Edible Trees & Shrubs For Cake
Decorating By BakingJeannie Updated 12 Jun 2008 , 5:00am by BlakesCakes
Good day bakers,
I am in the process of making a cake in the shape of a famous mansion and would like to know what is the best way to create the pine and palm trees plus shrubs around the house. Or is there a place (online if possible) in the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area of Florida I could buy them?
This cake is due June 30. Thanks for any help I could get.
Regards,
Jeannie 
Hi BakingJeannie,
For pine trees, I use sugar cones. I pipe the branches, starting at the bottom with tip #18 or #21. For palm trees, I've used pretzel rods for the trunk or made a fondant log then added fondant leaves for the frawns. Attach those to the top of the pretzel rod or log with royal icing.
For shrubs, I've just piped a blob of buttercream and either added flowers to it or used a small knife or even a pin to "pull out" the frosting a bit in places to make it look kind of spikey. Or you can just form a shrub out of fondant.
Hope that helps!
KimAZ
Thank you very much. I will try these techniques.
Cheers!
Jeannie
I've done the small shrubs using rice krispie treats. You can mold them by hand into any shape or size (for a house cake I did, I made a long privet hedge). After you have the shape you want and they've dried for awhile, you can then dip them in color. I had some straight airbrush green & brown that I diluted with Everclear, but you can mix gel/paste colors with vodka, gin, or Everclear and use that, too. The color doesn't have to be very thick--thinner & multiple dips in it work best.
Here's the pic from my photos:
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1040013
HTH
Rae
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