Using Cake Decorating Tools to make Porcelain Flowers

Cake decorating tools work well for porcelain flower forming and intricate detailing. The petal and leaf cutters for gumpaste save a lot of time in cutting out parts.  Here’s my best trick. Roll out a thin slab of porcelain on SlabMat (another post on SlabMat coming soon) and place a thin piece of something plastic & strechy, like rubber exercise bands (I like the green and blue thicknesses) or even saran wrap or dry cleaner plastic, over the porcelain and cut through it with a cutter.  Not only does this keep the clay from sticking to the cutter but it softens the edges for a more natural look and saves a lot of clean up time.  One thing that I don’t like to see in ceramic flower making is clunky, straight cut edges on petals & leaves. I also pinch/flatten them a bit more with my fingers while shaping the parts. A nice thing about porcelain is that you don’t have to air dry the parts during construction like gum paste, as they hold their shape.  The opposite is true.  You need to maintain a level of moisture to prevent cracking.

Here’s my second trick: Cornstarch. I keep a container with a very soft brush of cornstarch on my porcelain handbuilding table. Brush any tool,  cutter, plunger, or silicon press mold with cornstarch to prevent sticking.

Below are some pictures of tools that I have.  Many are by Wilton and available in the cake decorating departments of Walmart, Michael’s, & Hobby Lobby.  For more intricate and a bigger variety of cutters search sugar art suppliers online. A favorite of mine is GlobalSugarArt.com.