Sweet Sugar Flowers

Lightly beat the egg whites with an electric or stand mixer. Add the powdered sugar and beat for 5 minutes on medium speed. Add the shortening and mix for another 15 seconds. Add the tylose and beat for a few seconds. The mixture will thicken rapidly, so be careful not to burn out the mixer’s motor.

Store gum paste in a plastic bag, and sealed inside an airtight container. Refrigerate and let rest overnight. The dough will last several weeks if refrigerated when not in use and can be frozen for a longer shelf life.

Break off a lump of gum paste from the main ball and knead it with your hands until it’s firm but stretchy. Blend in a small amount of shortening to condition it.

To create colored gum paste, work in a tiny bit of gel food coloring as you knead. It’s potent stuff and too much gel will make the dough sticky and unworkable. (For this reason, dark colors are hard to achieve.)

On your nonstick board, roll out all or part of your conditioned gum paste as thin as possible.

Air is the enemy — it can dry the gum paste within minutes. Store what you aren’t actively using in a plastic bag. If you’re in a humid area and the gum paste becomes sticky, use cornstarch to dry it.

Use the flower cutters to stamp out flower shapes. Push firmly to give each blossom a clean edge. Put the newly cut blossoms into your plastic sleeve to keep them from drying out. Put your scrap dough back in the bag to keep it moist.

One at a time, put the blossoms onto the foam and thin them with the large end of the ball tool, using small, circular motions and light pressure. You want to thin them, particularly on the edges, but not distort the shape. Rolling the ball tool in the middle of the blossom will also give the blossom a slight cup shape. Mother Nature isn’t uniform, so don’t worry if your blossoms aren’t either.

As you complete each blossom, lay it on a crinkled piece of aluminum foil. This preserves the curves in the flowers while giving them all slight variations in shape. Within 24 hours, the blossoms should be fully dry.

Brush petal dust onto the blossom’s center or its edges with a paintbrush, allowing for a gradation in color.

Petal dust is essentially ground, nontoxic chalk made for this purpose.

Mix a drop of water with dark petal dust and use a floral wire to apply it in dots to the center of each blossom in clusters of 3 or 4 dots. Let the petal dust dry, and then you’re ready to start decorating your baked goodies!