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Hi did I see somewhere on here that you add cmc powder to sugarpaste if its too soft? I havea batch of Renshaws covering paste that is really soft. I have coloured it and attempted to put it on a small cake 4 inches deep and it cracked immediately it went on and broke. I wondered if you do add cmc how much you add. Thanks

Hi JustJennys Cakes

I expect you’ve already found some info, if you haven’t start with half a teaspoon of CMC or tylose to 500g of sugar paste to firm the paste up. If it’s still too soft add a little more but not too much. You don’t want to end up with gum paste. I have posted this on the site some where but can’t find it, but you can hear Paul say it’s fine to do it in the new handbag and dog tutorial. Hope it goes ok. x

Here it is http://www.cakeflix.com/questions/birdcage-cake x

Thank you miwl. I added the cmc but im afraid it still cracked badly so ended up making smaller depth cakes to cover today in plain white no colour, just a bit of cmc. It still cracked around the edges but not as bad but on one of the cakes the icing thinned too much on the edge while I was trying to stop the cracking. Because im so short of time now im just going to disguise it and hope for the best. The sugarpaste I bought is like thick chewing gum. So ill let Renshaws know and see if I get an answer.

I’m afraid quite a few people have been complaining about the Renshaw’s paste as you can see here

renshaws sugarpaste

and here http://www.cakeflix.com/questions/renshaw-sugarpaste
There are some similar comments through the site. If you want to read them just type in the search box ‘sugarpaste’ and click on the relevant comments.
I’m so sorry you couldn’t rescue the paste. I know from last year’s bitter experience the stress Renshaw’s paste caused me. I’ve stopped using it completely now. Good idea to let them know, if enough people complain perhaps they’ll finally look into why this is happening. x