Gum Paste Hydrangea for Cake Decorating

Gum paste hydrangea flowers are very easy to make and make such pretty cake decoration.

White and purple hydrangea flowers in a group

There are 2 ways in which you can make these flowers. Firstly, without any wires. And secondly with wires. It would be good to attach these flowers to wires when intending to use them as filler flowers. Or when the flowers are arranged in clusters, either on their own or in a combination with other flowers.

But if you are planning on using them individually on your cakes like in the cake below, wires are not necessary. You can always use fondant glue or shortening to hold them in place.

I am sharing on this page, the tutorial on how to make non-wired gum paste hydrangea flowers including how to color them. I used these flowers for my butterflies wedding cake project. Read on to see how I made the flowers, step by step.

How to Make Gum Paste Hydrangea Flowers

Supplies needed:

Gum paste - I used Satin Ice white gum paste. Love this gum paste, it rolls really thin and is easy to work with.
Gum paste flower petal cutter and veiner - I used Sunflower Sugar Art hydrangea flowers cutter and veiner set. The set comes with 2 cutters of different sizes and one set of petal veiner.

Hydrangea petal cutters and silicone molds

Flower formers - these are essential for hydrangeas as they help the flowers set is a curved position. I bought mine from a craft shop, they are actually painting palettes. Since I was making a lot of flowers, these were the best choice as they are quite inexpensive.
Flower dust - I used Squires Kitchen Violet food dust. It has a dark purple shade and matched my cake theme.
Fondant glue - Fondant glue is used to attached the hydrangea flower centers. It is also to be used for attaching the flowers to the cake. Fondant glue can be easily made. Click here to learn how to make your own fondant glue.

Making the gum paste hydrangea flowers:

Cutting the gum paste hydrangea petals

First off course, is the gum paste. Rolled some white gum paste thin.

A piece of rolled gum paste with a small white rolling pin on the side

Using the hydrangea flower petal cutter, cut out a few petals. It is better to work with a few petals at a time to prevent them from drying out before veining.

Hydrangea flower cutter on a piece of rolled gum paste

Hydrangea petal cutter with a gum paste petal cut out

Veining the gum paste hydrangea petals

For veining, use the hydrangea veining tool. Dust each side with some cornflour. Then, placed each petal on the veiner, on the side which has the pointed center.

When placing the petals on it, press them very lightly with your fingers to make sure the petal centers follow the pointed shape and are not placed too flat on the tool. This is to prevent the gum paste from stretching too much as the top of the veiner is pressed on. If too stretched, your hydrangea petals will end up with tears in the centers.

Silicone hydrangea formers with a gum paste hydrangea flower on

The veining tool in this tutorial has a slight cut on both ends. Position the veiners by making sure the cut is aligned on both sides of the tool.

And when pressing it for the veins patters, only press the sides, not the center. This is simply to avoid the petal from tearing in the center. Notice how I only press the sides in the images below.

This is how the petals should look like after veining.

Silicone hydrangea formers with a gum paste hydrangea flower in the background

Dry the petals in a painting palette in slightly curved position.

Gum paste hydrangea flowers on a paint palette.

Coloring the hydrangea petals

Let the petals dry completely before dusting. For this project, I dusted the centers with violet food dust. If you too wish to do the same, dip a medium-sized brush into the food dust and start the dusting from each flower center.

Finish the dusting by gradually working towards the ends of the petals, making sure the color fades as you work towards the end of the petals.

White hydrangea flower with a white painting pallete in the background filled with dark purple petal dust

Once the dusting is complete, you can attach the flower centers. I made my flower centers white. You can use other colors if you wish. Roll tiny pieces of gum paste into round balls.

2 purple hydrangea flowers without any centers

Attach the centers to the gum paste hydrangea flowers with a tiny dot of fondant glue.

Brushing the center of a hydrangea petal

With that, the gum paste hydrangeas are complete. When attaching them to the cake, you can use fondant glue. Apply a tiny dab of glue to the back of each flower and attach them to your cake.
You can also use shortening. However, it will not hold your flowers as securely as fondant glue.