So I am a new decorator and took the wilton classes. In class, we were taught to make fondant flowers (roses, mums etc.) on spaghetti as no non-food items should be inserted into a cake. The problem that I have is the spaghetti breaks easily and I get discouraged when I make a beautiful rose and then can't use it on my cake. I know some decorators (including the popular ones on TV) use wire, however, I have also read that using wire may not be the right choice either. Can anyone share what they use as stems for the fondant flowers? toothpicks? skewers? A special kind of wire just for this purpose? I'm sooo confused? Also if you use spaghetti my next question is, after you insert it into your cake, will it get soft and "wilt" eventually? Thanks for any advice you can give a newbie! I really enjoy making and decorating cakes!

You can use wire and insert the stems into straws in the cake. Coffee stirrer straws work well for this.

I use toothpicks or skewers depending on the size of the flower. I've never heard that it's not OK to put either one in a cake. I do use wire for certain flowers, too, but use Wilton flowers picks to put them in a cake. When I took the Wilton classes, we learned to make the gumpaste flowers on toothpicks. they must have changed that.

I use wire and glue them into drinking straws. Skewers (of the bamboo persuasion) would work too, but I like being able to bend the wire to position the flower perfectly.

The wire shoudl never go right into the cake

I've never tried spaghetti but it does seem like that could go limp in the cake. When I need to stick things in a cake, I use wire, but I put it inside a lollipop stick first. I buy the lollipop sticks that are about 6 inches long I think, cut them in half, then insert the wire into the center. A toothpick sounds like it would work good too, but I haven't tried that. Hopefully some others will chime in with good tips too!

I am no expert, but have make several cakes with flowers and what I have done is used wire for the flowers, stems, and leaves, then when you are going to insert them into the cake you can insert straws in the cake then put the wire of the flowers into the straws, you can also fill the straw with icing for more stability on the flower. Good luck.

I can tell you that the spaghetti dose not get soft

I've been back and forth with this one myself. I just attended a Buddy Valastro seminar today and he uses wire wrapped in floral tape. I know other big names use wire as well though there are many that don't like the idea. I'm not saying it's right or wrong and don't want to start anything. Just saying that it's done. He said he actually takes three 20-gauge pieces of wire and tape them together.

The wire is not meant for food and they can contain lead so it's not smart to just stick them in. Wrapping them in floral tape can help, but then you have the tape which isn't food safe either. I'm in the it's better to safe than sorry boat.

tntlaurie im so glad you asked this. i took the wilton classes and we were also told to use spaghetti.. it seems like a toothpick is a much better idea. i like the coffee straw idea too then you can bend it.

I haven't tried it yet but from my research, I have seen more people use the wire tucked in straws. I have been a little intimidated by the process but I am anxious to see the responses from all of the experienced CCers

Once you have your wires wraped in floral tape dip the part that will be going into the cake in melted chocolate. Once it drys..voila, your food safe

Not if the chocolate breaks.

toothpicks work best for wilton type roses. I guess they changed the curiculum becuase when I took it many moons ago, toothpicks were the norm.

I don't get that either... they always say on the TV shows how everything on the cake is edible--not the sugar flowers, they are full of wire and tape. And not just the stem, but also the stamens. I made that mistake once--I made lilies out of fondant put on toothpicks, put the wire stamens in the center. When I delivered the cake they loved it and I told them it was "all" edible. Lucky I stayed for the party because one of the guest was about to eat on of the flowers and I had to stop her with the reply back from her--I thought everything on the cake was edible? All I could do was say well almost everything.

We always used toothpicks in my Wilton classes. My instructor said that the spaghetti breaks too easily so we just stuck with the toothpicks.

I use toothpicks and on occasion wire. Spaghetti? Never would. So fragile and it just doesn's hold up especially if you're making larger flowers. At least with toothpicks people can see them and automatically know what they are, i'm sure if someone saw a spaghetti in their cake they will start to ask questions, not to mention it might just look weird to find spaghetti in a cake...If i do use toothpicks or wire i always mention that to the client. That's my 2 cents!

I teach the class with the roses and i still have the students use toothpicks. When Wilton changed to speghetti, they were breaking like crazy. No fun!!! So, yeah, i still use the toothpicks.

Search for a thread titled "For Those Who Put Wire In Cakes". Super long thread with great info! hth