A dry powder cubic gel precursor comprising an encapsulating compound, an amphiphile capable of forming a cubic liquid crystalline phase, and optionally a solvent. The encapsulating compound (A), amphiphile (B), and optional solvent (C) are present in mass fractions relative to each other such that 1.0=a+b+c wherein a is the mass fraction of A, b is the mass fraction of B, and c is the mass fraction of C. Further, 1.0a0, 1.0b0, 1.0c0 and a, b, and c do not fall within a cubic liquid crystalline phase region on a phase diagram representing phase behavior of A, B, and C.