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cake decorating

Gum Paste Holly and Berries

December 8, 2020 By Ashley Leave a Comment

You asked and I listened – a simple, fast sugar flower tutorial using minimal specialty tools. NO veiner and NO cutter required, but by all means, if you have them, you can totally use them. These fast and easy gum paste holly leaves and berries look gorgeous on a holiday or winter cake, cupcakes and other centerpiece holiday desserts. Make these unwired and with modeling chocolate and put them on a Bûche De Noël. Impressive and so, so beautiful.

Gum paste Holly and Berries

Supplies:

Gum paste – mid green and light red

Small rolling pin, like a Celpin

Groove Board, optional

Paper covered floral wire, gauge 28

Moss green 1/4″ floral tape

Petal dusts: bright red, dark green, moss green, golden yellow, brown, black

Egg white

Ball tool

Dresden tool

Firm foam mat, for shaping

Small square of aluminum foil, or holly veiner

Bumpy foam for drying

Paintbrushes for dusting

Small needle nose jewelry pliers

Umbrella modeling tool

Scribe tool, or toothpick

*More sugar flower supplies can be found in the Little Vintage Baking shop*

Gum paste holly and leaves

How to make the berries

1. Prep the berry supplies. Condition the red gum paste by kneading in a small amount of shortening until smooth and pliable.

2. Cut the floral wire into thirds, cutting as many as you need for your arrangement. Use small needle nose pliers to make a small hook on the end of the berry wires.

3. Roll a small ball of red gum paste, like the size of pea. Dip the hooked wire into egg white, removing any excess, and insert halfway into the berry.

4. Make a small indentation into the top center of the berry with the umbrella tool.

5. Make a light “x” shape over the indentation with the scribe tool. Set the berry aside to dry in the foam, and continue to make the remaining berries.

5. Once dry, liberally dust the berries with the bright red petal dust. Dust the centers of the berry (with the indentation and “x”) with the black dust. Just a small amount.

6. To set the color and remove the chalky appearance of the dusted berries, quickly wave the berries through the steam of a tea kettle, an iron, or a steamer. Take care to not burn yourself. The steam is very hot and can burn you. Set aside to dry.

Gum paste holly and berries

How to make the holly

1. Prep the holly supplies. Condition the green gum paste by kneading in a small amount of shortening until smooth and pliable. Cut the floral wire into thirds, cutting as many as you need for your arrangement.

2. Roll a small piece of green gum paste over the groove of a groove board. Don’t roll the paste too thin as you need to be able to stretch and thin it it out to shape it.

If you are not using a groove board, roll the paste out on a non stick surface. You want it thick enough to be able to insert a wire without it poking through the leaf.

3. Remove the paste from the groove board and set the paste down, groove side up.

4. Center a holly cutter over the groove, and cut out the leaf.

If you are not using a holly leaf cutter, use a very sharp, brand new blade exacto knife to cut out the shape of a holly leaf. Refer to photos online, or my holly above to cut out the correct shape. These do not have to be perfect or all the same shape and size. Remember, nature is imperfect.

5. Dip the end of a wire in egg white, wiping off the excess. Insert the wire into the groove of the leaf, about halfway up.

If you didn’t use a groove board, place the holly leaf between you thumb and pointer finger. With your other hand, insert the wire into the leaf, between your fingers so that you’re sort of guiding the wire into the leaf without it poking through the paste.

6. Place the leaf groove side down on a firm foam mat. Use the ball tool to thin the surface of the leaf and the edges, stretching the pointy tips of the leaf.

Gum paste holly and berries

7. Take a small piece of aluminum foil and crumple it up into a ball. Smooth out and flatten the foil, being careful not to rip it too much.

8. Place the leaf onto the foil. Fold the foil in half over the leaf and press lightly to make some subtle veining on both sides of the leaf.

9. Use the thin side of a dresden tool to draw a straight line from tip to bottom of the leaf. Make a few light veins on either side.

10. Point the tips of the holly leaf by pinching gently with your fingertips. Shape them a bit by slightly bending the tips down or up to give them some realism.

Gum paste holly and berries

11. Place the leaves onto some bumpy foam to dry completely.

12. Once dry, dust the leaves. Dust the center vein with the golden yellow dust.

13. Liberally dust the remaining front side of the leaf with the dark green dust.

14. Make a 50/50 blend of the dark green and moss green. Liberally dust the backside of the leaf.

15. Mix a small amount (50/50) of dark green and brown. Lightly dust the tips of the leaf to define the tips and slightly darken them.

