How to:
Sculpting “Mexican Hat” Blossoms
Little sugar paste blossoms can be a great way to add a simple accent to a cake or to fill in any empty spots when arranging larger sugar flowers and leaves. A variety of small blossom cutters can be used with this technique to make different shapes.
USE THIS TECHNIQUE TO MAKE:
- Peach blossoms, Peachy Keen cake, page 169
TOOLS:
- small stamens
- 29-gauge wire, trimmed to 4-inch lengths
- green and white floral tape
- Sugar Paste (page 59)
- cornstarch in muslin bag for dusting
- silicone modeling tool
- blossom cutter
- ball tool
- 1:1 mixture of water and corn syrup
- cake dummy
- paintbrush
- green powder dye
For each blossom, tightly secure 5
small stamens to the top of a wire with white floral tape.
Create a rounded cone shape from a
small piece of sugar paste.
Flatten the edges to resemble a
hat.
Dust a nonstick surface with
cornstarch.
Use a small silicone shaping tool to
thin out the edges of the cone, rotating the cone evenly as you
work.
Use a blossom cutter to cut the
edges of the cone into a flower shape, keeping the tapered cone in
the center of the cutter.
Remove the excess sugar paste with
your fingers.
Guide the blossom out of the cutter
by pushing it gently with the round side of the shaping tool.
Dust your hands with cornstarch.
Holding the blossom in the palm of your hand, shape the petals
using a small ball tool so that they are rounded and thin.
Dip the stamen wire into the
water–corn syrup mixture.
Insert the stamen wire through the
center of the blossom, guiding the flower to the end of the stamens
where the white floral tape begins.
Taper the bottom of the blossom,
taking off any excess sugar paste. Insert the wire into a cake
dummy and let the blossom dry for 48 hours to 1 week before
continuing with the next step.
Once the blossoms are dry, wrap
green floral tape around the tapered ends of blossoms. To assemble
multiple blossoms, stagger them in bunches and wrap them with green
floral tape.
Using a paintbrush and green powder
dye, dry-dust the underside of the blossoms.