This large gumpaste rose tutorial is for a wired rose but don’t worry, there is just one central wire – the petals do not have to be wired individually, which saves a tonne of time.
Plus it features a rather unconventional method of creating textured/torn petals which gives a beautiful, straight-from-nature appearance. It calls for a fondant plus CMC or Tylose mix rather than store bought gumpaste in order to create the frayed edges on the petals.
It is also part of our Quick & Easy Sugar Flower Tutorials Collection and features a super-fast method of creating the petals.
The rose measures approximately 3.5 inches/9cm when completed but extra petals can be added to make it even bigger if you wish.
Quick & Easy Large Gumpaste Rose Tutorial: Materials
- Gumpaste (fondant mixed with tylose powder/CMC: 2 teaspoons of tylo per pound/450g of fondant or more in high humidity conditions)
- One-inch (2.5cm) styro ball
- 18-guage wire cut into thirds then taped together with floristry tape
- Cake dummy
- Petal cutters: 3.5cm (1.5”), 4cm (1.75”) and 5cm (2”)
- Foam pad
- Ball tool
- Edible glue
Quick & Easy Large Gumpaste Rose Tutorial: Instructions
Insert the 18 guage strengthened wire into the styro ball and secure in place with a shot of glue from the glue gun.
Roll out your gumpaste and using the 1.5” cutter cut out three petals. These center petals don’t need frayed edges, so don’t worry about that at this point.
Place the petals on the foam pad and thin the outer edges using a ball tool.
Apply edible glue to the bottom half of the petals.
To make the center of the rose, insert the wired styro ball into a cake dummy to hold it in place. Then take one of the petals and attach it to the styro ball – half of the petal on the ball and the top half of the petal peaked upwards.
Take the next petal and overlap it over the first one as shown.
Take the third petal and overlap it over the second one and tucking it in under the first petal. The three petal grouping should peak into a tightly closed middle as shown.
For the next row of petals, take the 1.75” cutter and cut out three petals. On a foam pad thin the outer edges of the petals.
Apply edible glue to the bottom half of the petals.
Take the first petal and attach it to the styro ball sitting slightly above the center petals. Attach the second petal, overlapping the first and then the third petal, tucking it in underneath the first petal. Make sure the petals are closed tightly around the rose center.
For the third row of petals, use the biggest cutter. To achieve the “torn edges” effect I like to cut the petals out from around the edges of my rolled out gumpaste and this is where the fondant/tylo mix comes into play – it doesn’t produce the smooth edges of pre-made gumpaste when rolled out and instead has slightly frayed edges. It’s from these edges I cut out 4 petals for this row.
Also, for this row and subsequent rows I skip the thinning step completely. Instead, I fold over the top left and right edges of the petals as shown.
Then I turn them over to hold down the folded edges in place while the petals are firming up a little.
Glue the bottom half of the petals and attach to the rose centre, overlapping each petal above the previous one and tucking the last one in underneath the first one.
Gently open the petals slightly before moving onto the next row.
For the next row of petals, you will need 5 petals.
For the final row, you will need 6-7 petals. You can finish with this row or you can make a super-sized rose by adding a final row of 7-8 petals. Again, gently tease open the petals of each row before moving onto the next row.
Tip: Color variation – use a darker shade of gumpaste for the rose center and inner petals, then a lighter shade for each row of petals as you work outwards to add a pretty and botanical look to your roses. Or if this is too time consuming you can simply dust the center of your rose with a large round brush.
