How To Make Edible Roses PART ONE: Large Roses

Are you guilty of spending a small fortune buying those prepackaged icing roses? I know I am.
Truth be told, making your own roses is unbelievably simple and it doesn't take some flashy pastry chef diploma either.

With a few simple ingredients and tools, and some spare time on a dull rainy day, I will have you making pretty edible flowers in no time at all. You can make a whole lot in one go to keep on hand for those special occasions or you can make two or three for a cake you are making this week. Just keep in mind they will take a day or two to dry out (size dependant).

Today I will show you how to make large roses, and small or mini roses will follow next week!

What you will need: 
Fondant icing
An egg carton (the bigger, the more flowers you can make!)
Water
Baking paper cut into little squares
Icing sugar or cornstarch for dusting


Optional for experts:  
A small piece of rubber foam mat
Teaspoon
Rolling Pin - for rolling out fondant evenly
A balling tool - for adding shape and texture to the petals (avalible from Divine Cakes, The Homestore, Total Food Equipment, Spotlight and the internet)
A circular cutter, or even better a petal shaped cutter
Kids paint brush (new - only ever use it for food!)
Vegetable Shortening (rub onto your hands to stop them going dry and crumby from the sugar)
Tylose powder (this powder helps the fondant from cracking, making it more gummy. Most professional cakes makers will use in in their fondant. Only ever use a pinch or two. You can buy it from Spotlight or Divine Cakes or the internet - keep in mind it is quite expensive though.)

THE FONDANT
For fondant, I recommend Satin Ice (from Divine Cakes or Spotlight) or Pettinice (easily found at supermarkets). Do not buy the King's stuff you find in a box at supermarkets. It will not produce the right results. You can also make your own if you know how, but I find it's much easier to buy it.

ADDING COLOUR
To save you some time you can buy different coloured fondants from Spotlight and Divine Cakes if you'd like more than a plain white rose. You can also colour your own fondant (using gel colours only, not liquid! - Gel colours available from Divine Cakes, The Homestore, Total Food Equipment, Spotlight and the internet). Use a toothpick to slowly add colour to your fondant and knead it in slowly. You can wear disposable rubber gloves if you don't want coloured hands. Keep in mind the gel is a dye, so the colour will darken over time. Some people like to let their fondant sit for an hour to darken before rolling it out.

Remember, if you are not using your fondant, (even if just for 10 minutes) cover it tightly with cling wrap and where possible store it in an air tight container. It will stay good for months and months! 


LARGE ROSES
These are the show stoppers. They take longer to make and are a little more fiddly than mini ones, but still pretty straight forward for the beginner.

Start by rolling a piece of fondant into a ball about 1cm round. With the tip of your finger, taper off one end of the circle forming a cone (with rounded bottom) I find it easiest to roll it in my hand. This forms the centre of the rose. Make as many as you'd like to.

 Take a slightly larger piece of fondant and flatten it in your hand evenly.

Or if you prefer, roll out the fondant to about 3-5mm thick and cut petals out. The petals stay the same size for the whole rose. I'd recommend cutting out and working with three at a time, otherwise they start to dry and crack before ever making it onto the rose.

Add a thin layer of water to half of the petal or if you have tylose powder make yourself an edible glue from a pinch of the powder mixed with splash of water. It is much stronger.
Begin to wrap the damp part of the petal around the cone, leaving the dry side unstuck.

Add a touch more water or edible glue and slip the next petal inside the last one. These first two petals should completely hide the cone in the middle. Make sure you leave some of the last petal open each time to slip the new petal underneth.

The next few petals can begin gradually opening up at the top. So only add water/glue to the base of the petal. Use your fingers to start pulling out the tops of the petals. Look at a picture of a real rose if it helps you see the gradual unfurling of the petals. Try to use an uneven amount of petals to go once around the roses ie 3, 5, etc - this gives it a more natural look.

Keep adding petals until you feel there is enough or you are happy with the size. If you want to make full life-sized roses you will need to dry the rose at this point and continue adding petals once it has been dried out.  The bottom of your rose may have some excess, which you can choose to pull or cut off - remember to round off the rose again afterwards unless you want it to sit flat on the cake (Usually they are placed on angles). If you have used too much water or glue your rose petals are likely to start coming off at this point. Try again with less glue :)

Line your egg carton with a small square of baking paper and pop the rose inside. This will ensure it holds its shape while drying. Take this opportunity to pinch and bend the petals into interesting shapes. This will the the roses character and make them look more realistic - something supermarket bought ones never can look like. I'd recommend storing the finished roses like this too - simply find an airtight container that fits the egg carton inside it. otherwise wrap them in paper towels or thin mattress-like foam.

