Moulding Paste

(for moulding sugar flowers for cake decoration)

I love this moulding paste recipe. It is nicely flexible and elastic, which allows you to roll it paper thin and emulate nature itself in the form of flowers, leaves, nuts and other sugar decoration.

Many cake decorators make the mistake of making their moulding paste thick, mistakenly believing that this will make the decorations tougher, and less likely to break. Let me tell you, this isn't the case - and who wants chunky non-realistic flowers on their perfect day?

If you follow this recipe exactly as it appears below, you will be rewarded with the best moulding paste to work with - which will then allow you to produce beautiful life-like decorations that you will be proud of.

Ingredients:

250g pure icing sugar

30mls water

2 scant teaspoons gelatine

1 rounded teaspoon liquid glucose

(Note: make sure you use pure icing sugar - other icing sugar contains cornflour along with other products which will affect the success of this recipe).

Method:

Soak gelatine in water for 15 minutes.

Sift icing sugar into a bowl.

When gelatine has been absorbed into the water, stand in saucepan of hot water and dissolve gently.

Add glucose to the gelatine mixture.

When clear and free of lumps, add to icing mixture, stirring with a knife.

Store mixture in a plastic bag and seal in an airtight container.

The mixture needs to stand for about 8 hours before using.

Once ready to use, dust your surface with sifted pure icing sugar, and knead the mixture until it is smooth and elastic.

Return to plastic bag, and then airtight container for storage.

Note: if you leave this mixture uncovered it will quickly become hard and unusable, so please ensure that you store it correctly at all times.