So I failed at making fondant roses... look horrible and they are so dried looking and cracking. So I've decided to just make roses out of frosting. I am worried though about them not hardening by Saturday though. Anyone have any ideas??? I was just gonna use a basic hi-ratio buttercream... should I add something to make it harden after it's done? Or will it harden enough on it's own??
I was thinking Royal icing but I've never tried it and not sure how to make it. I have to make lots of roses so I really don't wanna have to stiff of a frosting that my hand falls off after piping them all.
Help!
What kind of design are you doing? Could you get by with slightly whimsical fondant roses? Duff roses are easy to make and pretty quick.
Usually buttercream roses are still a little soft when they go on the cake...crusted on the outside, but soft inside.
I've made royal icing roses before and they dry absolutely rock hard.
So I've decided to just make roses out of frosting. I am worried though about them not hardening by Saturday though.
If you get started on making buttercream roses tonight or early tomorrow, they should be air dried well enough to pick up within 24 hrs, however, 36 hrs would be better, and 48 hrs would be best (IMO).
If you don't need them until Saturday, you should have enough time to let them dry. I'd recommend waiting as long as you can to place them. (don't know if you're starting on your cake Sat., or if it's due Sat., but you'll know when they're dried enough... you'll be able to pick them up without breaking the outside petals.)
I don't know what Duff's roses are.... I am intrigued.
If I make them with frosting I think I am gonna go with royal frosting. I can dye RI right?
Maybe some of these might help.
Heres a link to Duffs roses from awoisch.
The Duff roses are super-easy...my daughter could make them when she was 5 
If you vary the size of the cutter you use and the number of circles as well as the direction you stack them, you'll end up with different looks...play around a little bit and see what looks best to you.
I do all of my roses with my BC icing. Agree with air drying is best. Air drying removes the excess moisture in the rose, causing it to crust and be solid enough to handle, yet leaves it soft and deliciously edible on the inside, just like the guests like it!!
I have made flowers in the morning and applied them to the cake in the afternoon, so with my icing recipe, they crust very well and pretty quick. My preference is letting them sit overnight. Do not put them in a container ..... I just put them on a cookie sheet and left them sitting on the counter (or in the shop, stacked up in the baker's rack).
If your hand starts to cramp, your icing is too thick. It shouldn't hurt to make flowers.
And if anyone is taking a poll, I think the "Duff Rose" has some nerve calling itself a "rose". It looks like a wrapped blop of play doh to me and if I rec'd a cake with a "thing" like that on, I'd demand a refund!
OMG! I did it! I tried it the Cakincrazy way which I have been wanting to try and IT WORKED! And they look awesome! I am so excited! I am jumping for joy literally while my bf rolls his eyes. lol
I still am gonna use the buds I made before and make RI roses so all this info helps so much, thanks guys! I just got a burst of energy to bust out all these roses but I have to go to work 
Tonight I will be rose making till my fingers fall off! lol
And if anyone is taking a poll, I think the "Duff Rose" has some nerve calling itself a "rose". It looks like a wrapped blop of play doh to me and if I rec'd a cake with a "thing" like that on, I'd demand a refund!
Aww, I don't think it looks like a blob. Its not perfect, but what rose in any rose garden is perfect? Thats why we love roses so much. They're all unique in their own way.
The instuctions are just basic instructions from Duff that awoisch was kind enough to post for members that were interested in trying. Its like any fondant or gumpaste rose you're working on, if you play around with the petals, the basic shape, you'll have yourself a lovely rose. And, you'll have yourself a lovely rose you didn't have to buy expensive cutters for!!
A rose is a rose is a rose.
Gertrude Stein 
OMG! I did it! I tried it the Cakincrazy way which I have been wanting to try and IT WORKED! And they look awesome! I am so excited! I am jumping for joy literally while my bf rolls his eyes. lol
I still am gonna use the buds I made before and make RI roses so all this info helps so much, thanks guys! I just got a burst of energy to bust out all these roses but I have to go to work
Tonight I will be rose making till my fingers fall off! lol
Woohooo!! You go girl!!!
Wow, if thats your first try, I can't wait to see how well you're doing in a day or so! Good for you chefdot, your roses look beautiful!!
I don't know if anyone else does this, but I make buttercream roses in advance, and freeze them. I take them out when I need them, place on the cake, and let them thaw right on the cake. I have not had any problem with doing this, and it makes it very easy to lay on the design. Granted, I am not an expert, but it has worked for me...
