This Year, Bake Your Mom a Bouquet of Flowers
Make Mother's Day extra sweet with a cake covered in edible blossoms.
Why give Mom a store-bought bouquet when you can bake her a cake frosted in sweet buttercream flowers? Here's how it's done.
1 PREPARE LAYER CAKE
Start by baking our favorite yellow cake recipe. Then, apply a crumb coat to the cake using buttercream frosting (and make an extra batch of buttercream to use for your flowers).
2 MIX COLORS
In various small bowls, add drops of gel food coloring to the frosting until the desired intensity is achieved.
3 WRAP COLORS
Tip: To reuse piping bags, use cling film to wrap frosting.
4 START ICING
Make sure to twist both ends of the cling film together and cut one end before inserting into the piping bag. The cut end should be touching the piping tip inside the piping bag.
5 PIPE ROSES
Take a square piece of wax paper and glue it to a piping nail with the frosting. Using piping tip #104 and begin to pipe roses. Add more petals to achieve bigger roses and less to achieve smaller ones.
6 PIPE IRISES
With piping tip #104, pipe irises by using a back and forth motion to form the petals. Once all petals are completed, use the same tip to add the top layer in a circular motion. Switch to a tiny round piping tip for the dots in the center.
7 PIPE RANUNCULUS
Using the same tip, create the petals by twisting the piping nail in a circular motion with one hand, while pushing frosting out with the other hand. Add tiny dots in the middle using a tiny round piping tip.
8 PIPE HIBISCUS
Using piping tip #104 again, pipe hibiscus flowers with five petals each. Add dots in the center using a tiny round piping tip.
9 PIPE LEAVES
Next, pipe leaves with the same tip by using a back and forth motion to create the ripples.
10 PIPE TWO-TONED ROSES
The two-toned rose is achieved by adding two different colors to one piping bag.
11 FREEZE FLOWERS
Next, place finished flowers on a tray and freeze for 30 minutes until hardened. This will make it easier to transfer them to the cake.
12 PEEL OFF FLOWERS
Slowly peel off each individual flower from the wax paper and transfer onto the cake. The flowers should be frozen hard and peel off easily. If they do not peel off, pop them back in the freezer for 10-15 minutes longer.
13 TRANSFER FLOWERS TO CAKE
Start by placing heavier flowers (roses, ranunculus, irises) on the top of the cake, leaving the lighter hibiscus flowers for the side of the cake to prevent them from sliding off.
14 ADD GREENERY
Once the top of the cake has been covered in flowers, apply green frosting to fill in any gaps with leaves (piping tip #352) and buds.
15 FINISH WITH FLOWERS ON THE SIDE
Use frosting as the “glue” to stick hibiscus flowers and leaves to the side of the cake. Make sure to leave out flowers that are too heavy, as they may slide off. Fill in any gaps with buds and additional leaves.
Once completed, refrigerate cake until ready to use or serve at room temperature. Get ready to impress Mom like never before!
Find even more indulgent Mother's Day recipes right here.