745.92 (Floral Arts)

The photo above represents what we learned in Wilton III this week - how to make gum paste carnations, roses, and calla lilies.  By far my favorite are carnations, although they're the most tedious to make. I'm not fond of the calla lily, so I didn't make more than one. I think that each of the flowers has a charm to them and that they make ordinary cupcakes something fantastic.

I've also been practicing with my camera and photo light box recently and I'm getting better at the photo taking. I really do love the way the gum paste carnations look - they seem so life like! I broke my veining tool making them, though. I'll need to buy a new one before class on Friday.

The cupcakes pictured are lemon cake with raspberry filling and a raspberry buttercream. I'm sure they'll be much appreciated at work tomorrow morning.

793.2 (Parties and entertainments)

I just hosted a bridal shower for my best friend and her future hubby, and with the help of my mother and the bride and groom's mothers, we turned a basement room of a local art museum into a cheery, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" themed shower space.

 I bought vases, beads, and tiny square mirrors at our local Dollar Tree to create 10 small centerpieces to decorate the tables using dyed daisies, carnations, and baby's breath.

I purchased "high quality" plastic silver ware and plates from Party City. I then baked and decorated sugar cookies, which I packaged in paper CD sleeves and tied with black and white bakers twine. Silver chargers (left over my my own wedding almost 3 years ago) were used to complete the place settings.

When we arrived at the museum, my moms (my actual mother and my "other mother", the bride's mother) discovered that the tables weren't the size we thought they were - we were expecting tables that sat 8 and these tables sat 6. We had to go out and buy some tablecloths last minute... and since Manitowoc (where we hosted the shower) doesn't have a Party City, we couldn't match the Tiffany's blue of the other tablecloths I purchased). It wasn't as pretty as I would have liked, but it worked.

And of course I made a cake and cupcakes for the party! How could I not!?! The cupcake tower is made out of aluminum covered soup cans and foam core board covered with craft paper and ribbon. It was cheap and easy and could hold almost 40 cupcakes.

The small orange and white cake had a blue ombre interior, which I didn't get a picture of before the cake was eaten and destroyed, and the cupcakes were chocolate with simple vanilla buttercream. I had a mixture of paper and foil liners on the cupcakes, as I was using the leftovers from other projects.

I made three floral "puffs" that I placed on chargers and mirrors at the center of the buffet table. They're a little hard to see in this photo (it's white against a white background) but they were very effective at making the buffet table look pretty. My black and white damask tablecloth that I usually use for summer picnics came in handy to cover the extra long buffet table.

All in all, it was a successful shower with delicious food and good company! One less activity to cross off my list before the wedding in June... now if only the table runners and bridesmaid clutches would sew themselves...

745.926 (Three-dimensional arrangements for special occasions)

My brother-in-law is a Marine and he and his lovely bride were supposed to be married this July, but being a part of the Corps, my brother-in-law found out that he'll likely be shipping out sometime in September. This meant that the wedding that was supposed to happen in July had to happen sooner... and the two of them went from having 5 months to plan to having 5 weeks to plan and I suddenly became a florist!

I figured I'd post pictures of the bouquets and centerpieces. The bride ordered the flowers from Costco and had them delivered to my door the Wednesday before the wedding. They arrived in boxes that looked like this:

I had to de-thorn and de-leaf all of the roses (300 stems) and make sure that they were placed in water. With so many different stems, they went in 5 gallon pails and coolers to get transported to the bride's parents' house to be made into bouquets. 

It was the coldest 4.5 hour car trip the hubs and I have EVER had. The flowers had to be kept cool in order to keep them fresh and in good shape for the wedding. Looking back now, we should have had all the stems delivered Thursday, but we weren't sure on the time it would take for the flowers to fully open.

An afternoon was spent making 3 bridesmaid bouquets, the bride's bouquet, and 6 small table centerpieces. We picked up baby's breath the morning of making the bouquets before all the ladies (myself included) went to have our nails done. The bride and I then hit up JoAnn Fabrics to pick up ribbon and bouquet 'bling'.

While I'm not a professional florist (a professional florist would probably give me shit about my bouquet making skills), the flowers looked great for the day of the wedding and met all of the bride's expectations! Whoot! Here are the pictures of the flowers the day of the wedding. The professional photographers captured them much better, but I'm just glad they held up for the day.

I know it's not cake, but enjoy!

Bride's Bouquet

Bouquet 'Bling'

Bridesmaid's Bouqets (black centered gerbs for maid of honor)

Bride and Groom (as seen through centerpiece)

Table Centerpieces

635.3 (Edible leaves, flowers, stems)

So this post might not be about actual edible flowers, but it is about flowers piped with frosting, which is edible.

Royal Icing "Primroses"

The types of flowers I make most often are those made out of royal icing. The beauty of royal icing is that, like a well preserved book, the icing flower will last forever if stored properly. Royal icing flowers harden up and since they are made of only water, meringue powder, and powdered sugar, if kept in an airtight container in a cool place, they will last for years.

Royal Icing Violets, Roses, Lilies, and Daffodils

One batch of royal icing will make dozens of flowers. My Wilton instructor suggests making more flowers than you need for your project and simply store the rest for "quick cakes", and I'm apt to agree. Having a container of pre-made flowers in the cupboard is nice when you have to suddenly decorate cupcakes or need a "special" piece for a cake.

The down-side to royal icing flowers (if there is one) is that they are a little "crunchy" if not placed on buttercream long enough for them to soften. I personally like the crunch of royal icing, but not everyone does. Many royal icing flowers can be make with a stiff buttercream icing as well.

Petal technique on cupcake in buttercream icing

Petals made with a LARGE petal tip and a slightly stiff buttercream can cover a cupcake, giving it a very feminine appearance. Large "Wilton" roses can be piped onto a cupcake using the same petal tip, as seen at center bottom below:

Petal technique on cupcakes, including a buttercream rose.

I use a Wilton tip# 125 to cover cupcakes with petals, and a Wilton tip# 104 for my more "normal" sized roses and petaled flowers.

Piped flowers are only one type of floral technique I use on cakes and cupcakes. More types of flowers to come soon... perhaps even an ode to my favorite "floral" technique, the simple and under appreciated rosette.