Here’s a lovely and sweet cupcake tower topped with a floral adorned cake that we created for a late spring wedding. A sumptuous and over-hanging bouquet of ivory roses and lilac fuchsia flowers were requested. We also whipped up a large batch of matching cupcakes in some pretty mouth-watering flavours; Mango & Passion Fruit, Red Velvet, Lemonade and Raspberry!
The cake itself was a lovely and moist vanilla sponge filled with delicious strawberry jam and iced with vanilla fondant. We then embossed an ivory fondant covered cake drum with a pretty lace mould, trimmed the board with grosgrain ribbon and once we placed the cake on top it was finished with royal icing polka dots, a royal icing pearl border and handmade sugar flowers!
The bouquet is made of 7 ivory roses, 9 fuchsia buds, 9 small fantasy berries, 9 fuchsia leaves, 8 rose leaves and 10 fuchsia flowers all made from scratch by our hard-working hands and from custom coloured gum paste!
To accompany the cake the wedding tower was completed with 100 cupcakes. We baked them all fresh and from scratch before filling the Lemonade cupcakes with home-made lemon curd and the Raspberry cupcakes with home-made raspberry confiture! For the Mango and Passion Fruit cupcakes we frosted them with a lovely two toned swirl; lilac for the passion fruit flavour and ivory for the mango flavour!
Instead of a bouquet of flowers for Mother’s Day (March 30th in the UK) why not give our recipe and tutorial a try and create a gorgeous floral collection of delectable cupcakes? We’ve created some ever so sweet daffodil and rose cupcakes for you to re-create at home! Perhaps the only thing better than a lovely bundle of flowers is a batch of floral decorated cupcakes?
How to create sugar daffodil flowers and roses…
To create an abundant bouquet feel we clustered a few daffodils together atop of each delicious cupcake! Instead you can mix roses and daffodils together or keep it simple with a single flower nestled into the buttercream of each cake.
Why not add adorable fondant ladybugs, caterpillars or butterflies nestled in between your sugar blossoms for a fun collection of garden themed cupcakes?
Step one: Using a Mexican flower foampad create a hat-like shape from yellow fondant / sugarpaste. To do this roll out a ball of fondant over the largest hole in your mexican flower foam pad. When you carefully tease this out you should be left with a flat rolled out fondant… but with a tapered or tube-like shape on one end.
Step two: On the completely flat side use the 6 point side of your tapered star tool to indent a 6 point star in the centre of the fondant. This will mark where each of your six petals will separate.
Step three: With the blade tool carefully cut the fondant with the cuts matching up to the points of the indentation made with your 6 point tapered star tool. These will become your petals.
Step four: Add detail by using the veining tool to draw lines on the petals. Shape, thin and ruffle each petal tip using your ball tool and flower foam pad. Then pinch the tip of each petal to create shape. Use a little edible glue to secure each pinched tip if needed. Set aside.
Step five: To create the ruffled centre roll out some darker yellow / orange fondant into a oblong shape. Thin and ruffle the edges using your ball tool and flower foam pad.
Step six: Loosely roll up the oblong shaped fondant and pinch one end. Cut some of the pinched of section if necessary. Take your taper star tool and indent the middle of the base of the ruffled section just made. Dab a little edible glue on the indentation inside the ruffled piece.
Step seven: Take some stamens, fold them and using a cocktail stick push them into the indentation inside the ruffled section.
Step eight: Add a little edible glue onto the middle of the petal section that had been set aside and attach the ruffled middle. Hold until set.
Step one: The night before you begin your roses you need to prepare your buds! Take a small amount of fondant / sugarpaste mixed with tylo powder and form into a ball then taper into a bud shape. Take a cocktail stick and add edible glue to one end. Push the edible glue covered end into the base of the cocktail stick (just past half way) and leave to harden overnight.
Step two: Roll out your fondant / sugarpaste thinly on a surface dusted with icing sugar. Using the largest rose petal cutter cut out a petal from the fondant. Using your ball tool and flower foam pad thin and ruffle out the edges of the petal.
Step three: Dab some edible glue onto the bud. Attach the petal with the tip of the petal over the top of the bud. Carefully wrap the petal around the bud forming a peak at the top and ensure your bud overlaps down one side.
