Marigold flowers are perfect for creating a beautiful, simple spray for cake decorating. With this gum paste marigold tutorial by Jordan Alwine, you will learn just how easy it is to create them. Marigolds naturally come in a variety of colors, so while this marigold cake focuses on orange, you can make shades of yellow or red, too, simply by changing the gel food color. To recreate depth, you can also use petal dusts that coordinate with the colors of the flower and calyx.
Edibles:
- Gum paste
- Gel food color: orange and green
- Edible glue
Equipment:
- Toothpicks
- Floral wire: 22 or 24 gauge
- Floral tape
- Round-nose pliers
- Cutting pliers
- Rolling pin
- Carnation cutters
- Zip-top bag
- Drying rack
- Calyx cutter
Create the Gum Paste Marigold Flower
- Color your gum paste with orange gel food color. Using a toothpick, use only a small amount of color at a time.
- Create a hook on your 22- or 24-gauge wire using round-nose pliers.
- Add floral tape to your hook.
- Apply a tiny amount of edible glue to your hook and attach some gum paste.
- Massage your gum paste to a nice and stretchy consistency. Roll out the gum paste very thin. Use your small- or medium-size cutter. Cut out 4 sets in total, 1 will be extra. While you work on your first set, use a zip-top bag to store the others so your gum paste doesn’t dry out.
- Use a toothpick to thin out each petal, ruffling the edges using both index fingers, rolling back and forth softly. Do not push down too hard or you will create flat petals instead of ruffles. If you accidentally rip your gum paste in the process, that is okay. Nature isn’t perfect, and this gives your flowers a more realistic look.
- Apply some edible glue to the center. Take your wire, insert it through the bottom, and slide your first set up to your hook, then fold in half like a taco.
- Apply more edible glue in the center of your taco and fold the left side to the right. Turn it around and repeat.
- Repeat this same ruffled process on your second set. Apply glue to the center, insert wire through the bottom, and slide your second set to the top. This time you will not be folding anything, just pinch at the bottom. Repeat for your third set. In between, if needed, hang your flowers upside down on a drying rack for a few minutes, then continue.
- After you finish your 3 sets of your small- or medium-size cutter, grab your large-size cutter, roll out gum paste with your rolling pin, and cut 2 sets for your flower and 1 extra. Repeat the ruffling process. Always apply glue to the center of each set so they will stick when you slide your wire through.
Create the Calyx for the Gum Paste Marigold
- Create a cone-like shape out of green gum paste. This will not be visible, so this doesn’t have to be perfect. Flatten out the thicker side with your index fingers.
- Roll out thin with your toothpick, skewer, or anything small enough to roll.
- Using your calyx cutter, place it over the cone and cut out the gum paste.
- Gently hold the calyx in your hand, laying it on your index finger. Insert a toothpick into the center of your calyx, apply pressure, and roll to thin out your leaves on your calyx.
- Apply some glue to the center and slide your wire through from the bottom.
This tutorial originally appeared in the September/October 2020 issue of American Cake Decorating magazine.
Jordan Alwine
Jordan Alwine of Jordan Ellen Cakes has always baked cookies with her mom and over the years has searched for her creative niche. Jordan would watch baking shows on TV that sparked her interest to bake and decorate her first cake in 2016, a pivotal moment as she knew cakes were definitely her calling after that. Jordan’s cake style celebrates love, romance, texture, edgy, modern, and, of course, her favorite: realistic sugar flowers. Jordan adores natural tones that help capture the demure romance of nature
