Here’s an inside peek at how I make gumpaste.
If you’re thinking about taking a class with Nicholas Lodge, I highly recommend it! He’s amazing and they always serve a super tasty lunch. Here’s Nick’s recipe for gumpaste:
4 Large Egg Whites
1 2 lb. bag 10x powdered sugar
12 Level teaspoons Tylose
4 Teaspoons shortening (Crisco)
1. Place the egg whites in a Kitchen Aid mixer bowl fitted with the flat paddle.
2. Turn the mixer on high speed for 10 seconds to break up the egg whites.
3. Reserve 1 cup of the powdered sugar and set aside.
4. Turn the mixer to the lowest speed and slowly add the remaining sugar. This will make a soft consistency royal icing.
5. Turn up the speed to setting 3 or 4 for about 2 minutes. During this time, measure off the Tylose into a small container.
6. Make sure the mixture is at the soft peak stage. It should look shiny, like meringue, and the peaks fall over. (If coloring the entire batch, add the paste color at this stage, making it a shade darker than the desired color.)
7. Turn the mixer to the slow setting and sprinkle the tylose in over a five to ten second time period. Next, turn the speed up to the high setting for a few seconds. This will thicken the mixture.
8. Scrape the mixture out of the bowl onto a work surface that has been sprinkled with some of the reserved 1 cup of powdered sugar. Place the shortening on your hands and knead the paste, adding enough of the reserved powdered sugar to form a soft but not sticky dough. You can check by pinching with your fingers and they should come away clean. Place the finished paste in a zip-top bag, then place the bagged paste in a second bag and seal well.
9. Place in the refrigerator for 24 hours if possible before using to mature the paste.
10. Before use, remove from refrigerator and allow the paste to come to room temperature. Take a small amount of shortening on the end of your finger and knead this into the paste. If you are coloring the paste, add the paste color at this stage.
11. Always store the paste in the zip-top bags and return to the refrigerator when you are not using the paste. It will keep under refrigeration for approximately 6 months. You can keep the paste longer by freezing. Be sure to use zip-top freezer bags. If you will be freezing a batch of paste, allow it to mature for 24 hours in the refrigerator first before placing into the freezer.
Yeild approximately 2 pounds of gumpaste.
I enjoyed your 30 days series.
Since the gum paste has egg whites in it, do I need to be concerned with spoilage? How long (hours, days…) can I leave it at room temperature? Thanks!
Thanks, Dave!
When the pieces have dried, they’re rock-hard. The dried pieces will keep for a long time, as long as they don’t get dusty. Typically, I wrap mine in tissue paper and store them in boxes. The unused paste does need to be stored in the refrigerator when you’re not using it. My general time line is this: pull the paste out the night before I want to use it (needs to be at room temperature), make pieces the next day, refrigerate what I didn’t use. If your unused portion goes bad in the refrigerator, you’ll know, because you won’t be able to do anything with it.