Step four: Next cut two petals using a petal cutter a little longer than the bud. Thin and ruffle out the edges of the petal. Attach around the bud of your rose whilst carefully curving and shaping the edges of the two petals.
Step five: Now cut three petals using the same petal cutter used in step four. Using edible glue arrange these around your growing rose. Remember to overlap each petal slightly and place alternatively to the layer before. Carefully curve and shape the edges of the three petals.
Step six: Now cut five petals using a larger petal cutter than the one used in step four. Using edible glue arrange these around your growing rose. Remember to overlap each petal slightly and place alternatively to the layer before. Carefully curve and shape the edges of the five petals.
Step seven: For the rose leaf roll out some olive green fondant thinly and use a medium rose leaf plunger cutter to cut out a leaf.
After piping your cupcakes with buttercream nestle your blossoms atop each one and enjoy!
Sometimes you don’t need multi-petaled flowerpaste roses, delicate ruffled peonies or realistic hydrangeas to top floral themed cupcakes and cakes with. If you’re aiming for simple designs and convenience then these super quick and easy fondant roses will be perfect for creating flower adorned treats! They’re also small and sweet (no pun intended) enough to top cookies, mini cakes, whoopie pies and macarons with!
Step one: Cut open your filing pocket so that you can flip it open and shut easily. Using these pockets is a great tip we’ve picked up for flower making. They enable you to create thinner and smoother petal edges. Your petals are also least likely to stick to the clear material!
Step two: Roll and shape a little sugarpaste / fondant into a ‘slug’ shape. Place this inside your clear filing pocket.
Step three: With your sugarpaste / fondant inside your pocket use a fondant rolling pin to roll it out to around 2mm.
Step four: With your sugarpaste / fondant still inside the pocket press and rub along the long edges to get lovely smooth and thin edges.
Step five: Take your piece out from the pocket and lay on an icing sugar dusted surface. Gently begin to roll your sugarpaste / fondant. Pick which end you prefer as your better petal edge and pinch the end you don’t want to show. Your rose should taper slightly to the end.
Step six: To make your leaf shape a small amount into a rough diamond shape.
Step seven: Place this inside your clear filing pocket.
Step eight: Use your finger or thumb to press out and smooth down the edges of your leaf.
Step nine: Remove your leaf and set on a lightly icing sugar dusted surface. Shape the tip of your leaf by pinching the end with your fingers.
Step ten: Lightly scour a vein to your leaf with a veining tool.
Step eleven: Leave your leaf to dry on a curved surface for a more flowing look.
Now you should have a lovely simple rose and leaf to adorn your baked treats with!
Recently Cake Central set a cupcake challenge via their website to create a collection of cupcakes inspired by a select theme and colour palette; ‘Old Hollywood Glamour’ in particular. The palette consisted of beautiful soft creams, golds and champagnes, rose pinks and a rich plum hue which we loved the idea of working with. Alongside this colour scheme was the imagery of old Hollywood elegance; glimmering Elizabeth Taylor-like jewels, shimmering fabrics, florals and textile pleats and ruffles.
As we set to work creating our small 1930s Hollywood inspired cupcakes we thought this would be a great chance for us to show how we work on our more bespoke designs. The first thing we do is brew a lovely hot cup of tea and sit down to discuss any imagery, inspiration boards, colour ideas or even swatches we’ve been given. In this case, Cake Central created a lovely Pinterest board full of the key images to follow (see below) with a brief that called for ‘subtle glamour’. From this board/brief we settled upon taking elements of texture, look and design rather than interpreting the inspirational images literally. The elements we chose to work with incorporated not just the colours or champagne, vanilla cream, rose and plum, but the flavours also; glimmering golds and subtle pearlescent sheens, textile pleats and ruffles, rose elements and the grandeur of edible gold!
After establishing out key design and colour elements we quickly sketch out a number of ideas with notes and thoughts about what may or may not work. On paper a design is easy to imagine and create, but these need work and need to be reconsidered with your cake decorator ‘hat’ on as some ideas would not prove practical in buttercream, fondant, jam or cake layers! At this stage we eliminate and swap ideas over, however, these aren’t set in stone. Sometimes you need to think on your feet when it comes to the actual cake decorating stage.
