I need some honest opinions about these please! I am helping my SIL with roses for a wedding cake (her mother is doing the cake....not sure why she can't do roses but whatever). I have no experience with fondant or gumpaste flowers and don't have time to learn now plus I don't have the tools. So, it has to be Royal, buttercream or Tootsie Rolls. I have limited time to do them, so...

Should the petals be thinner and should I add a third row (7 petals)? Some came out better than others and frankly, it stinks to have issues with Tootsie Roll roses when they are easy to make I used Hershey kisses for the base, should I use a Tootsie for the center to make it lighter? How will these get attached to the cake if she wants them cascading? Any other advice, opinions, thoughts, suggestions, whatever welcome!

Oh my gosh! Those are adorable! I wouldn't add a third row unless you needed really big roses.

Yummy, tootsie rolls are my favorite!

Hey, some of us are "rose challenged"! I didn't get the hang of them until a year ago, and I've been doing cakes for years! Maybe she needs a lesson!

I've never made them before but I do think yours look great. The two in the corners of the back row don't look quite as great as the all the others but they are still great! Maybe those were your first two or something, I'm not sure. They don't look like the need the extra row of petals. They look very full now. Good luck with making more and sorry I don't know how you'd attach them. Maybe a skewer but I don't know if the skewer would start slicing it in half.

They look wonderful. How do you make TR roses? Are they the same as fondant?

If you change the base to a tootsie roll it'll be soft enough to push in a wire or a lollipop stick depending on what you need to do.

The ones in the front row look fuller, maybe you could just add an extra row to the one's in the back there. Or they would be just fine the way they are, different sizes are good to!! I don't even know how to make them, so I think they all look great!!! How do you make tootsie roll roses, I would love to make those

Do you make tootsie roll and caramel acorns in the fall? They are so easy as well!

So...how do you make them?

YOu make them pretty much the same way you'd do gumpaste roses. You can often the roses in the micro for a couple of seconds, or like a friend of mine, put a bunch in a baggie and walk around with them in your pockets (weird), this softens them so they are pliable and can be shaped.

They look great, i dont think you need another row of petals and the petals are thin enough IMO. If she wants them cascading maybe you can stick a toothpick in the ones you with use for the sides and stick it into the cake. Just be sure to pull those out before serving. HTH.

BTW do you soften them, roll them out and then cut out petals and shape??

Interesting. I've never heard of TR roses. They look fantastic to me! You could add another row to see how it looks. I guess it depends on how full of a rose you want?

You did a great job!!

Jeeze! your roses look beautiful! Did you use cutters or form each petal free hand? Have been wanting to do these and you look like an expert with these. Please tell me how you did it.
Thanks
Amy

they look great...I think you're doing a great job. You can stick tooth picks into the kisses before you add the "petals" so you can just stick them into the cake.

I've made them with the different colored/flavored tootsie rolls. I can post a picture when my DH comes home with his digital camera. I can explain how I make them.

I take a mini tootsie roll and microwave it about 15 seconds. I use a paring knife and slice it lengthwise. Then I cut the length into five equal pieces, so now (because I split it lengthwise) I have ten pieces. I flatten 9 pieces between my finger and thumb into basically circles. I take the last piece and form a tiny cone. I take one of the flat pieces and elongate it a little and wrap it around the tip of the cone for the center. Then I put three petals around that and finally five petals around that. Voila!

These do take a lot longer than making buttercream roses; but at least there is no drying out time.

Your roses look great but would be even more realistic if the petals were thinner. Maybe it's just me, though. I have made the TR roses and was very pleased they way they came out. They seem easier to form that fondant and taste sooo much better. Good luck, I'm sure they will be beautiful.

I think they look great. I think they look more realistic when they are all a little different from each other. I would just add another row if you need larger roses. I have only tried one TR rose but would love to do more and also try starburst.

How far in advance can you make tootsie roll or other candy roses? How do you store them until ready to use?

Thanks,
Cindy

You can also buy the fruit flavored tootsie rolls, that come in pretty colors like pink (strawberry) , red (cherry), orange, green (lime) etc. They would be prettier more realistic flowers. I have seen chocolate roses on choc. cakes all the time, but I have never seen a real brown rose...LOL Well unless it was dying..hahaha

I never thought of candy for roses before! Now I am intrigued. Would salt water taffy work too? All those pretty pastels and stripes would make great roses!

Those are really good ideas! Something to experiment with!

you can also use starburst candies to make them, that would give you more color choices as well. I think the petals should be a bit thinner and more ruffly around the edges, but these look good. is it going to be a chocolate cake?

Those are so cute! And you did a great job with them, too. I don't think they need another row, although you could make some with more petals, just to vary the sizes if you wanted to.

I'm with everybody else. I think I may have seen an article on how to do them, but I don't still have it. When you start cutting the tootsie roll, which size are you using? The old-fashioned size, that's a few inches long, and thin?

Wow, those look really good. I can't make a buttercream rose to save my life. I saw this post, looked at your picture, grabbed a tootsie roll, and viola!! My best rose ever!! (not saying it was great, but still, my best rose ever).
OK, I'm off track here. I think your roses look great. I might add another row to the few that seem a little skinner. but also think they look great just as they are...good job!

I didn't know that could be done-YUMMY! I think these look really good! What a concept.

Thanks very much everyone for your kind words and opinions. Anyone who has photos of theirs, please post them or let me know they are in your gallery.

I'm not sure what happened to those two in the back/top row....I know the left one I was out of cut pieces. The one in the middle on the bottom I thought came out the best. I think they could be thinner, too. I did those by hand, I don't have cutters. I think the next couple I try I will roll out so they get nice and thin. The warmed candies were melting the kisses, too but just slightly. I have never seen the colored Tootsies, I will have to look for those but these would be fun with Starburst. I will try some tomorrow and post them, see if I can get them thinner and a more realistic look.

They will take longer than buttercream and being that I don't know how many she needs, I still am not sure if these are an option. They are nice but somehow I don't think they will look right on a wedding cake.....?

i know that cakemommy has starburst roses in her gallery. They look great! her stuff is awesome! depending on the cake she makes I think the colored starbursts would look good enough to have on a wedding cake.

freddfly, the cake is going to be ice cream cake covered in ganache. I was concerned about the roses melting/softening (thinking buttercream originally when she asked) but the roses will outlast the cake even if they were buttercream. I don't mind helping her but the lack of info is not helping me any. I leave for vacation four days after she returns, so I really have limited time to do whatever kind it is she wants.

These are Tootsie Roll roses on this cake. They were difficult to make--probably because I didn't soften the Tootsie Rolls in the microwave first! That would have helped a lot.

Yours look great. I agree that slightly thinner petals would add to the effect, though.