Make as many different roses in as many different colours as you'd like. Try make some roses more open and some more closed. This will give a good variation of styles which looks more natural. However, there is one more step to getting your roses to look realistic...


EXTRA FOR WANNABE EXPERTS
You can either buy a mould to shape an vein your petals - which is how most cake stores would do it.
Or you can go and buy a set of fondant tools, specifically the balling tool. The sets are quite affordable. Mine was around $10 or under from Spotlight.  You will also need a piece of foam rubber. I'm not sure where to get this, I was lucky enough to have some lying around the house. You could always cut up a cheap camping roll if you're feeling sneaky.

Place one of the fondant circles on the foam. Take your balling tool and firmly run it along the edges of the fondant (half on and half off it). It will create a wavy effect on your petal. If it breaks it is possible your foam isn't thick enough or is too hard. Practice makes perfect!

Next place the petal onto a teaspoon and press your thumb into it. This gives the bulb shape for the base of the flower. Gently bend the rest of the petal around the teaspoon adding more shape and character.

Let the roses fully dry - depending on how big they are it can take from 1-3 days.

Volia! You now have a collection of beautiful, edible roses for decorating your cakes.

Enjoy your Tuesday. I am busy organising a big garage sale, with lots of craft stuff, material, books and clothes for Saturday. Check out the event if you are in Chch and are keen for crafty bargins and donating to my travel fund!

x

Coming soon

PART TWO: How to make quick mini edible roses.

10 Earth Day Activities To Celebrate Our Planet.

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In a perfect world everyday would be Earth Day, but our lives compete for our attention and sometimes we just can't be as green as we'd like to be. Thus being the busy bodies we are, we have scheduled in an annual Earth Day to ensure the planet is not forgotten in our eagerness to live. Hello little blue dot - today we're thinking of you.

Here are 10 activities you can do to celebrate Earth Day:

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Get all old school and make a paper-maché globe. Who doesn't love getting all gluey? It also doubles as a geography lesson for the kids (or yourself if you've forgotten).

 

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Grab a handful of almonds to chew on while you watch Planet Earth, narrated by the brilliant David Attenborough. I just watched the episode Pole to Pole the other day, and boy am I ever glad I wasn't born a penguin; they sure got it rough.

 

via. Tindale Photography

Wander down to your local park and have a leaf fight. Not only will you get some fresh air, it also lends itself to magical photographic opportunities.

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Whip up some Earth Day cookies. Check out how to ice them over at the Tidy Mum blog. What a tasty treat.

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Use Earth Day as an excuse to have a candlelit dinner - saving electricity is just a bonus. Why not top it off by having good old fashion fun with a few board games.

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Drool over these incredibly beautiful places you won't believe actually exist in the world.

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Get into raw foods for the day - you'll feel closer to nature and better for it. I think this Ginger and Lemon cure all cake by Love Raw looks worth the time, don't you? More on raw foodism here.

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Give back to the earth by planting something. You must also check out the beautiful Fox in the Pine blog for tips on using eggshells in your garden (I think it's my new favourite!)

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Set yourself the challenge of going rubbish free for the day or if you're feeling brave, the whole week. Let this Christchurch couple inspire you. They did a whole year living rubbish free, and their website offers lots of advice on minimising your waste. Watching Wall-E is always motivating too.

via gobayode photography.

If you are feeling really ambitious (and don't have to go to work), let out your inner hippy by spending the whole day at one with nature. That means no electricity, no car, and probably sleeping out under the stars. 

Do you have any plans for Earth Day? If all else fails, you could aways watch Captain Planet reruns. I always did have a little thing for Kwame.

x

ps. A billion acts of green movement
and earth cupcakes

Hoppy Easter: Holiday Bakes with Recipe!

Happy Easter! Easter is always a great excuse to get adventurous in the kitchen and to make tasty gifts for friends. Whether it be dying and painting eggs, baking, or creating your very own chocolatey easter eggs. It can be very overwhelming deciding what to do, especially with Pinterest flooding us with a torrent of ideas. See my easter inspiration board here.

 I held a little easter baking afternoon at my place, and here are a few of the things that were created...

Marshmallows.

Have you ever tried making marshmallows before? This was my first attempt. It was actually surprising easy too. I used one of my favourite Paris-based bloggers, David Lebovitz's recipe. He is great at talking you through the whole process without making you feel daunted. He mentions how most people freak out as soon as they realise they need a candy thermometer - I'll admit I did at first! But I popped into the Homestore and picked a funky orange one up for around $30. And David was right - it's not that scary - and it's completely worth it because homemade marshmallows really are the best marshmallows you'll ever taste. Next time I am keen to try a non-gelatine recipe though, because let's face it, gelatine is pretty icky. Do you know of any good gelatine free marshmallow recipes?
Speaking of marshmallows... Have you come across Marshmallow Madness before? It came out a few years back but it still hasn't managed to find its way to Christchurch as far as I'm aware - so I may just have to order myself one.

