking!

Sharon