Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A
Pastillage?
I would like to make a rainbow with a swing hanging from it but not sure what I should use to make it. I haven’t used pastillage before but have read that it is brittle so not sure that’s ideal (and I don’t want to make it myself!) Would I be better using flower paste or just sugar paste with gum tragacanth added? Also, should I put a wire inside the rainbow for extra strength?
Any help appreciated!
Pastillage has to be worked with quite quickly as it dries out. If you were just rolling out a shape (ie rainbow or swing) it should be ok. It shouldn’t be brittle if it is a reasonable thickness. I once made a house on a cake and it stood for years until binned by recipient! This would be a good medium for a rainbow if you were hand painting it.
Flower paste and sugarpaste with gum tragacanth in are more or less the same thing. I would put a few wires in to support rainbow if using these. If you are not paintingthe rainbow remember getting a good red makes the paste soft as you have to use quite a bit (you may already know this).
Sounds a lovely idea. Happy decorating!
Jx
Thanks guys, will let you know if it’s a success!
It worked! I used flower paste (already had red and coloured some blue and yellow) and put some wires in. The customer loved it, in fact she texted me to say she had to hide it at bedtime as her kids wouldn’t stop playing with the swing! Thanks for your advice. Hopefully this link will work if you want to see it!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=273005286136894&set=a.273002946137128.49716.272739442830145&type=3
