Gum Paste Oyster Shell Tutorial

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I'm super excited to share with you my gum paste oyster shell tutorial. These shells look amazing on a beach/ocean themed cake, and they provide a little bit of elegance to beach/ocean themed wedding cake. Using a mold and petal dusts, these shells take little time to make and they can also be customized for any color scheme.

Supplies:

Oyster shell mold

White gum paste

Flat paint brush

Petal Dusts: Crystal Colors: champagne (cool toned nude) and chocolate (dark warm brown), Sunflower Sugar Art - Spanish moss (cool toned taupe), The Sugar Art - silverbell (mid gray)

Clear alcohol - like Everclear or vodka

Paint palette

Cornstarch, for dusting

Vegetable shortening

Making Oyster Shells

• Lightly dust the molds with cornstarch.
• Knead the white gum paste with a smidge of shortening until smooth and pliable.
• Flatten or roll the gum paste to about ¼" thick.
• Press the gum paste into the mold, making sure to press firmly to cast all the details of the mold.
• Leave the paste thicker at the base of the shell, about ½" from the base of the mold.
• Leave the paste in the mold to dry completely. *If you need to make multiple shells, freeze the molds for 15 minutes before removing the shells from the mold. Let them dry as pictured below.

Paint the Oyster Shells

• Make paints with the petal dusts by placing individual colors into the paint palette, about ⅛ teaspoon each. Add clear alcohol to fill the palettes ⅔ of the way full.
• Using a medium size flat brush, dust the shell all over with champagne.
• Paint random areas as well as the edges with the Spanish moss.
• Add some silverbell in random areas, focusing on the crevices and deeper areas of the shell.
• Add some chocolate in random areas, focusing on the edges, crevices and deeper areas of the shell.
• Dip the paintbrush into some clear alcohol, and dab the brush on the silverbell and chocolate paints to blend the colors.
• Keep adding and blending colors until it looks the way you want it to. Let the paint dry completely before painting the underside of the shell.

Paint the underside of the shells

• Flip the shells over, underside up.
• Paint the inside of the shell with the champagne paint.
• Paint the outer edges and towards the base of the shell with Spanish moss.
• Paint just a few spots of chocolate, towards the edges and base of the shell.
• Dip the brush into some clear alcohol and dab the chocolate paint to blend the color.
• Let the shell dry completely.

If you make sugar oyster shells using my gum paste oyster shell tutorial, let me know! Drop a comment or tag me on Instagram. I love seeing your bakes and creations.

Enjoy!

Ash xx

For more cake tutorials, check out these posts:

Floral Piped Royal Icing Cake Tutorial

Under the Sea Cake Tutorial

Vintage Gilded Buttercream Cake Tutorial