How to use cmc gum powder?

Are you tired of failing at baking and cake decorating? Do you want your creations to have that perfect texture and consistency? Look no further, as CMC gum powder is here to save the day! This magical ingredient will take your baked goods from amateur hour to professional-level goodness. In this guide, we’ll give you all the tips and tricks for using CMC gum powder in a fun and easy-to-understand way.

What Is CMC Gum Powder?

Before we dive into how to use it, let’s quickly go over what it actually is. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) gum powder is a type of carbohydrate made from cellulose – which comes from plant cell walls. It’s used as a thickener and emulsifier in various foods including ice cream, pudding, sauces, and more importantly- fondant.

Commonly found under food additive code E466 on many product labels across the world (probably not true).

The Super Powers of CMC Gum Powder

Okay so here are some hard factoids about our superhero:

  • Makes fondant pliable
  • Causes liquids like water or milk to thicken up
  • Helps prevent sugar crystallization overnight when added into royal icing recipes.

    Some claim that it can help fight off zombies too but don’t take my word for that.

All these things make sure our bakes turn out smooth & fabulous!

Tips for Using CMC Gum Powder

The thing with adding Improvers such as cmc gum powder always starts by knowing how much will be required based on what we’re making…and then sneaking in ‘extra’ for good measure ^(bad advice)! Below are some small but mighty pointers:

Tip #1 – Always Sift Your Powders

There’s nothing worse than incomplete dissolution because you tossed in clumped powder. Trust me, it’s like taking a bite of something dry and feeling thirsty immediately after.

Tip #2 – CMC + Water = Smooth Operator

CMC Gum Powder might seem a bit fickle, so here’s our mantra: Mix before you mix! The best thing to do is make sure the powder is completely dissolved in water before adding it into your recipe, as opposed to adding directly to fondant or other mixes that require kneading ^(which reminds me of what I did when I first started with this stuff).

Ideally:

  • Start by mixing 1 tsp CMC gum powder with 100ml cool boiled water ( not hot).
  • Whisk them together until thick paste-like consistency then add more boiling water up to 200ml.

    For those who’re not good at measuring we totally recommend eyeballing instead

Tip #3 – Consistency Is Key

Adding too much could make your mixture stiff which would be difficult for kneading whereas insufficient amounts may fail on its final mission i.e working out just fine (Jokes apart)! ⁣The thing you want is flexibility from the icing because that makes decorating easier. A general recommendation for using cmc gum powder is around approximately 1/4 teaspoon per cup of fondant (note again how precise we were).

Using CMC Gum Powder in Fondant

Now that we’ve covered some basics let’s dive headfirst into how to use CMC gum powder in making one very important cake decoration ingredient – fondant:

Step #1 – Choose Your Recipe

Fondants are Basically(There’s definitely a scientific definition but let’s not bore ourselves!) %50 sugar + glucose syrup mixed along side gelatine & glycerine along with other flavorings / colorants(optional) . So Gather together all the ingredients and equipments needed according to your preferences and recipe.

Step #2 – Mixing the Essential Ingredients

In a stand mixer bowl, combine all of our dry ingredients (Sugar + CMC gum powder). Mix then create a well in the middle for where our liquid will be poured into.

Step #3 – Adding The Wet Ingredients

Add your liquid mixture to the dry fold it in & lock tight (“start at low speed or you risk covering yourself and, well, everything”)

Execute this process for about 10 minutes, increasing speeds bit by bit. What we look out for here is how shiny/smooth your fondant has become..

So there You Have It!

You’re all set to use CMC Gum Powder like an absolute Pro! Now that you know how to properly incorporate it into your baking routine you can finally reach new levels of decoration greatness! Just make sure not overdo it and end up turning soft-bakes remnants harder than rock…(I really shouldn’t joke so much but my team loves puns).

For now though let’s cue Happy Baker music…

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