Do You Use Ri Flowers In Cake Decorating? ..why?
Decorating By ZlatkaT Updated 18 Feb 2010 , 6:30am by JanelleH
It has been over a year when I finished my Wilton classes. And since that I never use the RI flowers I learned there, on any of my cakes. It is kind of sad, because they are so fun to make, even they don't look as real as gumpaste flowers. I was wondering if any of you bakers are using RI flowers in cake decorating, or if you stick to gumpaste flowers.
...why?
I always keep RI flowers around that I make with leftover RI (I never throw anything out). If someone orders a basic sheet cake or round cake, I may put a few on for added detail (No charge to customer) or I put one on top of a cake truffle or sugar cookie, cupcake or chocolate covered oreo. For more expensive cakes and more elegant ones I stick with gumpaste flowers but RI flowers are good to have around (they last forever)
I stick to gumpaste flowers because I prefer the way they look. Piped flowers have never been my thing. I can do BC roses and all that, but I don't love the look. I think it's the perfectionist in me... I like that gumpaste flowers look so real.
I stick to gumpaste flowers because I prefer the way they look. Piped flowers have never been my thing. I can do BC roses and all that, but I don't love the look. I think it's the perfectionist in me... I like that gumpaste flowers look so real.
Ditto!
That being said, when I enter my State Fair, I always compete against a lady who does nothing but a variation on the RI petunia. She takes first place consistently.
This has nothing to do with RI flowers vs. gumpaste, but until last year (and I petitioned for the change) the culinary specialists at the State Fair would only consider fondant covered cakes to fall into the classification as "Foreign Methods." We're a little behind --even though we are the 4th largest State Fair in the USA. 
I only do if I make some and since the RI recipe I use is too much I hardly ever make them.I find it too time consuming..I just make them on the cake in BC.
I know I'm probably in the vast minority here, but I don't like messing with fondant and gumpaste. Of course I prefer the look of gumpaste flowers, but as for what I make, I stick with RI. I enjoy making them and I still like the way they look, even if they aren't as realistic. Either way, I'm a total hobbyist, so anything I do is pretty much up to me anyway. If I were selling, I'd probably make the jump to fondant and gumpaste.
I use my regular buttercream icing for flowers. Never saw a need to use RI. 
can't figure out why people do. They crust well, hold their shape fine, and don't get rock hard so they are edible.
I guess I'm just too lazy to make 2 different kinds of icing. One batch works for everything and that works for me! 
I like royal icing flowers because they are edible and sometimes it's just easier to serve cake without telling everyone what is and is not edible and having to pull the cake apart as I'm serving it. I'm starting to cross over into the world of gumpaste flowers and like PP I like the realistic look of gumpaste flowers but I think I will continue to use royal icing flowers on certain cakes.
It is good to hear, that RI flowers are used by bakers. I found fun to make them, and I agree with other posters, that they are edible, actually they soften with the BC a bit. I was just wondering, because I don't see many cakes in gallery with RI flowers. It just look to me that GP flowers dominating in the cake decorating business.
Indydebi, wow, it sounds difficult for me to imagine BC flowers pipe straight on cake. I still have all those circle guides for each flower that we used in Wilton classes.
So, IndyDeb on your roses and pearls cake (which is beautiful by the way) how did you get your buttercream roses to stay on the side of the cake? Mine always fall off. 
TIA
So, IndyDeb on your roses and pearls cake (which is beautiful by the way) how did you get your buttercream roses to stay on the side of the cake? Mine always fall off.
TIA
You need to let them air dry. You can probably toss them across the room and have someone catch them, but they are still soft enough to eat, in the center.
When BC flowers air dry, the moisture evaporates, making the flower REALLY lightweight. Like almost weightless. A little dab of BC on the backside to glue them to the side ... quick, simple and easy!
Indydebi, wow, it sounds difficult for me to imagine BC flowers pipe straight on cake. I still have all those circle guides for each flower that we used in Wilton classes.
Circle guides? What the heck is a circle guide?
I can pipe rosebuds and half-roses directly on a cake but most everything else I make ahead of time so they can air dry. (only takes a few hours, but I prefer them to dry overnight.)
Indy Deb,
What recipe do you use? I have tried this with the wilton recipe and sugarshacks but it never seems to dry enough.
I definitely use RI flowers. I happen to like them. I guess like most things, they have their place. I like them for simple family birthday cakes. If I was doing something more elegant and dramatic I would probably try gum paste. I have not gotten the hang of gum paste flowers yet, so that is probably why I use RI. But I have seen some absolutely beautiful cakes with RI flowers, I just think the color palette needs to be sophisticated for it to work. Garish colors make them seem cheap I think.
Indy Deb,
What recipe do you use? I have tried this with the wilton recipe and sugarshacks but it never seems to dry enough.
The only icing I've used for 30 years .... this one:
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/author/indydebi
There are some flowers that you can't make with buttercream as easily, like lilies or curved daisies....those you have to let dry.
I think that RI flowers look good on buttercream cakes and gumpaste flowers look good on fondant cakes. Like you probably would not put fancy gumpaste flowers on a basketweave buttercream cake but buttercream or royal icing roses and flowers look really cute in a basketweave. (I have one pages back in my photos where I did three separate tiers, in basketweave, with each topped with fresh berries and RI flowers and I personally think its cute haha)
I guess maybe RI is going out of style in some places though...with all the popularity of fondant and gumpaste.
Circle guides? What the heck is a circle guide?
They're little round templates that you stick to your flower nail so you can see exactly how far out you should take your petals and what not. You put a piece of wax paper over top of it before piping your flowers.
Generally speaking, I prefer icing flowers over fondant and gumpaste, which I use almost exclusively on wedding cakes. I mostly pipe my flowers in buttercream or whipped icings and place them directly on my cake, but I like to keep an assortment of types and colors of RI flowers on hand to use as filler flowers, or as additional decoration on a cake that is otherwise decorated.
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