Sugar Flowers Carnation

Sugar flowers make a wonderful finish for any celebration cake.

One of the easiest of wired sugar flowers is the carnation; in fact you don’t even need special equipment, as you can create these pretty sugar flowers with a bottle cap and a cocktail stick!

Here are simple instructions on how to make carnation sugar flowers.

1. Wire stem.

To form the stem, cut a 26 gauge florists wire into 3 equal lengths, and then make a small hook in one end of the wire. Bind the hook with a small strip of florists tape, this forms the centre of the sugar flowers and prevents the petals from falling off.

Colour some petal paste, sugar flower carnations look best when worked in pale colours, the pale sugar flowers can be dusted to a darker shade.

2.  First frilled petal.

Roll out some coloured petal paste, not too thinly so that the paste will frill.

Use a sugar flowers carnation cutter, or a metal bottle top to cut out the circle shape.

With a sharp knife, make small cuts all around the edge at regular intervals.

3. To frill.

Roll a cocktail stick around the edge of the paste, move the stick gently back and forth, turning the paste whilst you work.

4. Assembling.

Paint one half of the frilled petal with egg white, thread the wire through the centre and fold in half to create a fan shape.

Brush a little egg white on the right hand third of the sugar flower and fold over.

Turn and repeat this on the other side, forming an”S” shape, gently moulding the paste onto the wire.

5. 2^nd and 3^rd petals.

Cut and frill two more sugar flower petals, paint the centre with a little egg white.

Thread one of the petals onto the wire; turn the sugar flower upside down so the petal falls in a natural shape. Repeat with the other petal, mould it onto the wire, hang the completed sugar flowers upside down to dry.

6. Calyx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the calyx, make a small cone from bluish green sugar paste.

Cut the 5 petal shape for the calyx using a blossom cutter, or shape using a pair of fine scissors.

Soften the cut edges, hollow out the cone of the calyx, paint inside with egg white.

Thread the wire through the cone and gently mould the cone around the base of the sugar flowers petals, then wind green florists tape down the wire stem.

7. Dusting.

It isn’t necessary to “dust” sugar flowers, but it helps to enhance the appearance of the sugar flowers, giving them depth, and a more realistic appearance.

Don’t be heavy handed, work the dust in layers gradually building the tones and colours.

Ensure your sugar flowers have dried completely before you dust them.

8. Brushes.

Don’t buy expensive brushes for dusting; they will be ruined over time with use.

You only need three kinds of brush for the dusting.

1. A fine pointed brush, No 1 or 2, to dust the centre of the flowers.

2. A soft rounded brush, No 4, for general dusting and larger areas.

3. A flat edged brush, No ¼, for the edges of the sugar flowers.

Clean and remove any excess colour powders from the brushes by working the bristles into a little corn flour.

Petal dust the completed sugar flowers with a darker shade of the same colour or a complementary darker colour. To intensify the appearance of your sugar flowers, dust the edges from the outside edge to the inside, for a subtle, softer look to your sugar flowers, dust from the inside to the outside.

9. Leaves.

Roll out a piece of the bluish green sugar paste, very thinly.

Cut a strip 1” long by 1/8^th” wide, cut pointed but rounded ends, using a scribe tool or back of a knife mark a crease down the middle, paint the centre with egg white, thread the leaves onto the wire and pinch them into position.

There we have it! Easy, carnation sugar flowers to adorn any cake or display.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sugar flowers carnation-finished

Filed under: Sugar Flowers

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