How to..........Make Sugar Roses

Sugar roses..........the flower every aspiring cake decorator wants to learn.  Yep they can be tricky but master the technique and you can create some really lovely decorations that will always impress.  I did consider posting my own step by step 'how to' but to be honest there's already plenty of tutorials out there online so I won't regurgitate the great stuff that's already out there, but I will let you in on a few of my hints and tips!!

The best way to learn this technique is to be taught by a professional.  You can find cake decorating classes at most local colleges and their beginners courses should cover the basic flowers.  If you're Lancaster based I recommend The Adult College who do a great 8 week beginners course with a whole session devoted to roses.

If you can't get to a course here are a few of the best resources I've found on the web:

The Pink Whisk

Cake Journal

Cherry Menlove


My Hints and Tips

• Use flower paste rather than sugarpaste.  Flower paste is a special kind of icing specifically for creating sugar flowers.  You can use sugarpaste but its hard to get it really thin so the end result ends up looking chunky rather than delicate.  I find Squires is one of the best and you can pick it up online fairly easily.
• The thinner your flower paste the better the end result.  Ideally your flower paste should be so thin that if you place it over some text you should be able to see the text through the paste.
• Use cornflour when rolling out the flower paste rather than icing sugar.  I'm not sure on the science of this one, its just a handy tip that works!
• Invest in some equipment.  At the very least you need a non stick board and rolling pin, rose petal cutters and a dog bone tool.  You can hand cut the petals if you don't have cutters but it takes AGES and as the cutters aren't massively expensive its worth investing in them.
• Practice, practice, practice.  If you don't get it right first time keep trying.
• Take inspiration from nature. If you're stuck for ideas look grab a rose from the garden.  Pay special attention to the number of petals, how they overlap and the shape of the edges of the petals.