Cake

Start by making the sugar flowers.For the peonies:Steps 1a-c.Colour the gum paste to a subtle pink with Rosecolouring. With the peony cutter, cut out four petalswith the #1 cutter and four with the #2 cutter. Presseach petal into a floral petal veiner. Place on a foam padand lightly thin/frill the top of each petal only.Steps 2a & b.Insert a 22 gauge green wire into the 2” Styrofoam ballwith a hot glue gun. Take the gum glue, coat the backof each #1 petal and gently place the four petals sothey overlap the top of the ball. Continue with the restof the #2 petals surrounding the four starting petals.Once partially hardened, I find it best to apply colourbetween petal sets to achieve shading in all areas.Using Peony Pink, shade the centre and outer edges ofthe peony, then hang to dry.Steps 3a & b.Cut out five petals with the #3 cutter. Again, press intothe floral veiner and frill the edges. Place all petals in apetal former for 20-25 minutes until firm to the touch,but not fully dry. Once firm, shade the inner petal.Attach each petal with the gum glue and hang to dry.Once firm, apply colour on the outer edges.Steps 4a-c.Roll out gum paste over the groove board and cutout six petals with the #4 cutter. Once cut, dip a 22gauge white wire into the gum glue and insert into thechannel on the back of the petal. Press the wired petalsinto the veiner and lastly, frill all the top edges of eachpetal on the foam board. Leave to dry overnight in apetal former. Once dry, apply colour on the inner andouter edges of each petal.Step 5.Take each wired petal, one by one, and attach bywrapping the floral tape around both the central flowerand petal wires, making sure they are secured tightlytogether. Remember to pull the floral tape to makesure you activate it, or it will not work effectively. Oncefinished, add any additional colour with the petal dustto create more depth in any areas needed. Petal dust isoptional, but I feel it gives a more natural raw look.3b 4a2b 3a1c 2a1a 1b54b 4c