I currently run a cookie manufacturing company, but for many years I was a very well known Cake Artist in Maryland, and gained national notoriety after I was chosen as one of the top Pastry Chefs in the USA and also chosen as one of Baltimore’s Best cake designers back in the 90’s.
One of the questions I am most often asked by people is how to make a sugar flower. So today, I am doing a post for my dear friend Darlene who is attending culinary school and wants to get a few tips on perfecting her style.
Before I begin, just let me tell you that there are many mediums in which to work like fondant, pastillage (pronounced pas-ti-yaj), pulled sugar and also chocolate plastique which can be made with either white or dark chocolate.
When I approach a particular design, especially when it involves re-creating something in nature, I always try to recreate the natural beauty with all of its inherent imperfections. One of the mistakes many people do when they make sugar flowers is that they use leaf cutters and molds to make everything uniform in size and perfect. I know this sounds terrible but when I decide to re-create a flower that I have never made before, I take the whole thing apart and look at how it has been constructed…and I can honestly say that each petal and each leaf has its own unique beauty because of the imperfections that nature has placed with each one.
There are a few things to remember…all flowers have an odd number of petals and leaves, and I have found that for a full flower, you will need either 9 or 11 petals and 3 leaves. When I make a rose, I don’t use cutters…each petal and leaf is different and I believe this lends to the overall beauty of the end result.
For this you will need some fondant in 2 colors of your choice, a few tablespoons of cornstarch (some people use powdered sugar but I find this makes it even stickier), a dough scraper, a spoon, a little water and a toothpick.
So here you go Darlene, this one is for you…
Next make the leaves…
Now to make the buds…
Lastly, assemble them all together…
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