EntriesI know many of you enjoy using my stainless steel sugarcraft cutters, however if you are a little unsure on the best way to achieve perfect results each time then here are a few tips that you may find useful:
The pastes to use
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Only use modelling paste, pastillage or flower paste to cut out the flowers – you need a firm paste so straight sugarpaste/rolled fondant won’t work.
Make your own modelling paste by adding 5ml (1 teaspoon) of edible gum to 225g (8oz) of sugarpaste /fondant (you can use Gum tragacanth but you must wait overnight for the gum to take effect or a synthetic substitute such as CMC, Tylose, sugarcel etc which will work immediately.
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Add a little white vegetable fat to the paste to help it become pliable plus if your paste is dry a little water.
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Roll out the paste thinly – I always use 1.5mm spacers made from picture framing card.
Intricate cutters – for example my flat floral collections
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Place the paste over the top of the cutter
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Roll over the paste with a rolling pin
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Run a finger around the top of the cutter to get a nice clean cut
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Turn the cutter over and gentle push the paste out of each petal with a soft brush
For the best results place the paste over the top of the cutter
The secret is really using the right paste and for intricate cutters, cutting out with the paste on top of the cutter rather than trying to stamp it out.
I hope this helps you achieve perfect results every time!
Lindy
Tags: cutting sugar shapes, Flat florals, Modelling paste recipe, sugarcraft cutters
30 Comments
Hi Lindy,
Just wondered, can I freeze pastillage as I have made a batch up but it’s more than I would use in a month so rather than let it go to waste I wondered if I could freeze it.
Thanks
Jane
I don’t see why not, but I can’t speak from experience on this one – I tend to make a fresh batch each time I require pastillage.
I’ll give it a go, it’s worth a try. THanks Lindy
Hi Lindy if i was doing borders using a border cutter, for example, in your indian theme cake in your book, would i use the same method as you’ve used on your floral cutters? Many thanks D
Hi Deepika
If using the FMM strip cutter I press down onto my paste with the cutter, however if I’m using the FMM tapitts or letter cutters I use the same method as with my flower cutters.
hi lindy i want to make some hearts and stars on wires for a children’s cake, could you tell me what paste would be best suited and also what i should leave them to dry on and how long please??? thank you joanne
I always use Artista soft now for making these, its made from rice and potato flour plus a gum. It’s not edible but its non toxic and it stays on the wires – something that can be a problem with sugar! We sell artista via our online shop, click here for more details
Hope this helps
Lindy
Hi Lindy, I’ve just made a quite a lot of modelling paste for two projects I’m starting over the next couple of weeks. There will be some left over. I was just wondering what’s the best way to store it and how long will it keep? I’m pretty new to making modelling paste so any help or advice would be very welcome. Great recipe for modelling paste though it worked a treat. Thanks in advance.
Glynis
Hi Glynis
You can keep modelling paste up to the ‘Use by’ date on the packet by wrapping it well in a strong freezer bag (not clingfilm) and putting it in a plastic container.
Alternatively you can pop it in the freezer (again wrapped as above).
I hope that this helps
Kind regards
Andy
Lindy’s Cake Team
Thanks very much for the great advice.
Kindest regards
Glynis
Hi, I’ve purchased coloured sugarpaste (regal Ice) to decorate my daughter’s birthday cake. Have a made the correct choice of icing for rolling and cutting out a flat character of upsey daisy to put on the cake? Was’nt sure from reading website whether it will be soft enough to be able to cut the cake with the character on. How many day’s before should I decorate? How to store?
Hi Amanda
Coloured sugarpaste is a good starting point for you however you may find it little soft and difficult to create the character. I suggest you buy a pot of CMC and need a little into the sugarpaste this will stiffen the paste and allow you to cut out shapes more easily
Good luck
Lindy
Hi
Do you know how I could get a bright torqouise or teal icing colour. Cant see to find a paste in these shades. thanks K
Hi Kirsty
You would need to mix blue and green pre-coloured sugarpaste to achieve the colour you want.
Jane
Hi
I’ve been trying to use some PME plastic plunger cutters and find that they don’t seem to cut cleanly, they end up with scruffy edges on the petols of the flowers. What is the best way to use these?
thanks
Ruth
Hi Lindy,
I am a complete novice and have just made a cake for my husband’s birthday, decorating it with circles. I used different sized circle cutters on sugarpaste I had tinted different colours. I found it very difficult to work with – the circles got misshapen as I picked them up off the board and put them on the cake. I am planning a similar cake for my sister’s birthday and want it to be more successful! Would adding CMC to the sugarpaste help? And if so, should I use it straight after mixing the CMC in? Or should I be using something else entirely e.g. flowerpaste?
