I was asked to share how I did the sunflowers on my bridal shower cake so here are some quick instructions.

Behind the sunflowers are three stacked 6 inch cakes filled with ganache and then covered with ganache. Anna von Marburg says to cut out four 3 inch cakes out of an extra cake for the sunflower centers, but I knew there was no way our American style cakes would hold up, so I bought good ole Marshmallow Pies to use instead. The marshmallow center worked great to hold the gumpaste petals. Put one on top of the cakes and the remaining three are attached with a long skewer through it and the cakes. Then cover the pies with ganache using a star tip to give it texture.

The petals are gumpaste and you'll need to make about 100. They are very long and skinny like a tulip leaf. Make three sizes - 2 1/2, 2 3/4, and 3 inches. It doesn't seem like much difference in length, but it makes the flowers much prettier. When drying the petals, twist them and lay them out all different directions to give them life. I colored my gumpaste and then dusted a terracotta color toward the base. (Make sure you insert wire in the base before drying!) Then just have fun inserting these around the pies having the shortest in front and longer ones in back.

The only thing I would add next time is some yellow dust on the ganache centers for pollen.

Hope this makes sense. If you ever come across a copy of Cakes in Bloom, grab it! Lots of great ideas and instructions!

Thank you so much. I hope I get to make this soon.

WOW, your cake was fantastic! Thank you for sharing, it turned out wonderful!

WOW, your cake was fantastic! Thank you for sharing, it turned out wonderful!

OMG - I was desperately looking for instructions and came across one of your cakes. Thanks so much for posting this. I hope mine turn out as good as yours.