Common Gum Paste
Ingredients
Directions
Make the paste
Combine sugar and powdered starch in a clean mortar.
Pound the mixture until it forms a smooth paste.
Test the paste by pulling; when it breaks, it is ready.
Store
Store the paste in a pot covered with a wet cloth.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Very fine sugar
- Provides sweetness and the bulk of the paste that pounding binds together.
- Powdered starch
- Adds body and helps the paste hold its shape when pounded and dried.
The step that matters
Pounding until smooth. Pounding must be thorough so the sugar and starch combine evenly; uneven mixing leaves a crumbly paste that breaks instead of pulling into a workable, pliable mass.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.