These are the tips, tricks and techniques that have worked well for me in creating full and lush sugar flower arrangements. In the cake projects that follow we will be looking at specific types of arrangements, but these foundation lessons are a great place to start before you begin executing your first design.
Make sure you have all of the tools and supplies you will need to create your arrangements. There are a number of different solutions for placing sugar flowers in cakes, and it's also good to know the guidelines provided by your local industry regulations and laws.
Supplies include: straws (1), wooden skewers (2), small and large flower piks (3), wire cutters and pliers (4), floral tape (5) and toothpicks (6). You may also choose to add gloves to this list.
To use straws and flower piks, either position them in the cake first before adding flower stems, or insert your stems into them before placing in the cake. You may want to use a small amount of fondant or royal icing to secure the stems in the cavities. Small flowers can be taped to toothpicks, and larger flowers can be created on or taped to a wooden skewer. A longer skewer travels farther into a cake, providing counter-balance for a flower that is heavier or oversized.
Lay out all of your finished flowers, filler flowers, buds and leaves, grouping them by color. Seeing everything together can help with visualizing the mood or overall effect the flowers will have when they are mixed together in your design. It’s also great to see all of the pieces you have to work with so you can divide them accordingly. For smaller arrangements, you can also gather flowers and leaves together in your hands to see if you like certain colors or textures next to each other. I also suggest using photos of textiles and real flower arrangements as inspiration for both color palette and flower combinations, especially when you find some you really love!
Take time to consider the shapes of your focal flowers. Some flowers are round, some have a base that comes to a point, and some flowers are more flat and open. The shapes of the flowers will affect how they can be arranged together. Some flowers fit together well, while others may need to be slightly manipulated to nestle together more closely (for example, make a slight bend in the stems to make the flowers face away from each other). You may also be placing secondary and filler flowers next to a flower with an angled base, round shape, or underneath and around a more open, flat flower. As an example, cosmos flowers fit together well because of their v-shape, while ranunculus flowers are quite round but will fit together a bit better when slightly angled away from each other. The dahlia is usually a very flat and open flower, so if you want to use it with other flowers be sure to dry it in more of a v-shape.
You will also need to consider the shapes of the open spaces created when you put your focal flowers together, so you can decide what fillers might work best. There may be openings at the base of the flowers as well as at the top. Our essentials work perfectly to fill those gaps. The hydrangea flowers are created mostly in a v-shape so they can be nestled together closely in small groups to fill gaps between flowers. The little filler flowers have narrow tapered ends so they can fill tiny holes, and the all-purpose buds are little triangles that fit perfectly at the base of all of the flowers or even tucked under leaves.
1. Position and secure the focal flowers.
2. Place a small ball of fondant in the space between the focal flowers to insert the wires for the filler flowers and leaves. If desired, you can attach the fondant to the cake surface with a bit of water, sugar glue, royal icing or melted chocolate.
3. Fill the openings between the focal flowers with other small flowers, hydrangea flowers, all-purpose buds and leaves, sticking the wires into the ball of fondant. If a filler flower needs to face a certain direction to fill a gap, use tweezers to bend the wire.
4. Once the initial fillers and leaves are in place, begin filling the tiny holes with filler flowers and hydrangea buds. Continue to add filler flowers in layers to give the arrangement some depth and texture. Move on to the next opening and continue with the same process until all of the gaps are filled.
If you are not sure about the techniques, take some time to practice on a dummy cake. Sometimes new solutions will show themselves during a practice run.
You will need more flowers than you think you do! Make sure you have enough to fill the gaps and always make extras to allow for breakage.
Another way to fill a gap is to use a freshly-made filler flower that is pliable enough to be wriggled into an opening without breaking. With larger flowers, you may just need to make the outer layer or two of petals fresh in order for the flowers to fit together well.
Remember, sometimes less is more. A beautifully crafted statement flower with a few leaves may be the perfect finishing touch.