One of the next stages is to develop our rough sketches into more inspired designs by sketching the final ideas out and adding colour using watercolours. This helps us see a more end result so we’re less dazzled and more prepared when it comes to decorating. It also helps us see how our colours are going to work together.
Once we’ve got all out preparation ideas, sketches and paintings done we gather together our materials and tools, bake our cakes (or in this case, cupcakes), whip up (literally) our buttercream, do a final test of flavours and we are ready to decorate! Any fondant, flowerpaste or buttercreams need to be coloured first and kept close to the final colour palette. Then we begin on the more time consuming tasks such as creating our flowerpaste ombré rose which needs to be worked fabric thin and is incredibly delicate and can take up to an hour to create!
When it comes to cupcakes once all are piped things begin to come together a lot more. It’s an exciting thing to see all of your hard work of prep begin to form into your end design. The wonderful thing about baking and decorating is that you see everything develop in stages from just a collection of ingredients. It’s the perfect career or hobby for anyone who is patient, loves piecing things together, and is both creative and practical.
Tutorial Tuesday: How to pipe a buttercream rose using a flower nail!
In this week’s tutorial we show you to pipe a buttercream rose using a flower nail! These buttercream roses are perfect on top of delicious cupcakes. They are also great decorations to place around the top of a home made cake.
Why not play with colour and add interesting looks to your roses. Fill your piping bag with two buttercream colours on each side for two tone roses. Paint a stripe of food colour along the inside of your bag in-line with the thin part of your petal tip to add colour to you flower’s edge. Use one piping bag per cupcake and layer tablespoons of different coloured buttercream inside the bag to make rainbow roses. Those are just a few ideas to add colour to your piped flowers.
This piping style can take a while to get right, but once you have the hang of this method it is really fun! We do, however, have a simpler buttercream rose tutorial for those who would like to create a quick, easy and lovely rose. Both types of piping will create eye catching roses that are perfect for both cupcakes and cakes!
Step one: You need to stick the small square of parchment paper to your flower nail by piping a tiny bit of buttercream atop the nail and setting the paper on top. By adding the parchment paper to pipe your rose onto you are making transferring the rose to a flat surface to set easier.
Step two: Pipe a centre to your rose. This should be a small cone like shape of buttercream. With practice try to pipe your rose bud centre with a ‘fold’ shape to it. The ‘fold’ makes a more natural rose bud shape to the centre of your flower.
Step three: To pipe your rose petals angle your tip slightly towards you. Also, keep the thick end of the petal tip on the bottom so the thin part forms the top (visible edge) of your petals. Pipe your petals in scallops around the centre. With each new rose pipe your petal or scallop from the last petal’s centre.
Step four: Pipe your rose’s petals to your desired size. Piping this type of rose takes a fair bit of patience and practice so keep trying and don’t be disheartened!
Step five: When you reach the final layer of petals angle the top (thin end) of your petal piping tip a little more towards you so that your final petals curve outwards. This makes your rose finish much neater and with a more natural finish.
Once your rose has set you can carefully move it from the parchment paper onto a cupcake (pipe a small bit of buttercream on top of your cake for it to stick) using a pair of small scissors.
Also, you can pipe this type of buttercream flower straight onto the top of your cupcake. Be aware that this can be tricky. TIP: If you do want to pipe straight onto your cupcake try using a turntable to turn your cupcake and sit with your cupcake at eye level for more control.
If you have followed this tutorial you will be left with a beautiful buttercream rose! If you need to decorate a batch of cupcakes or a cake why not make your roses in advance, leave them to set (you can even keep them in the freezer then thaw them at room temperature), and they’re ready to decorate you baked treats with.
If you give this tutorial a try we’d love to see your finished cakes and cupcakes!
Pink sugarpaste Cream or white sugarpaste Green sugarpaste A small or medium PME leaf plunger cutter A toothpick A rolling pin Some styrofoam Edible glue Some paintbrushes Ivory or White lustre dust or cake glitter A crinkle cookie or scone cutter (We recommend Tala's scalloped scone cutter set)
Step one: Cut open your filing pocket so that you can flip it open and shut easily. Using these pockets is a great tip we’ve picked up for flower making. They enable you to create thinner and smoother petal edges. Your petals are also least likely to stick to the clear material!
