Gumpaste Lilies with Martellato Plunger Cutters | Quick Sugar Flowers
Chef Alan TetreaultIn this tutorial: What You'll Need · Cutting and Veining the Petals · Assembling the Large Lily · Assembling the Medium Lily · Making the Stamen and Pistil Centers · Dusting and Finishing · Inserting the Centers · Making Lily Leaves
The classic longiflorum lily – better known as the Easter lily – is one of the most elegant sugar flowers a decorator can master. In this detailed tutorial, Chef Alan Tetreault walks through every step of creating gumpaste lilies in three sizes using the Martellato plunger cutter set. These non-wired flowers are perfect for Easter cakes, baptisms, First Communions, confirmations, weddings, and any celebration that calls for a timeless floral centerpiece.
What You'll Need
- Martellato Lily Plunger Cutter Set – includes four sizes of lily cutters
- Martellato Lily Former – hard plastic former with pre-formed ridges for realistic petal shaping
- Cel Formers by Cel Cakes – the Cel Formers 2 set works well for medium and small lilies (three-lobed formers that create alternating high and low petals)
- Gumpaste – white for petals, pale green for pistil and center ball
- Corn Husk Veiner – for adding realistic veining to each petal
- Cel Pad (foam pad) – soft side, used as a work surface for veining and frilling
- Ball Tool or Cel Stick – for frilling petal edges and pressing petals into formers
- Rolling Pin or Pasta Machine – roll gumpaste thin (about a #6 setting on an Atlas pasta machine)
- Cornstarch – for dusting your board to prevent sticking
- Water Brush or Paint Brush – for adhering petals together
- Floral Wire – 24 or 26 gauge, white or green; plus 1/3 or 1/4 width floral tape
- Large Oval Yellow Stamen – six per large lily (one per petal)
- Small Hammerhead Dull Yellow Stamen – for smaller lilies
- Petal Dust – deep yellow, green, and lime green
- Super Pearl Dust – for finishing the outside of the petals
- Wire Cutters or Pliers – for trimming wire to length
- Tweezers – helpful for inserting centers into smaller lilies
Cutting and Veining the Petals
Each lily requires six petals. Chef Alan rolls the gumpaste quite thin – about a #6 setting on a pasta machine – and dusts the board with cornstarch to prevent sticking.
- Press the Martellato plunger cutter firmly around the edges of the paste, then push the plunger down in the center. This creates a light center line down each petal.
- Pop the petal out and place it on the soft side of a Cel Pad.
- Lay the corn husk veiner over the petal and roll in one direction – bottom to top – to imprint realistic vein lines.
- Frill the edges using a ball tool or the end of a Cel Stick, working half on the paste and half off the edge. Lily petals are naturally frilly, so don't be shy – some of that movement will flatten when the petal is placed in the former.
- Repeat until you have six veined and frilled petals.
💡 Tip: Make the petals quite frilly. You will lose some of the ruffled movement when pressing petals into the former, so starting with extra frill gives a more realistic result.
Assembling the Large Lily
The Martellato former has six peaks and six valleys. Using the peaks produces a lily with petals at alternating heights; using the valleys creates a more open, relaxed lily. Chef Alan demonstrates the peak method here.
- Brush a small amount of water on the base of three petals and overlap them slightly in a triangle shape – it will look like a trillium.
- Dust the former lightly with cornstarch to prevent sticking.
- Lift the three-petal unit and place it in the center of the former, positioning each petal on a peak.
- Use a ball tool or Cel Stick to press the petals flat against the bottom of the former.
- For the second set of three petals, apply water to the bottom of the former and up the sides a little.
⚠️ Do not apply water to the top of the first set of petals – only to the bottom and partway up the sides. If only the bottom sticks together, the lily will break easily when removed from the former. Bringing the water up the sides ensures a strong bond.
- Position the second set of three petals opposite the first set (staggered between the first three).
- Press down in the center with a ball tool or Cel Stick, then work around the base to ensure all six petals are firmly adhered.
- Arrange the petals to look natural and allow the lily to dry completely in the former.
