Fondant Icing

Are fondant flowers something you have always wanted to make but never knew where to start? Have you seen them on cakes and wondered how they were made? Well, in this blog post we will introduce basic instructions on how to make flowers using fondant, specifically for a fondant rose cake.  Flowers are a great way to add an extra touch of elegance to your fondant rose cake.

By the way, we’d like to welcome you here to our How To Ice A Cake website. Read on…

Step One: Gather Your Supplies

Gather up your cake decorating tools and ensemble this list below:

• fondant or gum paste
• small rolling pin
• fondant cutter
• cutting board with an inch of flour on it
• small offset spatula for smoothing edges
• a clean work surface, such as a cutting board with saran wrap laid out over it.
• ball tool or fondant smoothers 
• fondant or gum paste food coloring (optional)
• fondant roller

Step Two: Cover Your Surface

Cover your surface with either parchment paper or saran wrap before laying down your pastry cloth on top of it. This will help keep everything clean while you work.   This also helps create an easier time getting all your pieces off from the surface when completed.

Step Three: Gather Your Fondant

Grab your fondant from the refrigerator and place it on top of the saran wrap or parchment paper. This will keep pieces that you are not working with at a time off of your work surface, which can cause them to dry out faster than if they were left uncovered.

Step Four: Rolling Out The Dough

Roll out fondant onto plastic mat/parchment paper – we recommend making sure all of the fondant has been rolled out and not just a section of it because fondant will dry out quickly.

Rolling:

• First, place your rolling pin in the center of the fondant and start with small rolls that go all around until you get to where each edge meet

• Gradually make bigger circles as you roll away from yourself (if using parchment paper) or towards yourself (if using plastic mat).

Step Five: Cut Fondant Into Shapes

Cut shapes out of fondant with fondant cutters – use your fingers to press the fondant cutter down and roll away from yourself until you have a good clean shape.

If using gum paste food coloring, then add it now while the fondant is still in its raw form. A little bit goes a long way so be careful not to overdo it! You may want to wait for fondant roses before adding any because they are more delicate than other shapes like leaves or petals.

Step Six: Creating Fondant Flowers and Roses

• Begin with either a ball of fondant or strip of fondant and wrap it around the top two fingers (index finger and thumb).  Wrap it around your finger in an “O” motion.

• Continue wrapping until you reach desired height – for roses we recommend about three wraps but other shapes like leaves can have more, just depending on what look you are going for!  Keep a close eye on roses because they can quickly start drying out due to fondant’s thinness.

• Gently push down at the base of your flower with your thumbs while simultaneously pulling up from underneath the petals to create fullness. You should feel it pop up slightly when fully done.

• Add some food coloring to the top layer of fondants and lay them on top of one another to create full layers. It’s worth noting that it is better not to add too much color at once because this can cause pieces from earlier in the process to dry out more quickly so you may need to alternate colors!

Step Seven: Flower Centers

Make small balls (about an inch wide) for flower centers using extra fondant – these can be any color but should generally match other roses in the same bouquet.

Step Eight: Using Fondant Roses on Cake

You should let fondant roses sit out for a day or two before you use them on cake to give fondant time to dry before it touches the actual cake

If fondants are getting too dry, they can be refreshed by spritzing with water and then letting air dry. Be sure not to spray flowers near any uncovered fondants because excess moisture could cause sogginess in those areas!

How To Make Fondant Roses Without Any Tools

Here is a handy video if you do not have any cake decorating tools. It shows a friendly young man making a fondant rose using nothing but his bare hands. Wonderful!

Fondant Roses

If you have any tips or suggestion on how to make fondant flowers, pop them in the comments below or let us know via our contact page so we can update this post. For more like this check out our sugarcraft tutorials or cake decorating ideas.