I don't know if anyone else does this, but I make buttercream roses in advance, and freeze them. I take them out when I need them, place on the cake, and let them thaw right on the cake. I have not had any problem with doing this, and it makes it very easy to lay on the design. Granted, I am not an expert, but it has worked for me...
I don't freeze them. This may work just fine for using on slab cakes or on the surface of a cake, but not for using on the side or edges of wedding cakes. When they thaw, they return to the wet and heavy moisture rose before freezing, which can also cause colored roses to bleed onto the cake.
If you air dry them, they can be placed anywhere without fear of melting or falling off once thawed. If you want to semi-stack roses upon one another in a cascading design, they won't collapse when thawed because air dried is lighter in weight while also maintaining the hardened basic structure of the rose that you've built up.
Thanks, Unlimited. You gave me an education on freezing roses. I do only use them on the top of cakes, and they work fine. I didn't realize the other implications for using in other applications...thanks for the info!
Thanks, Unlimited. You gave me an education on freezing roses. I do only use them on the top of cakes, and they work fine. I didn't realize the other implications for using in other applications...thanks for the info!
I hope it helps anyone who might think of freezing roses for a wedding cake to reconsider. They might try it once (with all the consequences of being embarrassed when they melt, ruining someone's special cake, etc.), and then learn from a mistake that could have been prevented. So... unless people would rather learn from their own potential mistakes the hard way (we've all been theredone that), I'd recommend being in the habit of air drying buttercream roses!
I'd recommend being in the habit of air drying buttercream roses!
As an avid "would never consider doing it any other way" rose maker, I heartily agree!!
Heck, in an emergency when I've had to make one and throw it in the freezer for a short time, the dang thing has melted on the way from the freezer to the cake!
And I don't want my roses to look melted. I want them to stand tall and proud, just like when I made them!
Wow--I'm the odd one out here. I never thought of drying, freezing or anything of the sort. I make them and on the cake they go... been doing that since dinos walked the earth! 
Wow--I'm the odd one out here. I never thought of drying, freezing or anything of the sort. I make them and on the cake they go... been doing that since dinos walked the earth!
That's the only way I've done them. I remember when I first saw "the proper way" to do roses. Using two icing bags, one with a #10 tip and one with a #104 tip. Put a little parchment square on your nail, make the base with the #10 tip bag, then build the rose with the 104 bag. Sit the rose still on the parchment square on a cookie sheet to dry for at least 12 hours, apply to cake. I thought why all that work? I just make the rose with the same tip, use a kid's craft scissors to lift off the nail, and put it on the cake. Done and done.
SeriousCakes likes to build her roses directly on the cake. I tried that but a little too messy for me. I'll continue with the nail or stick method.
Chefdot, those are beautiful roses!!!!For some reason, my computer is taking way to long, for me to c the utube video on the making of those roses...Great job....
First of all I must get this out of the way.... *sticks thumbs in ears and wiggles fingers while sticking out tongue at Debi*
I use a 104, a flower nail and a small off set spatula. Make the rose, lift it off the nail with the off-set, and kinda push the rose off the spatula with the nail tip onto the cake--I'm one of these who can't stand extra steps! No waxed paper, no second tip--but you've gotta remember I learned to decorate when roses were IT--everything had roses.. so I had to get good and it and be quick about it!!
I will say, I've read about using the Hershey's Kiss in the rose and have thought if someday there were some Hershey's Kisses just laying around.. yea right!! I'd look into that just for the fun of people finding a kiss inside the rose 
Here is a recipe that was given to me for air dried butter cream roses. 2 pounds powdered sugar, 1 1/2 cups shortening, 1/2 cup cake flour sifted into powdered sugar, 1/3 cup near boiling water, flavoring if desired. Cream shortening well, add the sugar all at once and 1/3 cup water. Mix on low, scraping the bowl constantly until smooth. If the icing is to stiff, add additional water, 1 teaspoon at a time. Let icing sit for a few hours, mix on low before piping flowers. This icing will air dry well in 2-3 days if you want to air dry your flowers.
Have you tried candy clay roses? All of the roses in my photos were made using candy clay.
I like to do the candy clay as well, but ya gotta work fast, well I do anyway I've got warm hands. I bet if you worked fast though (and maybe if I stuck my hand in ice between petals) you could use candy clay for the roses on the youtube video that was posted in this thread.
I am also a fan of buttercream-I air dry them-but I am a huge fan of buttercream.
I keep a cold soda can close by to cool down my hands if they get to hot.
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