Day 142 of 365

I love adventures that take two days to create. Today, part one is making something I've never even wanted to make before.

Gum Paste

Most people might not know what this is. I'll admit that when I started to organize this 365 days of fun I had no idea it even existed as a thing.

On day 142 I set out to make gum paste.

Why?

Have you ever eaten a fondant covered cake? I haven't but I've watched them created on baking shows. I have always wanted to know how to do it and what it tastes like. The difference between fondant and gum paste is pretty clear once it dries. Gum paste turns rock hard and is great for making candy flowers

to top off cupcakes or other creations.

The recipe is pretty simple, powdered sugar, cornstarch, gelatin and cream of tartar. Mixing all of these ingredients in the right order are what creates the magic. It has to be kneaded like dough and since I have a lot of practice from my day 125 noodle making, my muscles were ready.

Being made from sugar this gets extremely sticky and messy and the original recipe called for Crisco as a lubricant for my hands. Since I would never have that in my pantry I used coconut oil instead.

It worked like a dream and after about 20 minutes of smushing this around I had two beautiful patties of gum paste.

Stay tuned to find out the purpose. When all is said and done you might just join me in making this.

Day 142 was sticky and sweet.

Love & Light