Gum Paste Butterfly Tutorial

I've had a number of requests for a tutorial for the butterflies that I covered my mom's birthday cake with. They aren't difficult to make! All you need is the right supplies and you can make your own colourful sugary butterflies to decorate cakes, cupcakes, or even cookies with.

 

The butterflies are made out of gum paste which is a sugar paste that contains a natural gum called Gum tragacanth. It is soft and mold-able and dries very hard. The butterflies don't have a flavor, the gum paste just tastes crunchy and sweet.

You can buy a powder that you have to mix but I always buy the premixed gum paste because it is the perfect consistency and one bag lasts forever in my fridge.

 

 

Next you need a butterfly shaped cutter. I had a hard time finding one that I liked. All the cookie cutters were too big and too cartoony looking. I ended up buying this punch that is supposed to be used to cut wilton sugar sheets. When you take the pieces apart you can use it as a cookie/ fondant cutter.  It was about the same price as a cookie cutter and you can find this punch at Michael's and other craft stores along with the gum paste.

 

To paint the butterflies you need gel food colouring which you can also find at craft stores and most kitchen stores that have a decorating section. It doesn't matter what colours you choose for the wings  I would suggest also picking up a jar of the black food colouring because you'll need it to outline the wings

 

Luster dust and disco dust look great on the butterflies but if you don't have them/can't find them it's not a big deal. They are optional if you want to add an extra bit of sparkle.

 

Before you start cutting out and painting your butterflies use some folded tin foil to make a "V" for the butterflies to dry in. This lets them dry with their wings up. Make sure that your V isn't too narrow, you want the wings to be open enough so that you see the design on them and not the blank bottom of the butterflies.

 

To make the butterflies take a piece of gum paste and work a small bit of butter or shortening into it until it is smooth and easy to roll out. 

 

Because the butterfly stamp isn't sharp like a cookie cutter I place the gum paste on a thin piece of foam to cut out the butterflies.

 

Put the scraps back in the gum paste bag (keep it sealed so it doesn't dry out!)

 

 

For painting the butterflies it is best to use vodka instead of water to dilute the food colouring. Water makes the gum paste soggy and sticky and the colour does not show up as vibrantly. I pour the vodka into a little dish and dip my brush in it when I want to dilute my colours.

 

 

 Put a swipe of each colour that you're going to use in a separate little dish or plate and then use the vodka to dilute a bit of it on your brush

 

Start with a light wash of very diluted colour over the entire butterfly.

 

Then outline the butterfly with a swipe of more concentrated colour. I used the same pink that I had diluted for the outline but you can use any colour as long as its more concentrated or darker than your first wash.

 

Dip your clean brush in vodka and then blend the more concentrated colour into the wash by brushing it inwards

 

Ta-Dah! Even though these are the same shape and will all be painted with the same colours it is easy to make each butterfly look different without spending too much time on them.

 

The first butterfly gets some purple brushed inward with short strokes

 

The second butterfly gets two stripes of purple

 

And the third butterfly gets it's wings outlined with the last bit of purple on the brush.

 

Then dilute some black food colouring and use your brush to paint along the edge of the butterfly so that the black goes right down to the surface that you are painting on.  You can make the outline thinner or thicker to change the shape of the wings.

 

If you are using disco dust then tap it onto the wet food colouring. I just dab my brush in the disco dust, touch it to the vodka and then onto the wings.

 

Transfer the butterflies to the V shaped tinfoil to dry overnight. I move them with my hands but a small offset spatula would also work.

 

Once the butterflies are dry they will keep for months! If you are using them to decorate a cake with only put them on the cake on the day that you need them. If you put them on a day or two ahead they can get a bit soft from sitting on the icing. I put mine on the cake the day we served it and then the butterflies lasted another two days in the fridge.

 

These little butterflies are so fun to make because you can be as creative as you want with their wing designs and they look stunning grouped together on a cake.

 

Gum Paste Butterflies

Supplies:

• Gum paste
• small amount of butter or shortening
• Any colour of gel food colouring
• Black gel food colouring
• butterfly shaped cutter
• rolling pin
• tin foil
• paint brush
• vodka
• disco dust or luster dust (optional)
• small dishes to put the vodka and the gel colours into
• towel or paper towel to wipe your brush clean on

1. Set up your painting area:

Make the V shape out of tin foil. Put a swipe of each colour you are using into a different dish and fill one dish with vodka.

2. Roll out and cut the butterflies. Put scraps back in gum paste bag

3. Paint butterflies with light wash. Then outline with a concentrated colour and blend that into the wash with a clean brush dipped in vodka

4. Add other accent colours

5. Outline butterflies with black. Add shimmer or glitter and move to dry on V shaped tinfoil. Allow to dry overnight. 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[yummy supper]

So so cool! We have got to try making these ourselves. Thanks for the detailed tutorial!-
Erin

[Marilyn]

I need to share this on my blog's upcoming DIY Tutorial post :)

[Everybodyelse01]

These are too fun! I'm so excited to try them!

[Sarah]

The awesomeness of this cake cannot be described! Can't wait to try.

[Patricia Christianson]

Would almond paste work instead of gum paste?

[DK]

The sprinkles are edible? They look so awesome.

[Thegonzogourmet]

Very clever use for vodka!

[Clockwork Lemon]

DK: yes you can eat the sparkles :)

Patricia: I'm not sure if almond paste would dry hard enough for the wings to stay up

[Claire @ keepsmeoutofmischief]

They're amazing; don't know if I'd have enough patience or a steady enough hand!

[Zara]

Made these for a friends birthday party last night - and they were a hit! - I made the gum past from scratch with gum-tex from wilton and corn syrup (rather then glucose from wilton) the cake was a huge 2 tier cake for about 35 people and I'd wish i'd made more butterfly's everyone wanted one. Will be making these again.

[Liz W]

These are gorgeous! What a unique and memorable way to decorate a cake - thank you for sharing.

[DumglonsubDus]

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