A Spot Of Tea

Okay friends, here it is. My way of making a tea cup to hold a cupcake. You can also make these to decorate a cake. Before I start, I have to warn you, these beauties take time to make. It's like making them out of clay, you have to wait for them to dry before you can decorate them.

Here are the things you will need: Gumpaste (you can also do this with Fondant), Rolling pin, Cornstarch, Box cutter (or very sharp knife), Scissors, Gum glue, Edible paint and a tea cup.

Step 1:

Start with Gumpaste, dye it the color you want (using edible paint, I use AmeriColor) or leave it white. Work the Gumpaste until it's soft. Roll it out using your rolling pin on a surface that has been sprinkled with cornstarch. Dusting your rolling pan with cornstarch is also a good idea. If you are using Fondant, replace cornstarch with confectioner's sugar. Roll out Gumpaste until it's thin, like 3 mm or less. Cut a u shape similar to the image above.

Step 2:

Place gumpaste in a tea cup. Using gumpaste glue, glue the seams and start molding the gumpaste to snuggly fit the tea cup. You can use any cup you want.

Step 3:

Using a knife, cut off the excess gumpaste from the edge and smooth the edge a bit.

Step 4:

Then tug at the Gumpaste a bit to make sure it is not sticking to the cup. But leave it in there, it needs to dry. You will also notice that at the bottom the cup is not covered. No worries, we will fix that later. Set cup aside overnight or until dry.

Step 5:

Remove gumpaste and you will notice that there is a hole at the bottom.

Step 6:

Cut out a flat circle of gumpaste and with the gumpaste glue, glue on the circle to the bottom of the outside of the gumpaste tea cup.

Step 6:

Put the gumpaste tea cup back in the tea cup and using your fingers press down along the bottom to mold. Be careful not to press to hard or you will crack the gumpaste. You can also do this when the gumpaste tea cup is still a bit soft to avoid it cracking. Let it dry completely.

Step 7:

The handle is made by rolling out the Gumpaste to a long worm like shape. Cut the Gumpaste so you are left with about 3 inches. Curve the Gumpaste to look like and S, but reversed. Cut the part that will stick to the cup so it's straight. Let the handle dry overnight or until dry.

Step 8:

Glue on handle using gumpaste glue and let it dry completely. Then you are ready to paint your new tea cup! I use AmeriColor Edible paint. You can find it at www.CakeDeco.com

Step 9 (optional):

If you want to create a dish to go with the tea cup. Roll out more gumpaste and use a small dish to cut out a round circle using a knife. Mold inside the dish so that you get all the indentations. Leave the gumpaste there overnight or until dry. Then paint!