Thanks in advance,
Bryony
Hello Ruth,
Plastic cutters don’t have the sharp edges you get with stainless steel ones. When you cut our the shape, wiggle the cutter slightly and then lift. If the paste has come out and still in the cutter, rub you finger around the outer edge of the cutter to smooth it and then push out with a soft paint brush.
Jane
Hello Bryony,
Can I refer to you our blog on sugarcraft cutters – this should be self explanatory! http://www.lindyscakes.co.uk/Blog/2009/04/19/tips-on-using-lindys-sugarcraft-cutters/
Jane
Hi,
I have just purchased an fmm ribbon cutter but I think it may be faulty.The screw nut in the small handle keeps falling out and I can’t get the handle to grip on to it.I explained this to the seller but they seem to think I just need to “get the hang of it.” Please could any one who has this tool please advise me if the bolt is meant to be firmly secured inside the handle without the spindle or am I just being a bit dim!!!
many thanks Marion
Hello Marion,
We’ve had this problem before. If you glue the nut into the small handle it should solve the problem.
Jane
Please can someone advise me how much ahead of time I can make my sugarcraft flower arrangements? ie weeks /days and the best method of storing them until needed?
I have a number of cakes to ice and I would like to get the decoration done to ease the pressure.All suggestions appreciated.
Hi Marion
You can make your flowers as soon as you want. I still have the sugar flowers from the top of my wedding cake and I got married 19 years ago. The flowers are a little faded but apart from that as good as new – they just look a little old fashioned!!!
Thanks Lindy , This is the bit I’m looking forward to (as opposed to the covering and stacking!)would they be okay stored in a cardboard box.
Thanks again
Yes and somewhere dry
I have already made 250 emerald green butterflies, 150 ivory flowers, 300 emerald green hearts and 300 ivory hearts, all using sugar paste and colouring. I am having trouble to get these to harden properly. These are for a wedding in 2 weeks time. I am making cupcakes with butter icing. I had a trial run yesterday and now the hearts, flowers and butterflies seem to have absorbed the moisture and softened and ultimately flopped. Can you suggest anything that I maybe able to paint on the back of these to prevent this from happening? Or do I need to start over again with something different? Please help. From a desperado!
Hello Lorraine,
Putting anything on to buttercream really should be done as late in the day as possible.
Painting some confectioners glaze on to the back of the items will protect them a little from absorbing moisture from the buttercream.
As you have lots of cakes to decorate, I appreciate that you cannot do them all last minute, so I would suggest trying one or two cakes and adding a glazed decoration and leaving it for a prescribed number of hours and seeing how resilient they are!
Do let us know how you get on – good luck!
Thank you for getting back to me. I have been to my local craft shop to purchase the glaze. However, their expert tells me that the glaze will not make any difference, as this will only be absorbed into the sugar paste. The only thing I can do is to make them using white sugar paste and then to paint them the desired colour. I am also trialling a holly green sugar paste with a powder colouring to see if this makes any difference. Its almost back to the drawing board, unfortunately!
Hi Lorraine
I often use confectioers glaze to seal sugarpaste, it does make a difference! It acts as a barrier. If however you decide to remake then I would use something a little firmer than sugarpaste either modelling paste or flowerpaste.
Hope all goes well
Lindy
Hi Lorraine
Another thought, it may be the way you are storing your decorated cupcakes that is the route of your problems. Once decorated cupcakes should not be stored in an airtight plastic box as this will cause them to ’sweat’ – there has been a discussion on this subject on our facebook page which might interest you – here is a link
Lindy
Hi Lindy
Thank you for that. I have put the trial cakes in an airtight cake tin. Although, I was intending to put my final wedding cupcakes in cardboard boxes. However, I was intending to cover in multipurpose film to maintain freshness. Maybe I’ll give that a miss! I have made some other trial samples, without glycerine food colouring, just dusting powder mixed into a holly/ivy sugarflower paste, that I put onto buttercream last night. They were okay this morning, but I need to see how they are after 24 hours (later this evening). Unfortunately, it would seem that I am unable to achieve the emerald green colour that I wanted, the sugarflower paste doesn’t seem to react very well to it, even when I have put in gum tragacanth. I suppose it is just keep trialling until I come up with a satisfactory solution! In the meantime I think I should invest in some shares with Squires Kitchen! I am also going to try the confectioners glaze as well. It seems to be a “belt and braces”, cover all angles!
Thank you very much for the information.
Lorraine.
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