Supplies:   

6 oz. gumpaste, mat for rolling out, shortening, rolling pin, spacer bars or rings, ribbon or strip cutter (embossed if desired), ruler, cutting wheel or artist palette knife, drying rack for loops*, 6” cake cardboard, pearl dust, vodka, paintbrush, 2” round cutter, Ό c. candy melts, parchment bag, 5” round plastic container (optional), plastic wrap, waxed paper
                       
*see Step 5 for a photo of a drying rack that can easily be
made at home or check out http://www.shavkin.com/maridatool.html
for  the instructions to make the rack shown above
 
 
 

 

 


Roll out a portion of the gumpaste to an even thickness, using a little shortening to prevent the gumpaste from sticking.  Spacer bars (pictured here), spacer rings on your rolling pin, or a pasta machine can be used to achieve the even thickness.  If you are using an embossed cutter, such as the JEM cutter shown below, the thickness should be approximately 1/16” – if the gumpaste is rolled thinner than this, then you will not get a clean impression.  If you are making a bow that is not embossed, then the gumpaste can be rolled much thinner for a more delicate look.
 
 
 

 

 


Use a ribbon cutter to cut strips from the gumpaste.  You will need about thirty total. I have found when using the embossed cutters that if the gumpaste is rolled to the proper thickness to obtain a good impression, the strip does not cut all the way through.  Use a cutting wheel or the edge of an artist palette knife to completely separate the strips if necessary.
 
 
 

 

Cut the strips to the appropriate lengths.  For the bow shown here, I used sixteen 5” strips, ten 4 ½” strips, and four 4” strips.  These strips are approximately ½” wide, as determined by the cutter.  If I am not using an embossed cutter, I often use wider strips – Ύ” or 1”, and I make them in lengths of 6” (twelve loops), 5” (twelve loops) and 4” (six loops).  If I am making plain bow loops, I will also make some that are slightly narrower for filling in.  Bows can be made in a variety of sizes.  In general, the diameter of the bow will be approximately the length of the longest strips, or just a little less (because the bow loops are not folded in half flat, they have a u-shaped curve at the end).  One rule of thumb I have seen is to take the width of the cake pan you are using, divide by 2 and add 1”, and that should be the length of the longest strips.  So the bow to top a 6” cake would use (6/2) + 1 = 4” strips (and graduated shorter lengths) – and this bow would be approximately 4” in diameter.
 
 
 

 

 
Hang each strip over the dowel on the drying rack and pinch the ends together, forming a bit of a point.  My dowels are 1” in diameter, and a 4” strip is about the shortest that will comfortably fit on it.  If I were making a bow with shorter strips than this, I would use a smaller diameter dowel.  Examine your loops from the side and adjust them if they are not symmetrical (i.e., they should have a nice rounded shape on both sides).
 
 
 

 

Here is a different style of drying rack that can be made very inexpensively – it is simply a cardboard box with notches cut to hold the dowels.
 
 
 

 

When using this style of drying rack, cut the number of strips that will fit across the dowel.  (If you need to roll out more than once, cover the strips that are ready with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.)  Lay the strips with the right side (embossed side) down, lay the dowel on top, and fold the strips in half and pinch the ends.  Then pick up the dowel by the ends and place it in your rack.
 
 
 

 

 

Cut two strips for the bow tails.  Cut a notch in the end of each.  Position them on a cake board covered with plastic wrap and use a little paper towel, if needed, to give them a little movement.  The part of the tail that will go under the bow should be flat.  The length of the tails depends on the look that you want, but for this bow, I made them about 3 Ό “.  The tails, when they are in place, do not need to reach all of the way to the center of the bow, just to where the inside end cannot be seen.
 
 
 

 

Allow the bow loops and bow tails to dry overnight.
 
 
 

 

Now you are ready to paint the bow loops with pearl dust.   On embossed bows, this brings out the design nicely.  Mix pearl dust with vodka to form a paint.  Add the vodka slowly to the pearl dust – if you use too little, the paint will be too thick; if you use too much, you will not have good coverage of your loops.
 
  
 

 

 

Paint the bow loops with the mixture and lay them on their sides on waxed paper to dry.  (Don’t forget to paint the inside of the loops too.)  Also paint the bow tails.  Allow these to dry until they are no longer tacky – overnight if you can, but at least for a few hours.
 
 
 

 

Now you are ready to assemble your bow.  Melt about 2 Tablespoons of candy melts (in the same color as your bow) and place in a parchment bag.
 
  

 

Roll out some of the leftover gumpaste and cut out a 2” circle to use for the base of the bow. 
 
 

 

Bows can be assembled inside a plastic container or directly on top of a cake cardboard.   The advantage of using a container is that it prevents the bow from spreading as you work, and also helps to hold the loops in place.  The disadvantage of using a container is that it is difficult or impossible to fill in gaps in the lower layers if you later decide that you need more loops there.  (You can add more loops, however, after the project dries and you remove it from the container.)  To start the assembly, line the container with plastic wrap.  The container should be just slightly larger than the diameter of your finished bow; there is no advantage to using the container unless the bow loops fit snugly.  Place the gumpaste circle on the bottom of the container.  Squeeze a small blob of candy melts in the center and begin adding your bottom layer of bow loops, starting with the longest ones.
 
 

 

Here is what it looks like if you are building the bow on a cake cardboard.
 

 

 

Arrange your bottom layer of loops in a star pattern, with the ends touching in the center.  For a slightly different look, you can also lay some of the bow loops on their sides.   It looks like more loops are needed on this level, but those will be added a little later as the bow takes shape. 
  

 

 

Roll a small ball of gumpaste (about 1” in diameter) and secure it in the center of the bow with a small amount of melted candy melts.
 
 

 

 

Now add another layer of loops, turning them at an angle to fit in the gaps.  Press the loops into the gumpaste ball, adding a little candy melt “glue” if needed to hold them securely.  Be careful that the bow does not spread as you are pushing down to get the ends of the loops into the gumpaste ball.  You can carefully push in on the bow loops from the outside if any of them have shifted.
 

 

Continue adding bow loops, gradually moving to the shorter ones.  Squeeze a dab of the melted candy melts on the end of each bow loop to secure it, if the bow loop cannot be held in place by the ball of gumpaste.  Usually after the second layer, each bow loop will need the candy melt “glue”.
  

 

Continue to build the bow, checking the shape from all sides as you go.  At this point, you can fill in gaps on the bottom layer – but leave room for the bow tails to be positioned later.
 
 

 

When you are satisfied with your bow, set it aside to allow the candy melts to harden.  I like to let mine set for a couple of hours, just to make sure it is solid.  The candy melts harden fairly quickly.  The gumpaste ball will not fully dry for a day or more, but after a couple of hours, the bow can usually be handled.  Note:  If you are not satisfied with the shape of your bow, you can disassemble it and start over.  It’s fairly easy to take it apart if the candy melts have not fully hardened.
 
 

 

 

If you have assembled your bow in a plastic container, put your hand over the top, turn it out into your hand, and then place it on a cake cardboard covered with plastic wrap.  If you assembled it on the cake cardboard, just check carefully for any loose bow loops.  (In this photo, one of the loops on the bottom layer is loose.)  Glue any loose loops in place with melted candy melts.  Also position the bow tails and glue them in place.
 

 
 

Allow the bow to sit until the candy melts have hardened, or until you are ready to use it on a cake.  (If you are in a hurry, you can put the bow on your cake and glue the bow tails in place there.)
 
 
 

Here is your completed bow!
 

Lisa taught how to make these at the September 2005 Bakersfield Retreat

Copy written ©2005
By Lisa Summerlin
 the author of the above work