Tutorial – sunflower

With summer just around the corner I thought it would be nice to try making a sunflower. I think they are as cheerful and summery as a flower can be! Before I began I looked at some pictures of sunflowers. They are quite similar to gerbera daisies, but they have larger centers and broader petals. So I decided to use the same cutter as for my gerberas, but cut the petals off so I had more room for the center, and made them a little broader. I also put together a little tutorial, hope you like it! 🙂

You’ll need:

• Aluminum foil
• Circle cutter, 4-5 cm across (or you can cut a circle by hand)
• Large daisy cutter (7 cm across)
• Small daisy cutter (4,5 cm across)
• Flower and leaf shaper
• Large ball tool
• Thin foam pad
• Brown and yellow gumpaste
• Sharp knife (exacto for example)
• Optional: yellow and black luster dust, sunflower center mould (I used one from Wilton)

1..  Start with making a shallow “bowl” out of aluminum foil. It doesn’t have to be perfectly even.

2.. Roll out yellow gumpaste to about 2 mm thickness, cut out a circle and place it in the center of the aluminum foil bowl

3.. Roll some more yellow gumpaste to 2 mm thickness and cut out two large daisies. Cut off the petals from the center, and place them in a zip lock bag or similar to prevent them from drying out.

4.. Take out one petal at a time and place it on the foam pad, flatten it in the center using the broad side of the flower/leaf shaper, carefully thin the edges using the ball tool and vein it using the other side of the flower/leaf shaper. Glue the petal to the circle using edible glue or water. Optional: brush the petals with some yellow luster dust after attaching them.

5.. Repeat step 4 until you have completed 2 rows of petals. Support the petals on the second row with some tissue paper. Note that the petals on the second row should not be placed closer to the center than those on the first row!

6.. Make the center by taking a piece of brown gumpaste and press it into the mould. If you don’t have a mould; just roll a ball, flatten it and press it to a sieve to get a pattern on it.

7.. Roll out brown gumpaste to about 1 mm thickness. Cut out one small daisy, flatten each petal slightly and cut each petal into three using a sharp knife. Attach the flower to the brown center using edible glue or water. Arrange the petals so it looks even.

 

8.. Repeat step 7 with two more flowers.

9.. Optional: Carefully brush the center with some black luster dust. If you dilute it with cornstarch it is easier to apply, since there is not as much color on the brush.

10.. Glue the center to the rest of the flower and leave to dry.

That’s it! Hope you enjoyed the tutorial and you will give it a go! 🙂

Good luck!

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