This wonderful step-by-step tutorial is brought to us by award-winning sugar florist, Catalina Anghel. Learn the steps to create a gorgeous sugar chestnut with fall foliage; the perfect adornment for a fall wedding cake.
Components
- White gum paste
- 18 gauge wire (white)
- 16 gauge wire (white)
- 28 gauge wire (white)
- Brown floral tape
- Grass green petal dust
- Yellow petal dust
- Red petal dust
- Cellpin tool
- Wire scissors
- Cornstarch
- Petal veiner
- Paint brush
- Scissors
- Glaze spray
Make a small tapered ball and then flatter with the fingers. Insert a piece of 28-gauge wire and using the cellpin, thin the leaf and edges (roll it on the petal to make it transparent). Using the sharp end of the cellpin, fray the edges as shown.
Press the leaf into a double-sided veiner to create a natural look. Repeat this step until you have enough leaves to make a bunch.
Place the leaves into an apple tray to dry.
Prepare two chestnut sized balls of gum paste. Cut 4 pieces of 26-gauge wire, twist two pieces of wire together to create a double thickness and then tape the wires and give a hook shape. Insert a piece of the hooked wire inside each Chestnut.
To make the outer part of chestnut. Roll four balls of gum paste, half the size as for the chestnuts. Flatten the balls into four round discs, hollowing slightly. Attach one disk on either side of each chestnut. Make sure to leave the middle of the chestnut exposed.
Using small nail scissors, snip little cuts on each half of the shell you just attached, as shown.
When the leaves are dry, prepare a piece of white paper with a bit of each dust color and a clean, dry paintbrush. Start painting green on the leaf´s center, and add touches of yellow, red and brown from the edges to the inner part of the leaf.
Paint the inner part of the fruits with brown. Color the outer shells with green, and then add touches of yellow, red and brown as shown.
Assemble the leaves in groups of five, taping together with brown florist tape, as shown, and then fanning out like a palm. Tape the two chestnuts together as shown.
Using a piece of 18-gauge wire, creating a branch by wrapping the wire with brown florist tape.
Attach the leaves to the branch using brown florist tape.
Cover another 18-gauge wire with brown tape, as we did before. Then, attach a leaf branch and the fruits, and tape tight.
Tape the two branches together, but make sure to secure one branch a little lower than the first.
Spray the inner part of the fruit with glaze, and then spray the upper part of all the leaves with glaze. Let dry well.