Gum Paste
1 ounce, or a little more of gum tragacanth (gum dragon). 8 ounces of finest powdered sugar. 8 ounces of corn starch.
The gum must be soaked 12 hours or more before it is used. Put it in a cup with half a cup of water, cover to keep out dust and set it on a warm shelf. When dissolved squeeze it through a clean towel by twisting with considerable force. Scrape up the gum, place it on a dish, add the sugar a little at a time and work them together with a paddle or wooden spoon. Add a drop of liquid blue to whiten it. When the sugar is all in begin adding the starch the same way. Pull out the paste as it becomes stiff and double and pull again, and when all the starch has been worked in the paste is ready for use. It may be pressed into shallow molds of fancy figure, made in plaster of paris, or in carved boards and left in them till dry and hard.