Video Tip of the Week

Squires Kitchen’s Guide to Making Iced Flowers
Making poppies using author Ceri DD Griffiths’ method

By Maria E. Malkun, owner of Mayu’s Cakes, Pembroke Pines, FL
For a review of this book, please go to our book review page.

One of the first things the author states about this project is that they are very fragile—and they are! I would advise anyone who wants to make these beauties to make double or triple the amount of petals they think they need. 

1. I made my stencil using a plastic sheet for stencil making from the crafts store, which worked perfectly.

2. Cut the squares of parchment paper to give yourself at least an extra 1/2" on all sides. This is helpful both when applying the icing and afterward for the dusting and other handling.

3. Place your stencil over a parchment square and apply the icing. For my first batch of petals, I spread my royal icing too thin on the stencil, which made for very delicate petals.I did the next batch with a thicker coat of royal icing for easier handling. The author did not say anything about the thickness of the petals but given my experience, I think that would be a helpful note!

4. The author suggested placing the petals, each on their own sheet of parchment paper, onto dimpled foam in order to shape them. But I found the dimpled foam didn’t accommodate the paper very well, so instead I used an egg crate, which I felt worked better for this purpose.

5a & 5b. I let the petals dry overnight and then dusted them while they were still on the parchment paper because I thought it was safer to handle the petals this way. Once dusted, I carefully removed the petals from the paper. Following the author’s instructions, I then attached the petals using royal icing in the center and completed the flower successfully.

Maria Malkun runs Mayu’s Cakes in Pembroke Pines, FL, with her husband Luis. She grew up learning baking in her mother’s kitchen in Columbia. Her passion for baking led her to attend classes from some of the world’s top baking and cake design experts including Colette Peters, Marina Sousa, James Rosselle and Kaysie Lackey. However, she didn’t immediately consider a culinary career, instead taking her degree in International Business and worked her way up the corporate ladder. But eventually her desire for creating cakes became too much to ignore and decided to follow her dream of opening her own business.

Squires Kitchen’s Guide to Making Iced Flowers
Making iced ‘stick’ roses, using author Ceri DD Griffiths’ method

By Ceri DD Griffiths, author and instructor
The following is based on a step-by-step featured on Ceri’s website, which is very similar to the process shown in his book. For a review of the book, please go to our book review page.

1. Rub a little shortening on the top of your cocktail stick (or toothpick if you’re making tiny roses) this will ensure that the rose will release when dry. Create a teardrop of gumpaste or and push the cocktail stick into the base. This will form the base shape for your bud.

2 & 2a. Holding the cocktail stick in your left hand, between your thumb and index finger, roll the cocktail stick in an anticlockwise motion. At the same time touch your icing tip to the base shape then pipe a spiral layer of royal icing to form the first layer of your bud. This is done by bringing the piping tube towards you and down while piping.

3. Holding the cocktail stick in your left hand, between your thumb and index finger, roll the cocktail stick in a clockwise motion. At the same time touch your petal tube to the base of your bud and then pipe away from yourself in an arching motion as shown below. At this stage pipe three petals. When finished piping, take a dry brush dusted with corn starch and shape these petals and tidy up the base of your rose. It is wise at this stage to leave your rose for several hours to dry so that the weight of the petals still to be piped will not misshape your rose.

4. Once dry, use the same method to add another three petals, always remembering to shape and tidy with a dry corn starch-dusted brush.

5. Repeat the petal process, this time adding five more details, remembering to shape and tidy as you go. At this point leave your rose to dry for several hours before proceeding onto the last steps.

6. Dependant on how large you wish your rose to be you can keep adding petals, the rose shown here has had an extra seven petals added. The next layer of petals would be a nine.

Ceri’s helpful hints:

• I always pipe my roses in pale colors and use flower dusts afterwards.

• Do not rush these roses, especially the larger ones. Because of their size, if a layer of petals is not crusted or fully dried then the next petals will slide and misshape your rose.

• Always use royal icing as firm as you can pipe, this gives you the ability to manipulate your
finished petal with a dry corn starch brush. It also gives a ragged realistic edge to the petals.

• Use up any spare pieces of gumpaste or modelling paste to create the bud’s base shape
in advance. Complete step one and when it is dry, store it in a dry, dust-free box. This means you never throw paste away because it is a color you don’t use often.

• Speed up the drying time by placing these roses under a desk lamp with a 60W bulb.

• Leave your finished roses to dry for twenty four hours then remove them from the cocktail
sticks and store in a moisture-free container for future use. Color them with dust after storage and not before.

• Using a small leaf tube or leaf cut piping bag, pipe a calyx in pale green royal icing and then use this to stick the rose onto the finished cake or plaque. By attaching the rose with a wet royal iced calyx you reduce the risk of breaking the calyx’s fine tips.

How To - Pillow Wedding Cake
By Kim McCall of The Pastry Bag

In this How-To, we learn about a neat creation called the “Pillow Wedding Cake,” as well as its creator, Kim McCall.

How cakes have evolved over the past 25 years! When I first started decorating cakes 28 years ago, it was the simple stars, shell borders, buttercream icing, staircases with bridesmaids and groomsmen, separator plates, columns and stick-on plastic pieces, not to mention a prayer for getting your cake set up before anything happened during transport.

It started out as a hobby to make a child’s first birthday cake, or to be asked to furnish the cake instead of bringing a dish for a party or a shower, for that friend who would rather gamble with their wedding cake and let them be your guinea pig. Over the years, the hobby grew and my name got out there, and I realized I could actually get paid for something I loved to do.

Back in 2004, a friend approached me and asked me to go into a cake decorating business with her. I was a little hesitant, because of all the nightmare stories that I’ve heard about business partnerships, but I did it anyway. Boy, was that the best decision I have ever made. Two and a half years later, her husband took an out-of-state job that relocated the family, which brought an end to the partnership. I was at a crossroads: continue solo or totally get out of the business. With the reputation already on a strong foundation, I decided to make a go of it, hook, line and sinker.

In 2006 I had heard about ICES, and in 2007 I became a member. I had attended several Louisiana ICES meetings and then attended my first ICES convention in 2008 in Orlando. Once attending that first convention, I was hooked. Since joining ICES, my network of cake friends has grown and the opportunity to be exposed to some of the greatest teachers and training in the cake world has broadened my knowledge.

This pillow wedding cake is my latest creation. But it would be unfair to take 100-percent credit for this cake. Earlene Moore was the first outstanding cake decorator that I met and studied under; I learned so much from her, and I recently purchased one of her new molds and used them on this cake. The puffed base under the cake was also from her instructions that I purchased. I also have been using Sharon Zambito’s buttercream high-ratio icing and ganache recipes.

And then there is Martha Hebert and Becky Guidry, the Sweet Southern Ladies, for presenting a mini-cake class at one of our Louisiana DOS on doing a pillow cake. After that class, I knew I could do this cake with confidence.