Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi can someone help me please, I’m going to be making 100 cupcakes for a silver wedding
Question is ..
Are flowers made from flowerpaste /gumpaste OK to eat ? Or should I be using 50/50 flower paste/fondant I don’t want to make beautiful looking cupcakes if they are not going to be very pleasant on the palate !
Thank you.
P.S. How far in advance can I make these flower toppers

Hi Lorraineau

Gumpaste flowers are perfectly edible. However, they are very brittle and not particularly nice to eat. You can make them 50/50 if you prefer, they will remain softer although harden off with time. Alternative medium to use which tastes much nicer, is modelling chocolate paste which you could make yourself. There are hundreds of recipes online, here is one: http://mcgreevycakes.com/modelingchocolate/

Flowers made with any of these mediums can be made up as soon as you like and will last months, if not years suitably stored. More information for gumpaste/fondant flowers and storing for modelling chocolate pieces:

https://www.cakeflix.com/questions?s=how+to+store+gumpaste+flowers

Storing modelling chocolate figures

From personal experience, I find most people don’t eat the pretty decorations on cupcakes even though they are 100% edible. Hope this helps.

Hi madeitwithlove
Thank you for your reply, very much appreciate your advice,
I like the sound of modelling chocolate so think I will be giving that a try ? More appealing to the palate ! Like you say some don’t always eat the oretty toppers ! I for one am not fond of fondant prefer chocolate ,
Thanks again for your help. X

If you’ve never worked with modelling chocolate before be careful not to over handle it as it will melt like any other chocolate. Nice thing about this medium is that it can be mixed half and half with gumpaste or fondant to make a better tasting decorations. If you decide to use candy melts instead of chocolate, try the Merckens super white which tastes better than the Wilton’s brand. I think Hobby craft stock it. If not try here:
https://www.thecakedecoratingcompany.co.uk/chocolate-supplies-c30/chocolate-candy-melts-c55/merckens-super-white-candy-melt-500g-p3648
I use Lidle supermarket own brand chocolate bars which cost 30 pence per 100g. It works just as well but of course it is not pure white so can be tricky to get bright colours. To colour modelling chocolate use gel colours which are oil based or just try what you have in small amounts to see whether they mix in alright. Water based colours don’t usually mix very well with chocolate and can make the paste grainy and unworkable. If mixed 50/50 with flower paste or fondant, normal gel colours work fine. Make up some modelling chocolate as a trial and work with it before going live with your real project.