Just curious , ive never done it before . But i wonder about pesticides and how safe is it to buy flowers and roses from a florist to put on cakes.

Tombi Peck (one of the authors of Sugar Roses for Cakes with Alan Dunn) recommends never using fresh flowers. According to her, flowers grown commercially are habitually sprayed with nasty pesticides to rid them of things which might eat them or kill diseases. These chemicals may also be hazardous to people if in contact with icing.

Not to mention attracting bugs!

Then of course there are many flowers and greenery which are very poisonous.

But people still put real flowers on cakes, how can you (as a cake decorator or hobbiest) make it safe? I am a fan of real flowers on a cake but haven't done any big wedding or occasional cakes that call for flowers. So I am definitely interested in any feedback on this

Nicolle711 wrote

See you can't make it safe and it should not be done. I have clause in my contract that states no fresh flowers. Even if the florist puts them on the cake and/or shoves the stems into the food, and someone gets sick. . . .who do you think they will come to? You can bet your last dollar it won't be the florist!

Wow, so it really is a serious matter then So this is why sugar art, more specifically gumpaste flowers are in high demand, to avoid this problem.

So what do the professionals do then if a bride wants fresh flowers? Do they put in the contract that they are not responsible for health issues arising from sickness due to fresh flowers on the cake?

Thanks for your input

See you can't make it safe and it should not be done. I have clause in my contract that states no fresh flowers. Even if the florist puts them on the cake and/or shoves the stems into the food, and someone gets sick. . . .who do you think they will come to? You can bet your last dollar it won't be the florist![/quote]

I do have a clause in my wedding cake contract that states that certain flowers and the pesticides used on them may be harmful, and I cannot be responsible if they are used. In the one case where fresh flowers were used on one of my cakes, I made sure they were organically grown without pesticides ~ and I still made sure to wrap the stems and put plastic wrap barriers between the flowers and the cake. HTH

I encourage the use of silk flowers instead of fresh. I wash the stems carefully with warm soapy water, and still am careful about putting down a parchment round directly underneath the flowers, so they arent actually touching the cake.

HTH

Actually I even read that the pollen from the flowers is even more sickening... SO... if you put your flowers on the cake and the wedding is outside OR there is a good draft.... pollen on your cake

I dont know, I have been putting fresh flowers on my cakes for years, and so has a lot of other people...and yes, you would think it would make people sick with the stuff they put on flowers to keep them fresh. But I always put the flowers in warm water before I cut them (it helps open them up for so you can fan them out and make them look pretty on the cake) and I have seen other florists just put them on the cake. I have yet to read, hear or see anyone who has gotten sick (unless they were alergic to roses or something) from a flower being stuck in a cake. If you have an article with real evidence, I would love to see it!!! (not just someone saying its "unsafe") Its not like the people are eating the flowers! Also, I would NEVER recommend them taking the flower out of a pail of chemcials and sticking them in the cake. That I can understand. I am really curious on if this is really just overkill or is it as dangerious as those who say it is?

There are also fresh flower picks and bowls you can use so that the flower stems aren't in direct contact with the cake. However, a sick friend at the reception and a sneeze may do more damage than a dirty flower.

I'd be interested to see, as well. Personally, I think there are worse things in a hot dog than on the flowers. And in much larger amounts! In my anecdotal experience, I have never seen or heard of a problem with fresh flowers on a cake. And they didn't buy organic flowers, either.
But do I love a good sugar flower, instead? Yes! Especially now that I can make them reasonably attractive.

I too have used fresh flowers on several of my wedding cakes. I really think they can make a cake look just beautiful.

The last wedding I did the flowers were just set on the cake table for me to add to the cake. I normally use those flower spikes, etc. but was told the florist would handle all that so I had nothing with me. The bride brings me a package of bobby pins (new) and I used those to insert flowers into the cake!

I was at the reception and no one got sick or commented. Maybe I just got lucky?!?!

what the fuss is about either. I've used fresh flowers for years and haven't killed anybody yet. Like someone else said, they don't eat the flowers and if the stems are washed beforehand, I don't see a problem

I am not a professional but have always thought about what is being said here everytime I have read on this site that real flowers are a no no. I mean I see them on wedding cakes all the time, and have eaten many a cake that had fresh flowers resting on top. If it was really really a bad thing you would never see it done, however half the pics in the wedding galleries have fresh flowers on them and 9 times out of 10 so do the wedding cakes at weddings I go to.