We created this stunning golden four tier ranunculus wedding cake earlier this week. It’s adorned with a mix of handmade fantasy gold and white berries, pale elderberries, bramble berries and bramble leaves as well as violet, lavender, white & ‘picotee pink’ ranunculus flowers. A must for this cake was that it incorporated an autumnal theme. For this we took brighter and bolder colours (purple, dark pink and gold) popular in fashion for autumn/winter collections. We then teamed them with white, ivory and pops of fresh greens to keep them from being obvious autumn hues.
The largest tier was covered in individually cut ‘sequins’ of ochre coloured fondant before being hand painted in edible gold lustre paint (lustre dust mixed with a few drops of either lemon juice or vodka) a few times. Despite it taking a back-breaking 10+ hours to complete it’s such a fantastic technique that evokes a gorgeous luxury look to any cake!
The second largest tier at 12 inches in diameter was iced in ivory fondant before we added matching ornate ‘frames’ around the cake. We love how these mouldings as a beautiful antique feel to the cake.
The second smallest tier was dry painted with edible metallic gold and bronze paint to create a an extra element of texture as well as add more luxurious gold!
Each berry and flower was hand made from gumpaste / edible modelling paste. The ranunculus (also known as persian buttercups) blossoms and blackberries all took a full 2 days to make (not including leaving the gumpaste buds to set for 4 days before hand).
The darker pink edged ranunculus flowers were hand painted using a dry brush technique to add the lovely ‘streaks’ of deep fuchsia around and along each petal.
Finally, the top tier was covered in a mustard coloured fondant before we painted it with edible metallic gold paint. The use of mustards and gold tones help set off the purples and and dark pinks of the ranunculus blossoms; of course they incorporate a lovely touch of glamour to the wedding cake.
