Sugar paste (called sugar plate in most period cookbooks) is molded and colored to make subtleties and elaborate table decorations. It was used in period as a medium for modelling figures and buildings, for making faux (but usable) plates and goblets, and for making tonics that a person would be happy to consume.

A recipe in 1562 by Alexis of Piedmont needed gum dragant, a piece the size of a bean, steeped in rosewater, a walnut shell full of lemon juice and some egg white mixed with sugar in a mortar. Gum dragant (also called gum dragon in period) is most commonly called gum tragacanth today and it is usually bought in powdered form. The sugar/gum mixture is then kneaded on a powdered sugar covered surface until it's of the proper consistency to work with. I added sugar in the kneading until the mixture felt like a soft clay. In period, sugar paste was often colored and for my recipe I added food coloring to the rosewater and gum tragacanth mix.

Sugar paste/sugar plate made with gum tragacanth is completely edible.