This gumpaste mistletoe tutorial includes a template for the leaves in case you don’t want to buy a set of mistletoe cutters. Whichever method you chose your gumpaste mistletoe will add a fabulous finishing touch to your Christmas cakes & bakes.
Gumpaste Mistletoe Tutorial: Materials
- mistletoe leaf cutters (or cutting wheel to cut out leaves freehand or from our template below)
- 24, 26 or 28-guage green wires cut into quarters (or sixths)
- white gumpaste
- leaf green gumpaste
- edible glue
- foam pad
- ball tool
- leaf or petal veiner with vertical lines (or else you can use a Dresden tool for this part)
- beige dust color
- fine tipped paintbrush
- edible glaze spray
- lime green dust color
- green floral tape
Gumpaste Mistletoe Tutorial: Method
- Mistletoe Berries: Start by kneading your white gumpaste then rolling a small ball about the the size of a small pea (petit pois), making sure there are no cracks in the surface.
- Take a piece of wire, dip it into edible glue and wipe off the excess. Insert the wire into the ball of gumpaste until a tiny piece pokes through at the other end.
- Pinch the base of the berry around the wire to secure it in place. Repeat to create more berries. Three berries per stem of mistletoe is ideal.
- If you have a lot of berries to make it can speed up the process if you use a bead mold to make multiple berries at a time.
- Set the berries aside to try for a number of hours.
- Once try, add the tiniest amount of beige dust color at the top of the berries where the wires poke through slightly.
- Spray with edible glaze (making sure your work surface is well covered before you spray).
- Mistletoe Leaves: If you are comfortable working with a grooved board you can go ahead and make your leaves in the usual manner. But if you’re not, this a simple method for creating leaves. Start by rolling your gumpaste into a sausage shape and placing horizontally on your work surface.
- Using your rolling pin, roll the gumppaste away from you. Keep the edge closest to you a bit thicker to insert the wire, then roll the edge furthest from you a little thinner.
- Take your leaf cutter and place the bottom of it on the thick end of the paste. Cut out a row of leaf shapes all along the strip of paste or use the template below if you don’t have a cutter (the leaf should measure 2 inches long and a half inch wide at the widest part.)
- Using a quarter piece of wire, dab one end into edible glue, wiping off the excess, then insert the wire into the thick end of the leaf. Pinch at the base of the petal to secure it to the wire.
- At this stage you will also need to bend your leaves slightly to the left of right. You will need two leaves per spray of mistletoe – one bending to the left, and one bending to the right.
- On a foam pad, use your bone tool or ball tool to thin the edges of the leaves.
- Place onto your veiner (e.g. a poppy veiner) or use the thin end of your Dresden tool to mark vertical veins on the leaf or the back of a knife. You can also use a piece of corn husk as your veiner for your mistletoe.
- Leave the leaves to dry overnight on either “bumpy” foam/drying foam or crumpled aluminium foam rather than drying the leaves flat.
- Dust the leaves with lime green dust color.
- Swipe the leaves through the steam of a kettle to set the colors and bring up a gentle shine. Set aside to try.
- Taping Up: take a set of leaves and using a tweezers or needle-nosed pliers held just under each leaf, bend the wire 45 degrees left for one leaf and right for the second leaf. Tape together using green floral tape. Then take three berries and tape them just in the center of the two leaves.
- Finally, spray lightly with edible glaze.
More Christmas Cake Decorating Tutorials/Winter Sugarcraft Tutorials:
- Gumpaste Christmas Rose Tutorial (Hellebore Tutorial)
- Gumpaste Holly Tutorial (Leaves & Berrries)
- Gumpaste Ilex Berries Tutorial (Winter Berries & Twigs Tutorial)
- Gumpaste Snowberries Tutorial
- Gumpaste Willow Tutorial
- Easy Gumpaste Poinsettia Tutorial
- Gumpaste Snowdrops Tutorial
