Baking a special cake for a special someone on a special occasion? You may wish to do something extra-special with the cake decoration that goes beyond the usual icing. Find some inspiration in this video by BakingMad where Juliet Sear demonstrates how you can make roses from sugar paste. If you would like to make your own, the recipe below by Travis Bennett will make you over a kilogram of sugar paste:

Ingredients:

• 900 grams of pure icing sugar
• 125ml of glucose syrup 
• A tablespoon of gelatin
• A tablespoon of glycerin
• A tablespoon of cold water (you may need to add 1-2 tablespoons of cold water at the end to get right consistency)

Method:

1. Put the gelatin in a bowl with the water, and leave the mixture for 3-5 minutes to soften.
2. Heat the gelatin mixture for 30 seconds on the medium setting in the microwave. Check if all the gelatin has dissolved, if not put it back in the microwave for a second time after stirring.
3. Place the bowl over a saucepan with hot water, stirring continuously until the gelatin has dissolved. Do not boil.
4. Pour the glucose syrup and the glycerin into the gelatin mix, and combine it with either an electric blender or a spoon until it is thoroughly mixed.
5. Use a sieve to get out any lumps in your icing sugar, running all of it through into a large mixing bowl.
6. Allow the heated mixture of glucose that you just prepared to cool, and then it can be added to the icing sugar.
7. Slowly pour the glucose mixture on top of all of the icing sugar, stirring continuously to ensure its mixed through. You may need to add a tablespoon or two of water to get the consistency perfect.

After the mix forms into a rough ball, it will be too thick to stir. Dust your bench with icing sugar, and knead the mix by hand on your bench. It may take some time until you have it smooth and consistent, and you might even need to add additional icing sugar if the mix is too sticky.

If you want to add any colors this is the time to do it, but never use normal food coloring. They make the sugar paste too sticky to work with properly, so always buy the correct products from a cake making supplier. You can find them at a local store or online very easily.

Once it’s smooth the sugar paste is ready to use.