How to make a Gumpaste Rose – Free Step by Step Tutorial

One thing I love to make for my cakes is gumpaste flowers and probably the most popular flower to add is a gumpaste rose. Now I do have a gumpaste rose tutorial but I recently realised it was almost 7 years old, so I thought it was time I created an updated version of this tutorial. Firstly though I need to say a massive thank you to everyone who has watched the original.

I really hope you’ll enjoy this tutorial and find it useful if you want to make your own roses for birthday cakes, or wedding cakes.

If you want to see step by step how to make a rose, just click the video below ⇩

Making your gumpaste roses look real

If you’re wondering why I thought it was time to create a new version of my rose tutorial, over the years I like to think I’ve developed the way I make them to look a lot more realistic. I’m still using the same style of cutters and the overall shape is the same, but the main difference is the center of the rose.

Adding a lot more petals to the center making them look like they haven’t opened up yet, really helps make the rose look more realistic. Also making sure with each row of petals that are added, they are a tiny bit higher than the last. This makes the bud of the rose look like its a little further down in the center and gives a much more realistic shape.

The main thing to think about when creating roses are that in real life no rose is ever the same, so if you’re creating a few roses to add onto a wedding cake for example add different amounts of petals to make them look slightly different works really well.

Tips for working with gumpaste / floral paste

For my roses I used the Squire Floral Paste (gumpaste) and coloured this using gel colours. If you find your gumpaste getting a little sticky you can add a small amount of corn flour, but don’t use too much as it can dry it out too.

When using gumpaste or floral paste for your roses you want to get your floral paste as thin as possible, this is going to give them more of a natural, realistic look. My first tip for rolling out your paste really thin is to work with small amounts at a time. This will not only make it easier to roll, but also stop your petals drying out as you are cutting out less at a time. Also remember any gumpaste you aren’t using, place into a sandwich bag or air tight container as it can dry out really quickly.

When rolling out your gumpaste a small rolling pin really helps too. I find you can push alot harder and really focus where you are rolling. I also lift and flip my gumpaste as I roll it. This stops it sticking to your surface.

Adding roses onto your cake

Once your roses and rose leaves have all been made and left to dry, the next step is to add them onto your cake. At the end of this tutorial I add them into a 2 tier dummy cake, just by pushing in the wires, but if you are added them onto a real cake, make sure you push your wires into flower picks or straws first to make them food safe. I then like to secure them in place (usually underneath the rose) with a small amount of royal icing. This will set solid, meaning your roses will stay exactly where you want them.

I really love how pretty and classic roses look when added onto a cake. They are always perfect for any themed of cake, whether its a wedding cake, a birthday cake or a baby shower.

I really hope you will enjoy the video tutorial and be able to use it to make your own roses and rose leaves. 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

Culpitt Rose Cutters (similar): https://amzn.to/3nVHGLh
Leaf Cutters: https://amzn.to/3tW1aAk
Leaf veiner: https://tidd.ly/3tMjJa3
Ball tool & Modelling tools: http://amzn.to/2iU4CuQ
Squires Petal Paste (Gumpaste): https://amzn.to/32Cpqdz
Wire 24 gauge (similar): https://amzn.to/2ydknkN
Edible glue: http://amzn.to/2iYkZXm
PME Foam Pads: https://tidd.ly/2UTLRuD
PME Veining Board: https://tidd.ly/3i6kGpr
Kitchen Blow Torch: https://amzn.to/3dnyWYr
Floral Tape: https://tidd.ly/2UKmfRb
Small Flower Pics: https://amzn.to/3tnqYEc
Pliers & wire tools (similar): https://amzn.to/378Ychb
Rolling Pin (similar) : https://amzn.to/3lB7s4m
Wire Rack (similar): https://amzn.to/39cQBzh
Wilton Peach Gel Colour: https://amzn.to/3nMNCpP
Wilton Pink Gel Colour: https://amzn.to/3CiV6Vq

~ 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