Here is the request from my friend for my second wedding cake:
3 tiers, bright green tospy-turvy with cherry blossoms and sculpted love birds.
Oh boy. Mostly I was worried about getting the colors right and getting the ang;es on the topsy-turvy layers correct so it wouldn't turn out wonky.
First I started with the flowers. Here's the list of items:
Gumpaste
Rice Noodles
Candy Melts (orange)
Floral Tap
Petal Dust (pink)
Flower cutter
Rolling pin
Non-stick surface for rolling
Corn starch if gumpaste is too sticky to work with
I decided to try something new for the stems. I found uncooked rice noodles at the store which I thought would work perfectly. Rice noodles are stiff enough to hold their shape but can also bend a little which helps to shape the flower. Rice noodles are inexpensive and one bag of noodles is all you would probably ever need to buy for stem making. The cost is considerably cheaper than buying premade stems.
I cut the stems about 2 inches long and taped then together with floral tape.
I then melted a small batch of candy melts in the microwave and dipped the rice noodle stems in the candy. Stems were then set a side to dry.
After refining the edges with the ball tool, place the end of the stem through the center of the flower. Squeeze the gumpaste at the base to attach it to the stem and fan out the pedals.
Here's a gumpaste drying tip: Place in the oven overnight with just the light on (or the pilot light if you have a gas stove) DO NOT TURN THE OVEN ON. This creates a dry environment which speeds up gumpaste drying by a day or more.
In the end the cake turn out beautiful.
