General Directions for Making Gum Paste
Ingredients
Directions
Dissolve the gum
Clean the Gum Dragon by scraping off any dust or dirt.
Wash the Gum in water.
Place the Gum in a clean pot.
Pour enough fresh water to cover the Gum by about 1 inch.
Stir frequently to assist in dissolving for about 24 hours.
Once dissolved, squeeze the mixture through a coarse cloth.
Make the paste
In a mortar, gradually add the sifted sugar to the Gum.
Work with a pestle until a smooth, white paste forms.
Store
Transfer the paste to a covered earthenware pot.
Cover the pot with a damp cloth.
Place the lid on top.
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
- White gum dragon
- Forms the firm, elastic body of the paste as it dissolves and sets.
- Treble-refined loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness and bulk, stiffening the paste into a workable dough.
The step that matters
Stirring the gum while it dissolves. Gum Dragon dissolves slowly and unevenly without regular stirring, so lumps can remain. Leftover undissolved gum makes the paste grainy and weak, so the mixture should be stirred often over the full soaking period.
“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.