Gum Paste Arrow Tutorial for Cake Decorating

I made this gum paste arrow tutorial when I was decorating my cupid arrow and heart mini cakes for Valentine’s day. I wanted to make mini heart-shaped cakes with 3D arrows running through them.

There were two options for the arrows. One was to make them with fondant or gum paste and the other option was to make them using paper.

A heart shaped cake decorated with pink buttercream rossettes and a gum paste arrow going through it

And the truth is, I made both. One in gum paste and one is paper. I choose gum paste over fondant as gum paste sets better than fondant. And so one heart cake had a gum paste arrow going through it and another, a craft paper arrow.

This tutorial is for the gum paste arrow. I have created a separate tutorial for the craft paper arrow.

Gum Paste Arrow Tutorial for Cake Decorating

These are the main supplies needed to make the arrow:

Arrow template – I drew this by hand on a piece of white paper and cut it out along its outline. You can do the same or trace it from any image you like
Fondant glue – This is homemade, using water and CMC powder
Gum paste – I used Satin Ice gum paste in white.
Sugar craft knife – in the absence of an arrow cutter, use a sugarcraft knife to cut the gum paste.
Fondant rolling pin and mat – these were used to roll the gum paste.
Edible gold dust and lemon extract – these are mixed to form edible gold paint for the arrow.
Cake decorating brush – I used a medium-sized brush to paint the assembled arrow with edible gold paint.
Lollipop sticks – these were attached to the arrow and poked into the cake to hold the arrows in place.

And this is how you make the gum paste arrow:

Start by getting your arrow template ready. If you have an arrow shaped cookie cutter, this template is not necessary.

Since I did not have a ready made arrow cutter, I had to create my own template. To make the template, estimate the size of the arrow you want for your cake and then draw it on a piece of paper.

Cut the paper along the outline of the arrow and this template will be your guide in cutting your arrow out of gum paste.

For this cake, I cut my arrow into two. The front end of the arrow was on one side of the cake and the rear end on the other side.

Cutting the gum paste

Using a sugar craft knife to cut out gum paste arrow with paper templates as guide

Next, roll the gum paste into a thin sheet. And then place the arrow template on the gum paste and cut it out following the outlines.

For each arrow, cut out two pieces of the same template. This means, cut 2 pieces of the front pattern of the arrow and 2 pieces of the rear end pattern.
Let one set sit in open air so that it would dry up a little quicker while the other set, keep it covered as we do not that one to dry out.

Gluing the gum paste pieces

After about 10 minutes, you can start to assemble the gum paste arrow. Begin with the front portion.

Apply fondant glue all over the piece of gum paste that you kept covered and attached a lollipop stick to it. While it is important to apply glue all over the gum paste cut out, you need not use too much. Suffice to hold the lollipop stick in place.

Attaching lollipop stick to gumpaste arrow

In attaching the stick, make sure you place it starting as close as practical from the tip of the arrow.

And then lift the lollipop stick (with the arrow head attached to it) and place it on the other arrow head cut out, with the lollipop stick positioned in between the 2 cut outs.

A lollipop stick in between 2 pieces of cut gumpaste

Carefully stick both pieces of gum paste together, making sure the bottom piece is flat and the top piece closely adjusted to the shape of the lollipop stick. Doing this will automatically result in the top gum paste piece to be smaller in size compared to the bottom piece.

This is intentional as the top piece was meant to become the bottom surface of the arrow in the end. It being slightly smaller makes sure there are no extras on the side that would later show from the bottom surface of the arrow.

Repeat the process for the rear end of the gum paste arrow.

Painting the arrow

Once the gluing is complete, leave the arrow aside to firm up. Place the top surface of the arrow facing down. This is to ensure the surface remains flat while drying. By doing this, you get a smooth flat surface for the arrow.

Gold painted gum paste arrow attached to white lollipop sticks.

Next, mix some gold dust with lemon extract to form gold paint. Paint it on the arrow and let the paint dry completely before putting it on the cake.

Adjusting the length of the arrow

I had to make slight adjustment to the length of the arrow when I finally put it on my cake. I cut off the extras with a knife and the arrow was all perfect on the cake.

And this was how the arrow looked like on my finished cake.

I also made a similar arrow using craft paper as shown below. See the full tutorial on how to make paper arrows here. If you prefer to make the arrow with craft paper, don't forget to check my tutorial out.