Gray's Farms: Get Spooky With Gum Paste Jack-o'-Lanterns

Add some spooktacular pizzazz to cupcakes with little Jack-o'-Latterns. They're 100% edible, cute, and a tiny bit scary. These little guys are festively adorable!

For the dye, I found this Halloween themed food coloring at WalMart; but, I'm sure you can find this at other stores in your area. Or simply buy black and orange food coloring!

This project also requires gum paste. You can find it at WalMart, Joann's, or Michaels. If you're getting it from the latter two, be sure to bring your coupons!

Step One:

You'll need:

Gum Paste
Orange Food Dye
Fondant Roller or Rolling Pin
Small Pumpkin Cookie Cutter
Container to store cut outs in
Powder sugar and corn starch combined for dusting

IMPORTANT: Gum paste easily dries up when exposed to air. Be sure to cover unused gum paste in plastic wrap or place in Ziploc bag.

Pull out a chunk of gum paste, about the size of a golf ball.

Place orange dye on ball and roll until completely mixed in. Add more orange until it is the color you want.

Get out a roller. I use this 9 inch fondant roller from Wilton, it is small and easy to handle. It also has rings on it so you can consistently get the correct thickness. I use the purple rings for this project. But a rolling pin will work just fine.

Side note: If the gum paste is too sticky, lightly dust the powder sugar and corn starch mixture onto it.

Roll out gum paste, about 1/8 inch thick.

Take pumpkin cookie cutter and cut out as many pumpkins as you wish.

Set aside and let dry over night in an open container.

Step Two:
After the gum paste has hardened, now we can apply the faces! You can either purchase pre-made black frosting, or make your own!

You'll need:

Frosting
Round Icing Tip, Size 2
Icing Bags
Black Dye
Water

First, you will need icing. I used White Decorator Icing, which can be found at WalMart, Joann's, or Michaels.

To thin out the icing, simply add a teaspoon of water at a time until you achieve the correct consistency. To test the thickness of icing, place a spoon in the bowl and see if the frosting is able to hold up the spoon. If not, then it is the perfect thinness. If you accidentally add too much water, its ok! Add a little powder sugar to fix the problem.

Before water:

After water:

The icing will not be able to hold the weight of the spoon.

When soft, add black dye. This took a lot of coloring, and it kept photographing purple!

When you get your desired color, fill an icing bag while the tip is already in the bag. Do a test run on to make sure everything is working properly.

Wipe off tip, place a pumpkin on counter and make a triangle for an eye. Fill in triangle, then repeat. Make a mouth, and voila! You have a Jack-o'-Lattern.