Assembling the Medium Lily
For medium and small lilies, Chef Alan uses the Cel Formers, which have three lobes instead of six. This means three petals sit lower and three sit higher – producing a very natural look.
- Place the first set of three petals in the valleys (the lower positions) so they will sit beneath the second layer.
- Apply water to the bottom and up the sides of the former, then position the second set of three petals on the peaks, opposite the first three.
- Press everything together at the base and let it dry.
💡 Tip: The smallest lily is made the exact same way as the medium, just using the smallest cutter and the smallest Cel Former. The Martellato set includes four cutter sizes, so you can create four different sizes of lilies for variety on a single cake.
Making the Stamen and Pistil Centers
Chef Alan demonstrates two approaches – a handmade center for large lilies and a pre-made stamen assembly for smaller ones.
↪ Large Lily Center
- Take a 3-inch piece of 24 or 26 gauge wire, white or green.
- Wet the tip of the wire, then attach a small piece of pale green gumpaste.
- Twirl and roll the paste with your fingers until it coats the wire evenly, drawing it down a couple of inches.
- Push a small amount of paste up over the top of the wire and press it flat – think of the shape of a cotton swab or nail head.
- Use a small tool to press three notches into the top, dividing it into three small lobes. This is the pistil.
- Bend the pistil slightly – it naturally sits at an angle rather than straight up.
- Dust the stamen heads with deep yellow petal dust and the pistil with green petal dust to match the flower's interior.
- Arrange six large oval yellow stamen around the pistil wire, with the pistil sitting slightly higher than the stamen.
- Tape the bundle together at the base with floral tape, wrapping downward only.
↪ Small Lily Center
- Cut the small hammerhead dull yellow stamen in half so you have heads on only one end.
- Dust the stamen heads with deep yellow petal dust.
- Take one large stamen, dust it green for the pistil, and place it in the center – slightly taller than the surrounding stamen.
- Tape the bundle together with floral tape.
💡 Tip: In the lily family, there is one stamen for every petal – so you need six stamen per flower. The pistil always sits a bit higher than the surrounding stamen.
Dusting and Finishing
Once the lilies are fully dried in their formers, it is time to add color. Leave the flowers in the formers while dusting to minimize handling.
- Outside: Brush Super Pearl Dust over the outside of all petals for a soft, pearlized finish.
- Inside throat: Using the same green petal dust used on the pistil, dust the inside of the flower about an inch up from the base. Keep it light – a subtle green, not dark.
💡 Tip: If you are making many lilies, place a plate underneath the former to catch excess pearl dust for reuse.
Inserting the Centers
- Roll a small ball of green gumpaste (about 1/2 inch for the large lily, smaller for the others).
- Wet the bottom of the ball with water and press it into the center of the dried lily using a ball tool or Cel Stick.
- Measure the stamen/pistil assembly against the lily and trim the wire to the correct length with pliers.
- Insert the wire into the gumpaste ball in the center of the flower.
- Gently lift the finished lily out of the former – it is ready to place on a cake.
⚠️ The stamen and wire are not edible. These lilies are considered non-wired flowers (the wire is only in the center assembly), which means they can be placed directly on a cake without a full wired armature – but the center components should be removed before serving.
💡 Tip: For smaller lilies, use tweezers to insert the center assembly rather than your fingers to avoid breaking the delicate petals.
Making Lily Leaves
Lily leaves can be made with the same Martellato cutters used for the petals – no additional tools needed.
- Cut a leaf shape from green gumpaste, but do not press the plunger down in the center (skip the center line).
- Vein the leaf with the corn husk veiner, the same way as the petals.
- Thin the edges with a ball tool.
- Lay the leaves on crumpled foil so they dry in varied, natural shapes.
- Dust with lime green petal dust down the center and a mossy green or light rose on the outer edges.
💡 Tip: Real lily leaves typically have a streak of lime green running down the center. Mimicking this detail adds an authentic finishing touch.
This tutorial is part of Global Sugar Art's library of free cake decorating videos by Chef Alan Tetreault. Browse all tutorials →
