Poppy Tutorial #1: How to Make a Gum Paste Poppy (using heart shaped cutters)

This is my very first tutorial (and my first tutorial for Jenny’s Haute Cakes). I have learned so much from the generous tutorials of others, I swore as soon as I felt like I had something to share, I would share it! When a client wanted poppies on her wedding cake I turned to Google for guidance and couldn’t find any tutorials! I have made enough sugar flowers I thought I could figure it out. This is what I came up with. No special cutters are required. I hope this is helpful! It may include some obvious steps for more seasoned cakers, but I wanted it to be accessible for even new bakers (like me not too long ago!), so bear with me. I hope at least some of you find this helpful. I welcome any questions, feedback or suggestions. Happy caking!

well this is certainly worth sharing! it is FABULOUS. A truly wonderful and helpful tutorial with tricks and skills that can be applied to many other flowers and decorations. Brilliant job and thank you so much for the time and effort you have put into this. xx

Very nice! I love that you used heart cutters. I’m going to try this for sure.

Thanks

A couple quick notes — as I reread through this tutorial I noticed a couple “oops” by me. On the supply list I wrote “22 gage green wire” but the tutorial says “20 gage”. I used 20 gage. This was just a typo. The poppy leaves are heavy and you will want to use the sturdier wire to support the flower. Also, the list says “large round flower formers”. You actually need the medium ones (though the large would work). If I missed anything else, I apologize! If there is a discrepancy, do what the tutorial itself says. Thanks! And thanks for the nice comments so far!

Thanks, really helpful!

Your poppy is gorgeous! Thank you for sharing, Jenny! I am such a klutz at flowers.

Pauline, I am CONFIDENT you can do it! Flowers, like anything, just require you practice an get a feel for doing it. He precision details on your cakes suggests you have the necessary patience! My experience with teaching flower making in classes is that people who haven’t really used a ball tool a lot are tentative with it. That seems to e the trickiest part. Just hold the ball tool like a pencil, half on the petal and half off, and trace around. Don’t try to hold the petal with your other hand. It will move around and curl and that is just fine! You want it to be able to do those things. The more you run on the edge, the thinner it becomes and the rufflier too. If the ball sticks to your gum paste, either your gum paste is too wet (add some powdered sugar or cornstarch or a blend. It could also be that your tool is not perfectly clean. Wash it and dry it. Even if you don’t see anything on it. Trust me! The other problem could be the you are catching the petal with a seam on the ball tool if are using a plastic one (like Wilton or Duff). You always need to make sure the seam of the ball tool is away from the petal. It you decide to try it, definitely send me a photos! And if you are having any problems, ask and I will try my best to help!

They are gorgeous! Very good tutorial! Thank you for sharing!

Your poppies are gorgeous, so real looking. Feel like I can do this, Thankyou for sharing your knowledge. :-)

What beautiful poppies! Love them!