Wilton Gum Paste and Fondant - Lesson #3

We made a lot of new flowers this week!

Here's what we did in Lesson 3:

• Assembled the calla lily from pieces made in Lesson #2
• Added the calyx to the carnation and rose from Lesson #2
• Created leaves
• Created daisies
• Created mums (using the mum base made in Lesson #1)
• Covered a cake board in fondant

It is pretty amazing how finishing touches can really elevate a flower.  I thought that the carnation and rose looked much better with the addition of the calyx (green part).  I thought that the calyx on the calla lily looked odd, but I will need to play around with making more of those.  The leaves were easy and cute, if not super realistic looking. 

The daisies seem to be a fan favorite with people in the class and those that look at my pictures.  They are just so cheerful!  I don't think that I have made a proper mum yet -- mine came out too tight and not "poofy" enough.  Practice needed.

Finally, we covered a cardboard cake board in fondant.  This is for the base of our final project cake next week.  I don't see myself putting cakes on fondant-covered cake boards much in the future, but it was a good introduction to how to work with large circles of fondant.  The instructor brought in the "impression mats" sold by Wilton to make the fun design.

One complaint about the class: the class supply kit made by Wilton contains fondant cutters that are inferior.  Their design (cheap, unbalanced plastic) make it impossible to get clean cuts on shapes like the daisy or the rose.  Metal cutters would be so much better.

Next week: final cake project time!  I need to start designing my cake and preparing the decorations now.

Check out my post about Lesson #2.

Check out my post about Lesson #1.