I have a request for a cake that is completely covered in buttercream flowers, top & sides (violets & roses/buds). I'm worried that buttercream flowers will be heavy & slide off, but I don't want to use royal icing because I don't want the number of flowers to affect the taste...Any suggestions on how to keep these suckers from sliding?

well , you violets and buds aren,t going to slide. and try piping your roses on a very thin skewer or short skewer and put right into cake... hope i have made sense...

make the BC flowers ahead of time and let them air dry. AIR DRY. NOT freezing. Air drying removes the moisture in the flower, leaving you with a VERY lightweight BC flower.

Use just some regular BC to attached them to the sides and they'll hold just fine. Been doing it this way for 30 years. What I usually do is pipe the BC leaves or vine on the cake and just plop the air dried flower on this. Holds it great.

Here's an old cake (grainy pic) with the BC flowers on the side. This was even an outdoor wedding and they held fine: http://forum.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=155123

HEre's one just a couple of years ago with cascading roses: http://forum.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=750403


Small rosebuds I sometimes make right on the cake to fill in a spot here or there.

Thank you both for the great advice! I'm feeling much more confident about this cake now!