Pink Gumpaste Peony

My first attempt at making a peony after my class at PC almost 4 months ago. Goes to show how much you can forget in the 4 months when you don't practice! I'd better get onto practising my roses soon before I really forget.

I made the flower paste from scratch - it's really not that hard or time consuming to make. The only thing I did find is that I was ripping the edges off my petals so I may have to add something else to my flower paste to give it a bit more elasticity. This will be my little research project for the next little while. There are lots of recipes out there for making flower paste (or gumpaste) so I will be on a mission to find the 'perfect' texture for me.

The usual flower paste I use would cost me about $40 for a 1kg bucket (cheap compared to the Wilton gumpaste) and I love using it but at $40 a bucket I think I should start experimenting.

Do you see any veins in the petals? I don't!!! I should really invest in a good veiner - I couldn't get any texture out of the one I have and it was pretty frustrating when I tried to create texture by using the veining tool and ended up ripping my petals! 

Now, I just have to wait until the weekend before I can bring home my 'sick' Kitchen Aid from the repair shop and bake a cake to go with the peony. My next dilemma would obviously be what cake to make - I've been thinking white chocolate with passionfruit filling and white chocolate buttercream but we'll see what takes my fancy when I have the time to bake.

Enjoy!

A busy week in the world of Planet Cake

Front of cake

Back of cake

What came back with me to Auckland

I took a week off from life in Auckland and headed across the ditch to Sydney, Australia to do a week long course in cake decorating at Planet Cake with 2 brilliant teachers - Jessica and Luigi.

This course was a birthday present from my husband - I'm so spoilt! So, I bought the top tier back to share with him :)

It was 'hard work' but I enjoyed every single minute of it my time in class and have learnt so much from the 2 very talented teachers I had. I had Jessica teach me in the beginners course and was secretly hoping she'd be teaching me again in the intermediate course - luck was on my side and I did get her again :)

I designed the cake in the pictures and had a bit of help from the teacher with putting it all together. It took 3 full days from design to completion and I enjoyed every part of it - except of course for the back pain from standing most of the day. This cake is made out of 5 cakes. All the flowers are hand made with love!

This course has given me so much more confidence in designing cakes and putting it all together. I hope to be doing more cakes like this in the future. I would love to just sit in the kitchen and practice making more of those jumbo roses and peonies!

Enjoy!!