Making Gumpaste Baby Shoes

I had never used a paper cake decorating template from the internet before but when I saw this one for life-sized little girls' Mary Jane style shoes on the brilliant Cake Central site I knew I had to try it out for a special Christening cake I was making.

 I already have the Jem bootees cutter which gives a pretty good result but I think these take cuteness to a new level. The template is available here

The base - this was cut out with a craft knife and left to harden slightly whilst the other pieces were cut. It is then flipped over to make the other shoe. 

The other segments must be kept covered though as I have discovered to my detriment that gum-paste hardens - fast!

The various pieces were fixed together with edible glue but most of the work went into ensuring there was a solid join and that the edges were tucked and curved under the sole and not too 'blunt'. 

I then used a stitching wheel to create a criss-cross effect.

A little white button finished them off.

 All in all I was really happy with the results and chose to use these on the cake over the Jem bootees I had also made. Here they are on the cake - daisies for a little Daisy.

Follow @AnniesAppetite