Instructions

1. Add food coloring to the sugar paste and knead on a smooth work surface until the color is evenly distributed throughout the paste. You'll need only a few drops of food coloring to create pale flowers such as light pink roses, but you might need many drops for intensely colored flowers such as bright yellow daffodils.

2. Place your sugar paste on a smooth counter you've greased with a thin layer of solid vegetable shortening. Using your rolling pin, roll the paste out to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Pick up the sugar paste, give it a quarter turn, and roll it out again. Repeat two or three times until the gum paste is about 1/16th of an inch thick.

3. Using your sugar-paste flower cutter, cut as many flower shapes as you can fit into the rolled-out paste. Lay the flowers on a sheet of waxed paper and place them in a cool, dry place to dry. If you want flowers with a more three-dimensional shape, place each flower in a cupcake liner so the petals will dry in a curved position. If you want flowers with a fuller look, layer two or more flower shapes on top of each other at slightly different angles.

4. Decorate your flowers for a realistic look. For multicolored flowers, such as lilies, use a paintbrush and food coloring to paint spots or stripes on the petals. For flowers with colored centers, such as daisies, use food coloring to paint a dot in the center of the flower. You can also add just-for-fun decorations, such as edible pearl balls, to the flowers using edible glue.