Wedding Cake Decorating
Using Edible Flowers
by Carol Reed-Jones
If you're baking your own
wedding cake (or a friend is
generously doing
it for you), and you don't
feel skilled at creating
ethereal frosting
ornamentation, don't
despair. Edible flowers can
make your cake look
special without the
investment in a cake
decorating course.
First of all, your cake
needs to be level. I speak
from experience.
The first wedding cake I
baked was delicious, but
each layer had a domed
top. Since the cake was so
much work to bake, there was
no way that I
was going to cut away any of
it to make the layers
level! I tried to
compensate by adding extra
frosting around the edges,
not realizing that
the rounded layers weren't
going to balance perfectly
on their centers.
Each two-layer tier leaned
in a different direction,
like a condemned
apartment building that had
just survived an earthquake.
Two ways to make your cake
layers level are: use
Magi-Cake Strips
(metallic fabric strips to
wrap around the outside of
the cake pans;
available at any cooking
store that sells cake baking
supplies); or wrap
the sides of each pan with a
strip of aluminum foil.
Here's how:
Fold a strip of aluminum
foil one and a half inches
wide, shiny side
out, and wrap it around the
side of the cake pan.
Secure it with a
straight pin (nail-type of
glass head only; plastic may
melt or give off
fumes). Do this with each
layer before baking it in
the oven. This
helps the layers bake evenly
so that they stack flat for
tiering.
When the cake is baked and
cooled, check to see how
level it is. If
individual layers are fairly
level, you can stack them
(with
frosting/filling in between)
with the tops together,
giving a very even
outer surface for the
frosting. Apply the
frosting evenly, smoothing
with a knife dipped in hot
water if the frosting
becomes too cool and
stiff to spread (can you
tell what the weather is
like here in the
summer?).
You've got a level,
symmetrical cake of two to
four tiers (see
Green Weddings or
 The
Cake Bible by Rose Levy
Berenbaum for instructions
on how to tier a cake). Now
it's time for your edible
flower decorations. Edible
flowers should only be used
if they are organically
grown, unsprayed, and were
not growing by a road. For
more information on edible
flowers, see Cathy Wilkinson
Barash's book, Edible
Flowers: From Garden to
Palate. Her book is
very carefully researched.
If she doesn't list it as
edible, don't eat it.
If you can't pick the
flowers the day of the
wedding, store them, except
for chicory, on plates in
your fridge with a bit of
water.
Chicory
These pale lavender-blue
daisy-like flowers have very
fragile petals,
and grow almost directly off
of the main stems. You can
pick entire
stems a day in advance if
needed, and store them in
water. Pick them
off the main stem carefully
just before placing on the
cake. They open
around noon. Spicy bitter
taste.
Lavender
Even if the lavender blooms
aren't opened, the
un-bloomed bud clusters
look like purple-blue braid,
making an attractive edging
or accent.
Perfumed taste.
Nasturtium
These come in all warm
colors from cream to
burgundy, the most common
being orange and yellow.
Peppery taste.
Oregano
Clusters of tiny pink
flowers clusters on burgundy
stems. Marjoram is
the same, only less pink.
Spicy taste.
Pansy has a wide range of
colors, from purple and
yellow; to pink, dark
rose and purple; to midnight
blue. Fragile petals, so
don't pick them
and dump them in a bag, or
they'll get crushed.
Semi-sweet taste.
Rose
Wide range of colors, mostly
in the warm spectrum; use
buds for a
traditional look, and watch
for aphids. Mildly sweet
taste. |
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The information contained here are questions that have
been previously answered by our consultants, our readers
have generously allowed us to post their questions to
help future readers. ForeverWed does not post
questions/answers without the permission of the authors
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