16. To set the color and remove the chalky appearance of the leaves, quickly wave the leaves through the steam of a tea kettle, an iron, or a steamer. Take care to not burn yourself. The steam is very hot and can burn you. Set aside to dry before arranging.

Gum paste holly and berries

17. Stretch a length of floral tape to activate the glue. Individually tape the berries and leaves, taping about halfway down the wire.

18. Assemble your arrangement as desired.

If you make an arrangement using my gum paste holly and berries tutorial, be sure to leave me a comment or tag me on Instagram!

Ash xx

For more gum paste tutorials, check out these posts:

Gum Paste Blackberries, Leaves and Blossoms

Gum Paste Peony

Gum Paste Magnolia Branch

Filed Under: Sugar Flower Tutorials Tagged With: cake decorating, christmas, holly and berries, sugar flowers

Mini Tutorial: White on White Baroque Cake

May 7, 2020 By Ashley 2 Comments

[This post is written in partnership with Iron Orchid Designs. All text and opinions are 100% mine. Please note that I would never endorse a product or company that I don’t actually enjoy using. Thank you for supporting brands that help me and my business grow!]

Hi guys! I’m super excited to share my white on white Baroque cake mini tutorial with you. Since monochrome cakes are one solid color, it can be hard to emphasize detail and textures, since those elements can get lost in the overall look of the cake. So, I’m going to share some ways to make a single color cake really pop. One of the best ways is to add textural elements using moulds, stamps, or other 2D elements.

White on White Cake

The moulds I used for this cake are by Iron Orchid Designs. They’re large, durable, made with high quality food-safe silicone and are super easy to use. The fondant doesn’t stick to the moulds, and is easy to remove. The moulds also have a micro rim to help get a super clean edge. The two that I chose to use are baroque style moulds (the Classic Elements and Acanthus moulds) with lots of scrolls and embellishments with some pearl detail.

Monochrome Cake

For the cake, I used a natural white fondant (slightly ivory tinted) and used an Iron Orchid decor stamp, called Craquelure. I love this stamp. It’s perfect for creating a fishnet texture, a lacy texture and great for animal skins, like snakes and reptiles. I imprinted all of my cake tiers with this stamp to add additional texture under the moulded pieces.

Monochrome Cake

The best way to plan out the mould design for your cake is, as you are making pieces, lay them out on a non-stick mat to form the big components of your  design before putting them on your cake. To use these moulds, press the fondant firmly into the mould. You can use a solid piece of fondant, or you can place the fondant into the mould in pieces. Note that the finished mould piece will be a bit segmented since the fondant was placed in pieces. I tend to like that look because it reminds me of old stone pieces, so a lot of my moulded pieces have some random segmented lines.

Monochrome Cake

Once the fondant is in the mould, use a modeling tool to scrape off the excess paste. To remove the fondant, place the mould face down. Gently peel back the mould and ease the fondant out. It should come out easily and all in one piece.

Monochrome Cake

I formed the larger pieces of my design to get a basic design and layout, then placed them onto the cake with sugar glue. Then I filled in the design with smaller accent pieces, followed by the pearl details. The pearl detail on the bottom tier is my absolute fave. It’s probably my favorite tier.

Monochrome Cake

I also added a few white dragees to accent the design and fill in some blank spaces. I made some white heirloom roses with lots of petals and added those to the cake for more of a romantic touch. I left the petals all white and dusted the edges with just a little bit of cream colored petal dust.

Monochrome Cake

Moulds and stamps are a great way to add textural elements and additional detail to help this white on white cake really stand out. If you recreate this cake, let me know. Tag me on Instagram so I can see it and share it!

For more mini tutorials, check these out:

Mediterranean Tile and Flowers Cake

Romantic Roses Cake

 

Filed Under: Cake Decorating Tutorials Tagged With: cake, cake decorating, cake moulds, cake tutorial, impression mat, impression stamp, iron orchid designs, sugar flowers, wedding cake, white wedding cake

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Hi, I’m Ashley! Welcome to the Little Vintage Baking blog – where you will find recipes, tutorials, resources and more for the baker, cake decorator and baking business owner.
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