The art of making gum paste flowers

By YIP YOKE TENG

teng@thestar.com.my

THE pleasure offered by a daintily decorated cake begins even before one bites into it. It makes one happy and pleased at the prospect of savouring the delicacy, and persuades one to take the time to enjoy the finer things in life.

Exquisite: Degreef has won several awards with this Carolns Cake.

As cakes are often used as the centrepiece in functions, their decorations are becoming more elaborate and artistic. And, one of the best ways to adorn cakes is by using gum paste flowers.

Gum paste is an edible material made of icing sugar, egg white and tragacanth powder, which makes the dough stretchy.

The dough can be moulded into refined works, especially flowers, that will awe viewers with their life-like appearance.

Gum paste flowers are widely used in European countries to make cakes look stunning. So popular is it that baking buffs compare the creativity and refinement of their gum paste works in competitions.

In Malaysia, too, gum paste decoration is attracting more interest and those who want to learn more can now do so with an expert in sugar artistry, Tina Lee Degreef from Canada.

At the invitation of Ti-Ratana Penchala Community Centre, Degreef will be conducting two workshops on gum paste flowers — one for beginners and the other, intermediate — in Kuala Lumpur on March 13 and 14, as well as March 20 and 21.

The workshops will be held at 211, Jalan Tun Razak, 1st Floor, Dua Residency Annexe (adjacent to the US embassy) from 10am to 5pm on each day. The course fee is RM1,200 per workshop, inclusive of RM300 worth of cutters (tools to cut the dough), lunch and tea.

The proceeds will be used to fund the community centre’s charity work with the focus on single mothers. Degreef is rendering her services for free.

“Our ultimate objective is to enable the women to earn an income with this special skill, and to set up a corporation to sell the art works for them,” Degreef said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur recently.

Degreef, who was the president and director of the Canadian Society of Sugar Artistry, was actively teaching the subject and has written for magazines specialising in cakes and sugar craft.

She has also won many international awards for her cakes as well as exquisite cake decorations.

Durable: The bouquet of roses Degreef made for her mother’s birthday eight years ago.

Now based in Canada, Degreef, who comes back to Malaysia — the land of her birth — twice a year for a holiday, had wanted to impart her knowledge of the sugar craft to her acquaintances here.

At a demonstration recently, Degreef showed us the soft yet spongy texture of gum paste, dripped several drops of food colouring into a bit of the paste and rolled it out into a thin sheet.

She then used a plastic cutter to cut out a piece in the shape of a petal, softened its edges with a round-tipped stick, and made it frilly with a toothpick.

“It’s that easy, but these simple steps can lead to refined works — not only of flowers, but also figurines and any other article. What you can make with it is limited only by your creativity,” she said.

In fact, she is using the same techniques in her new hobby — making jewellery using cold porcelain and metal clay.

The works can be kept for years in dry conditions and illustrated her point by showing a bouquet of roses she had used on her mother’s birthday cake eight years ago!

The results of using gum paste are more intricate compared with those made of royal icing and fondant, Degreef said.

Degreef has loved the art since she first learnt it in 1999.

“It helps me smell the roses. Making gum paste flowers helps me to look at flowers in a different way — I see the details, noticing the nuances that I would otherwise overlook.

“It makes me appreciate nature even more, and it helps me release stress,” she added.

Places for the workshops are limited. For reservations or enquiries, call Honey Khoo or Chui Peng at 03-7784 9002 (office hours) or Catherine at 012-231 8910. Participants are advised to bring paper, pen and apron to the workshop.