A really popular flower to add onto cakes, especially wedding cakes is Gypsophila, also known as Baby’s Breath. This tiny white flower looks so pretty on cakes but there is always a lot of discussion about whether it’s safe to use. So this week I’m showing you how to make your own gumpaste Baby’s Breath which will be a great alternative to the real thing!
If you want to see step by step how to make it, just click the video below ⇩
Creating the gumpaste Baby’s Breath
For the baby’s breath or gypsophila I used Squire Floral Paste (gumpaste). This is great as it dries hard and also dries quickly. In the bunch of baby’s breath I created 3 different kinds of flowers, a full open flower, a flower just starting to open and also some buds. By combining the 3 together it really makes it look a lot more realistic as the flowers are all slightly different, as they would be in nature. For the flowers themselves I used a small PME blossom plunger cutter that measured 9mm across at the widest points.
In the video you will see that I bring together lots of clusters of the flowers to make up one stem. Because the flowers are quite small and you need quite a few stems to make up a bunch these flowers do take a little bit of time to make, but from experience you do get quicker the more you make, plus the time it takes is totally worth it once you see them on your cake. Whether on the top in a little dome, mixed in with other flowers or placed around the bottom as a boarder.
Can you add real Gypsophila / Baby’s Breath onto cakes
Now if you’ve followed me for a while you will know how much I love making gumpaste flowers, so it’s always my first choice when adding flowers onto a cake to make them myself, but if you usually prefer real flowers there is a lot of discussion about whether gypsophila / baby’s breath is safe to add onto cakes.
Different websites do give slightly different information, but gypsophila or baby’s breath is known to be slightly toxic. Working with the flowers can cause skin irritation and some websites say that it can cause sickness if any of the flowers, pollen or sap get onto the inside or outside of your cakes and is eaten. Flowers if brought from a supermarket or florist unless specifically grown to be added onto cakes also contain pesticides and chemicals which also shouldn’t be eaten.
When adding real flowers onto cakes it’s so easy for part of the flower or the pollen to fall or touch the buttercream or fondant on the outside, so by making your own gumpaste flowers and attaching these into your cakes using a food safe seal or flower pics you know that anyone consuming the cake is safe.
I love how pretty these flowers look, they are so delicate and combined with the anemone on the top of the cake it looks so pretty. This would be perfect for a wedding cake, birthday cake or a baby shower. If you would like to see how I made the gumpaste anemone you can find a tutorial here.
I really hope you will enjoy the video tutorial and be able to use it to make your own gypsophila / baby’s breath to add onto your cakes. If you’re also looking to find out how to make other gumpaste / sugar flowers you will find more step by step flower tutorials on my Tutorials page!.
Tools I Used
I have put a list below showing all the tools that I used throughout this video or if you would like to see all my favourite cake decorating tools just click here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/cakesbylynz
PME Blossom Cutters: https://amzn.to/3azg7yQ
Squires Petal Paste (Gumpaste): https://amzn.to/32Cpqdz
Wire 24 gauge (similar): https://amzn.to/2ydknkN
Edible glue: http://amzn.to/2iYkZXm
PME Veining Board: https://tidd.ly/3i6kGpr
Floral Tape: https://tidd.ly/2UKmfRb
Small Flower Pics: https://amzn.to/3tnqYEc
Pliers & wire tools (similar): https://amzn.to/378Ychb
Mini Rolling Pin (similar) : https://amzn.to/2V8sZIq
~ Please note that some of links above may be affiliate links. If you click the link and purchase any item through that link, I will receive a small commission from the website but this does NOT add any additional costs to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog x ~
Plus why not save this tutorial for later and pin it to Pinterest
