Sugar roses can be made in many different ways. In this tutorial I will try to show you how to make a sugar rose.
This is what I use:
Flower paste or sugar paste (In green and the color you want your rose)
CMC/Tylo powder (when using sugar paste)
Corn starch duster
Styrofoam or cake dummie
Flower pad (Orchard products)
Dogbone tool
Small spatula
sugar glue/water
Small brushes
Toothpicks
Rolling pin
Non-stick board
7 teaspoons
Rose petal cutters in various sizes
Rose leaf cutters in various sizes
Leaf veiner (optional)
Calyx cutters in various sizes
A small plastic bag
White vegetable fat
Edible petal dust
I use either flower paste or sugar paste mixed with a small amount af CMC/Tylo powder. The kind of paste I use, depends of the type of sugar flower I am making. I use flower paste when making delicate sugar flowers and sugar paste when creating less detailed ones. When I am using sugar paste I find it easiest to first color the paste and then add the CMC/Tylo powder (less than 1/4 tsp for 100 gr sugar paste). You can feel if you have used too much CMC/Tylo powder, as the paste gets dry. If that happens you can add a small amount of white vegetable fat. I only use CMC/Tylo powder for the rose petals and rose leaves not for the calyx.
Note: If you are using sugar paste then make only a small amount at the time as it will harden quite fast and then be useless. Also remember to keep your flower paste/sugar paste well wrapped in a plastic bag when not using it.
I use 1 or 2 sizes of petal cutters when making sugar roses. The sizes of cutters generally depends on the size of the cones I am making.
Step 1, the cone:
You will need to make a cone (no. 1 on picture above) for each sugar rose you are making. It is a good idea to start making he cones a day or two ahead. Remember that the cones should be a bit smaller than the size of petal cutter you will be using. Stick a toothpick in the bottom af the cone and set aside on the styrofoam/cake dummie to dry completely.
Step 2, small sugar rose:
Roll out your flower paste/sugar paste thinly and cut out three petals. Use your dogbone tool on the flower pad and carefully thin the edge of the petal so it get slightly frilly. Put the petals gently in a plastic bag to prevent them from drying out. Brush the cone with sugar glue and then wrap a petal tight around it, so that the pointed end is covered (no. 2 on picture in step 1). Brush with sugar glue once again and take the two last petals from the plastic bag. Wrap them around the cone so they slightly overlap each other (no. 3 on picture in step 1). Make “movements” on the petals with your fingers and leave them to dry for approx. 30 minutes. While you wait for the patals to dry you cut out three more petals, just like the ones you made to begin with. When the 30 minutes has passed then brush the petals lightly with sugar glue and arrange the next 3 petals so that they overlap each other (no. 4 on picture in step 1). Again make “movements” on the petals and leave your small sugar rose to dry comepletly.
Step 3, medium sugar rose:
If you want a larger sugar rose you can do as follows. Roll out your flower paste/sugar paste thinly and this time cut out five petals with the next size of cutter so it is slightly bigger. Use your dogbone tool on all five petals, as in step 2. Take five teaspoons and dust them with your corn starch duster. Put the petals on the teaspoons and let the petals goes over the top of the edge of the spoones (as in picture above to the left). Let the petals dry in the spoons for arround 15-20 minutes. Then brush the lower half of the petals with sugar glue/water and arrange the petals arround the small rose so they overlap each other. Set the medium sugar rose aside to dry completely.
Step 4, large sugar rose:
If you want an even larger sugar rose you cut out seven petals and put them on teaspoons, as in step 3. You fasten the petals, as in step 3, but this time you gently put the sugar rose upside down as the petals can be heavy. Let the large sugar rose dry completly.
Step 5, the calyx:
When your rose is dry roll out the green flower paste/sugar paste and cut out a calyx to fit the rose. Brush the calyx with sugar glue and attache it to the bottom of the rose. When making small sugar roses, put a small ball of green flower paste/sugar paste on the rose buds after the calyx as well. Let it dry before adding to a cake. If you like, you can gently brush some eidble petal dust on the dry roses and carefully steam the roses over hot water. When dry, your sugar rose are ready to become cake decoration.
Note: Remember to remove the toothpicks from the roses. If you let them stay on the toothpicks then remove the roses with toothpicks before cutting the cake.
If you want to learn and read more on sugar roses and other sugar flowers then take a look in my cake book store where I have found some of the best books on making sugar flowers UK and US
Happy Caking
Louise
As promised I have some pictures from this weekends workshop with Lindy Smith. It was a “wonky style cake” we was working on and it was great fun to learn the tricks behinde getting a round cake go “wonky”. I must say it was not that difficult after all. The only very important thing with these types of cakes is that the round cakes needs to be 3″ high and very firm like a Madeira/pound cake. The cakes at this workshop was not that firm and steady so it was a bit of a challenge to carve the cakes right. But we all made it in the end. I was lucky to read a bit from Lindy’s new book: Cakes to inspire and desire and it looks so interesting. Also I brought some very pretty flower cutters that I used on my workshop cake. 
