petal paste recipe????

giftbouquets · 24 February 2007 at 1:11PM

Hi all,
Have been really inspired by all of you 'Old styler's' and have started breadmaking, yogurt making and baking. My family think I have gone mad, but like to eat the results:rotfl:
Anyway, started a cake decorating course this week and it seems I will need a lot of 'petal paste' to make flowers, etc, to decorate the cakes. This sells for about £2 for small amount. I was wondering if anyone knows of a recipe for 'petal paste' and whether making your own works out much cheaper. Thanks.

Gingernutmeg · 24 February 2007 at 2:00PM

You can have a go at making your own with icing sugar, egg whites, gelatine and rosewater. I'm not sure of the exact quantities (sorry, don't have my books with me) but if you have a look online for a 'sugar plate' recipe you'll find it. It's used a lot by people who replicate Tudor and Georgian food.

However, when I made this I found that it didn't really give me the same results as the petal paste - it wasn't as flexible or as pliable, and it was really 'dry', as in the colourings etc tended to bleed. It just didn't dry as well either, tending to crumble rather than 'snap' ... The commercial petal paste seems to have similar ingredients but also has a lot of added chemicals and preservatives that you're not going to be able to buy. Also, I didn't personally feel comfortable using this professionally because of the raw egg - it was a very low risk but one I didn't want to take.

An alternative is to see if you have a sugarcraft shop near you that sells commercial quantities of petal paste. It can work out much, much cheaper and I believe that you can freeze it so you could buy a huge block and not worry about it going off. I'm not sure where you're based but if you're in the north-west there used to be an excellent sugarcraft shop called 'Spreadboroughs' (sp?) in Cheadle Hume. The last time I went there was a couple of years ago though and they seemed to be running the sugarcraft stock down, but it's still worth looking it up if you live fairly locally. They weren't the cheapest though, so it might be worth looking online.

giftbouquets · 24 February 2007 at 7:23PM

Thanks gingernutmeg,
I will have a look for larger quantities as you suggested, although at the minute just practicing really.
I've noticed a few usa sites have a recipe for something called 'gum paste',
not sure if this is the same thing, and not sure if we can even get some of the ingredients here

Just made a list of all the cutters and tools, etc. Think this might turn out to be an expensive hobbie.:rolleyes:

adrienne_powell · 24 February 2010 at 1:13PM

Measure 30ml fresh egg white (just shy of a normal egg)
add 7oz Icing sugar - beat to royal icing ie slowest speed for 6 mins
Add 3 level 5ml spoons of tylose powder (gum trag)
keep mixing til thickened
add one 1 level tsp white fat and knead in.
Wrap in double clingfilm and rest for 30 mins
knead in fondant icing - the amount depends on how you like you paste to feel - we used to add 6-8 oz of Pastello but that is no longer made - go by how you like your paste to feel.

It's a cheap recipe and works well - good luck!

It's not a desperately expensive hobby as you can buy bits and bobs as you need and can also use some of the cutters to make other flowers - but having said that I'd hate to imagine how much it would cost to replace my work box!

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petal paste recipe????

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