Hot Cross Buns.

There is nothing like eating freshly baked goods straight from the oven. Netta and Rose made some scrumptious vegan hot cross buns. I don't usually like hot cross buns (choc cross buns are more my thing - terrible I know), but these babies had cranberries instead of boring raisins which added a tart burst of flavour, and they didn't go all soft a squishy either. Netta created the recipe herself and has published it on her food blog. I will try find a link to it.

DIY Easter Eggs.

Have you tried your hand at making easter eggs before? I hadn't, so I thought it was about time I gave it a go. I picked up the chocolate moulds relatively cheaply at Spotlight and the chocolate I got in bulk from Richfields - a Christchurch-based chocolate factory. They sell big 1kg bags for $6-10 each and are open to the public on Friday afternoons. It is really the most affordable way to buy a large amount of chocolate for baking.

I made a few different coloured eggs and I'm rather happy with how my duck's blue one turned out. Simply colour your chocolate with either chocolate powder colouring or the gel colours work too. Whatever you do, avoid adding the liquid colours as they will cause your chocolate to sieze. The 100's and 1000's egg was a bag o' surprises, as I mixed the chocolate with pop-rock candy - which when melted in your mouth, set off little explosions. Charlie found it rather funny!

I wrapped the eggs in cellophane and put them in leftover cupcake cases to prevent them from breaking.

Pretty packaging.

Lastly I whipped up a batch of spice biscuits. I have included the tasty recipe for you below.

YOU WILL NEED:

Recipe adapted from the great Kiwi Edmonds Cookbook

2 cups plain flour - sifted
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 white sugar
1/4 cup muscovado or dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp of each ground cloves, ginger, cinnamon and all spice
125 grams butter - at room temperature
rind of 1/2 orange
1-2 eggs - beaten

Put all the dry ingredients into a large bowl, add the softened butter and crumble it in with your hands. When it reaches a breadcrumb consistency it is time to add the egg.
Add one egg to the dry ingredients, mix thoroughly. It should form a strong dough. If it is still a little dry, add a little more egg.

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. I rolled mine to about 5mm thick. If you have a bunny shaped cutter use this. You can pick one up at the Homestore or Ballantynes for around $3. I used my easter egg chocolate moulds to cut a few egg shaped biscuits, but using a circle cutter and shaping the top of the egg with your hands is easy enough.

Put the cut biscuits onto baking paper lined trays and place in a 170c oven.  Bake for 10-15 minutes. When cooked transfer cookies to cooling racks. Wait until completely cooled before icing.

Now it's time to whip up some icing. I suggest royal icing because it makes for easy, tidy piping.

A simple royal icing recipe is:
2 cups of icing sugar
1 egg white
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Beat eggs in an electric mixer until foamy, slowly add icing sugar until soft peaks are formed, add lemon juice and beat until combined. If your icing becomes too thick, add more egg white and beat for a few minutes more.

Add colour and flavours if you'd like. I used natural strawberry and lemon essences in mine. It is really important to cover any unused your icing in cling wrap - make sure the wrap reaches right down to touch the icing, getting rid of any air. This will prevent the icing setting rock hard while you are busy piping. Also keep the tip of the piping bag in a damp cloth if you are not using it.  Rinse your beaters straight away too!

Note: Royal icing can be stored for weeks if it is covered with cling wrap as above and sealed in an airtight container. When you go to use it again just put it back in the electric mixer for a few minutes before using.

The easiest way to ice biscuits neatly is to pipe them. This will also give them a smooth surface for decorating. Use a plain circle tip (about a Wilton 2 or 3) and fill bag with icing. If you don't have any tips or bags you can fill a ziplock bag with icing and make a tiny cut in one corner.

Pipe around the edge of the biscuit shape and immediately begin filling in or 'flooding' the shape with icing. This will leave you with a even and tidy coverage of icing. You may find you need to water down your icing ever so slightly for it to spread better. Carefully stick on any decorations or sprinkles at this point, or when the icing has completely dried (overnight is best) you can pipe details onto your biscuits with a contrasting colour. (Or you can even try some brush embroidery - more on that at a later date!)

When your biscuits have fully dried, stack them and wrap them up with cellophane and ribbon and give as gifts. Or just eat them yourself. Yum.

Here are all the treats I made for easter wrapped up and ready to go.

I'd love to hear what you did or made for easter.

I hope you've enjoyed your last stat day x