It's been a while since I made royal icing flowers and I was searching around here to get some tips/refreshers before I sat down to make some more and I don't see much info on using royal icing..... buttercream or fondant, but not royal icing. This is how my instructor taught me - I know she's a bit out of date on some things -- is this one of them? Is this really now how it's done? Please tell me!
This is how my instructor taught me - I know she's a bit out of date on some things -- is this one of them? Is this really now how it's done? Please tell me!
Your instructor taught you what? (To use RI as one type of medium or for a particular type of flower?)
How what is done? (What are you referring to? Did you mean to attach a photo?) We need more information.
Royal icing is still used to make flowers. It really just depends on what a person is looking for what medium you use to make flowers. Some people love to stick with buttercream because it stays soft. Royal is nice and basically is the same technique as piping buttercream but dries hard and leftover flowers can be kept for use on future cakes. Gumpate gives the ability to give more realistic mimics of flowers ----- so really which medium you use is up to you. 
Are there specific flowers you are looking for directions to?
Nothing specific, just a refresher - roses, pansies, violets etc. Gum paste is totally new to me - is this like fondant? I think I need to find out more about this.
Unlimited, she basically said that we could make flowers out of bc, but that ri was the way to go, so that's what we worked on. I can look at my instruction sheet from her, but I just thought I'd check here in case I found some better info!
Gumpaste is like fondant but can be rolled thinner, dries harder and faster and can hold delicate shapes like ruffling and flower vein impressions. I love working with it but I also LOVE piping royal icing and I would have to agree that if I were to choose buttercream or royal for flower piping - I would go royal all the way. Gorgeous icing to pipe with. I know I can direct you to the text directions for those flowers if you would like but I am not sure about videos. I will take a peek.
Sorry - couldn't find any videos but I did find this blog that has good step by step instructions.
http://cakestylist.wordpress.com/2008/05/27/royal-icing-flowers/
Roses, pansies, and violets can all be made with buttercream or royal icing, but if they're going to be eatenthey'll taste better if using BC (and you won't break a tooth!). Roses can be piped in advance with BC and left to air dry so they can be easily placed where you want on the cakeeven the sides. Most flowers can be piped directly on the cake with BC. RI is fine for practicing in class, but I don't see the need to mix a different batch of another type of icing when working with BC cakes unless it's easier to transport them home after completely dried. If I needed a lot of drop flowers, I'd use RI, but only because they could be knocked out in advance.
I think the advantage is that royal icing flowers can be made ahead of time and kept on hand for extended periods of time so you can pull them out and go. They also aren't as delicate as some air dried buttercream flowers are.
I would use buttercream for roses, since they are so large and really wouldn't be easy to eat using royal icing. The small flowers, made from royal aren't that hard to eat.
Interesting. I'd rather have them be edible anyway, but since I've never actually made them in bc, I'm a little nervous... can someone just clear my schedule for the next week so I can spend all my time playing with cake?!?! (I volunteered a big cake for the 16th)
And of course I should've thought of youtube.
They are still edible when you make them out of royal icing.
I don't know about that. I teach Wilton classes and I always have people coming into the class telling me some family member was nibbling on their flowers. I also have people that tell me their family at the fondant/gum paste roses. Now to me, those aren't meant to be eaten, but people do it with out a problem.
Once on a cake, the royal icing will soften up a little bit and not be rock hard. You can also flavor it when you are making it. Don't forget, people use royal icing on cookies all the time.
I don't know about that. I teach Wilton classes and I always have people coming into the class telling me some family member was nibbling on their flowers. I also have people that tell me their family at the fondant/gum paste roses. Now to me, those aren't meant to be eaten, but people do it with out a problem.
Once on a cake, the royal icing will soften up a little bit and not be rock hard. You can also flavor it when you are making it. Don't forget, people use royal icing on cookies all the time.
Thanks TexasSugar -- if I don't feel confident enough with the bc flowers or don't have time to play with it, I won't feel so bad about going with ri!
I agree - roses are pretty hard done with RI because they are so large. The smaller flowers like violets, drop flowers, apple blossoms, primroses etc. are easier to work with when done in Royal - a bit sturdier and less prone to breaking during transfer. Also I find the small flowers just kind of melt in your mouth so there is no need to break a tooth. I know many people who fight over eating the Royal icing flowers because they love them. LOL. You can also flavor RI by substituting extracts for part of the water. Just be sure they are not oil based flavors - you want to use alcohol based. Orange is quite nice as well as vanilla. It is true that you can air dry buttercream flowers if you are using a crusting style buttercream so that can be a good option for the larger sturdier flowers like roses and carnations. It works best if you pipe them a couple of days before you need them for easiest transfer.
Some people prefer to keep the buttercream softer instead and freeze the flowers and transfer them frozen. This has to be done really quickly though as the flowers thaw really quickly and there is a risk with deep colored flowers of color bleeding from the condensation on the flowers when they start to thaw.
LOL - it took me too long to type my last post. Got interrupted to make breakfast for my daughter and all my good advice was already dispensed. LOL. Have fun making your flowers. I still love piping flowers. You are welcome for the link.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%
