• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Decorated Treats

  • Home
  • Recipes
    • Cake Recipes
    • Cookies Recipes
    • Brownies & Bars
    • Bread & Dough Treats Recipes
    • Sweets & Candies
    • Jellies & Cold Dessert
    • Frostings, Fillings & Sauces
  • Designs & Tutorials
  • Tips & Techniques
    • Preparing Cakes for Decoration
    • Fondant Decorating
    • Piping Techniques for Cake Decorating
    • Gum Paste Flowers - How to Make
    • Decorating with Chocolate
    • Other Techniques
  • Submit Your Cake Photos
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Categories
  • Recipes
  • Tutorials
  • Techniques
  • Your Cakes
  • Contact Me
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Categories
    • Recipes
    • Tutorials
    • Techniques
    • Your Cakes
    • Contact Me
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Gum Paste Flowers - How to Make

    Gum Paste Hydrangea for Cake Decorating

    Published: Aug 9, 2020 · Modified: Aug 4, 2022 by Priya Maha

    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.

    Butterflies and hydrangeas tiered cake

    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.  
    Silicone hydrangea formers
    • 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.
    Silicone hydrangea formers
    Silicone hydrangea formers
    Silicone hydrangea formers
    • This is how the petals should look like after veining.
    Silicone hydrangea formers with a gum paste hydrangea flower on
    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.
    Violet petal dust bottle
    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.
    A tiny round white gum paste ball
    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.
    2 purple hydrangea flowers with white centers

    And that's it. Hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

    Happy decorating 🙂

    White and purple hydrangea flowers in a group

    More Gum Paste Flowers - How to Make

    • White gum paste poppy flower with black and green center
      Gum Paste Poppies Tutorial
    • Purple gum paste roses in a bouquet
      How to Color Gum Paste Flowers
    • Colorful sugar flowers on a cake
      Easy Fondant Flowers Tutorial
    • A white gum paste hibiscus
      Gum Paste Hibiscus Flower Tutorial

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi there!

    I'm Priya, and I'm so excited that you dropped by :) Welcome to DECORATED TREATS, a place where I share all my cake decorating ideas & true and tried recipes for all things sweet.

    More about me →


    Currently trending

    • Mascarpone whipped cream frosting piped into a glass and decorated with strawberry slices.
      Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting Recipe
    • A stack of 4 ube brownies.
      Ube Brownies (Fudgy Purple Yam Brownies)
    • A few green cupcakes on a grey plate.
      Pandan Cupcakes with Pandan Buttercream
    • A bowl of mascarpone cheese against marble background.
      Can You Freeze Mascarpone Cheese (How To & Tips)

    As featured on:

    Footer

    ^ back to top

    SUBSCRIBE TO DECORATED TREATS

    Sign up for latest recipes and tutorials!


    Thank you for joining!

    Keep watch for my latest updates in your email.

    .

    About

    • Privacy Policy & Disclaimer
    • Conversion Chart

    Resources

    • Submit your Cakes
    • Testimonials

    Decorated Treats is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Decorated Treats also contains other affiliate links, which if you purchase from may earn me a small commission. The full disclosure policy can be found here.

    Copyright © 2022 Decorated Treats