A Gum Paste Umbrella

Ever since I bought that 4" hemisphere pan by Fat Daddio's to make the baseball cake, I've been wanting to find other things to do with it. Adapting instructions in Wilton's Tiered Cakes book for a much larger version, I made this little umbrella that would be perfect for a shower cake (or, if in black, a Gashlycrumb Tinies cake; yes, I'm planning ahead for Halloween). All you'll need is gum paste in whatever color you want, a 9" fondant roller with purple 1/8" rings, a gum paste storage board to roll the gum paste out on, a sharp knife, a 4" pan and a 4" hemisphere pan (you could adjust the size, of course), a #2 or #3 round tip on a piping bag filled with royal icing to pipe the spokes, a round cutter (like the medium one from the Wilton Round Cut-Outs set), a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch, a container of gum glue adhesive (a pinch of gum paste dissolved in a tablespoon of water), and a lollipop stick (or whatever size stick is appropriate for the size of umbrella you're making; you could use a wooden dowel wrapped in gum paste, for example). Start by dusting the back side of the storage board, and rolling out gum paste 1/8" thick:

 Move the gum paste to your counter or a cutting board, place the pan on it, and run a knife around the edge of the pan.

 Use the round cutter to cut away football-shaped pieces around the edge…

…until you've gone all the way around.

 Dust the outside of the hemisphere pan generously with the dusting pouch…

 …and drape the gum paste piece over it. Use your hand to conform it to the pan.

 Allow it to dry for a day or so. Larger umbrellas will take longer.

 Find the approximate center, and make a tiny mark; I used the end of a #2 piping tip.

 I piped the spokes with a #3 tip, starting from that mark…

…and radiating out to each point.

 To make some sort of ferrule for the center, I rolled a tiny ball of gum paste and flattened it slightly between my thumb and index finger. I piped a dot of royal icing on one side…

 …and placed it over the center where the spokes meet.

To attach the lollipop stick, I rolled a small ball of gum paste, dipped one end of the stick into gum glue adhesive…

…then stuck it into the ball of gum paste, which I flattened slightly. 

 I placed the hemisphere pan into the round pan…

 …and lined it with a paper towel to stabilize the umbrella, which I placed into it.

 I dipped the end of the flattened ball of gum paste into the gum glue adhesive…

 …and placed it in the center of the inverted umbrella.

Nothing more to do with it than let it dry overnight, and bake a cake to stick it on! Now to think of more things to do with this hemisphere pan…