Hi Everyone,

I have never used fresh flowers on a cake before. I have a customer who wants fresh flowers placed all around the top of her cake around the edge. She wants them to be multi colored and bright.

Can I place fresh flowers on top of the cake (with a little frosting) as long as I use organic flowers?

Thanks for your help!

bricker

Yes if they are organic and edible flowers. Go to http://whatscookingamerica.net/EdibleFlowers/EdibleFlowersMain.htm for a list.

I've never tried using fresh flowers in a cake but I think it would be nice...Please post pictures here for the finished product..Thanks

Thanks for getting back to me on this. I really appreciate it. Thank you for the website with the list of edible flowers. That is really very helpful.

bricker

I am making my first wedding cake for a friend and she wants fresh flowers on top of hers too. I purchased flower spikes from my local cake decorating store. They are little vases that hold water and keep the flowers watered and the flower stem does not ever touch the cake. Good luck

I forgot to ask.....how far in advance can you put fresh flowers on a cake?

bricker

You should always place some sort of barrier between the flowers and the cake if possible. Orangic doesn't mean food safe or free of bacteria.

HTH!

Jennifer

OK so this cake is going to be round and the flowers are going to go on the top of the cake and all around the top of the cake in a circle near the edge of the cake. I don't know the best way to put all those flowers on the top. Does it make sense to put them all in flower spikes or just cover the stems in florist tape? If I use spikes I am picturing all kinds of holes on top of the cake when the flowers are removed.
Also, how far in advance can I place fresh flowers on a cake? A few hours or what?
Thanks for any help you can give me!!!

bricker

I have used fresh flowers, organic, no barrier, no spikes. When I asked about flower spikes, I was told not to use them, they aren't worth it. The flowers I used stayed fresh looking for many hours just fine.[/img]

I did a wedding cake a few weeks ago with fresh peonies and roses. I just wrapped the stems with plastic wrap and sealed it really tight with a piece of tape. I put the flowers on at noon, cake back in fridge and it still looked great at 10 PM
It's the pink one in my gallery

I have done many wedding cakes with fresh flowers. I have made the arrangements for the top myself and also done by a florist as well. The top arrangement can be made using a very shallow small plastic bowl. (Have used the disposable ones made by rubbermaid) You can buy the foam oasis that you can wet and insert flowers into that. The arrangement must hang over the bowl, use fillers such as greenery and babys breath. I sometimes scoop out some of the top cake to hide some of the bowl in the cake as well. If the flowers are going to lay directly on the cake. first I make sure the icing is dry and crusted. I cut wax paper to fit under the flowers. Of course I always check the list to make sure I'm using flowers that are not toxic in the first place. I don't use toxic flowers even if I am using some type of barrier. Just isn't safe. The safe flowers, I use some sort of barrier and try to decrease any contact between the cake and the flowers as much as possible. Hope it helps some. Also, about how long flowers stay looking good depends on a few things. First the type of flowers. Roses, daisy and carnations hold up very well. I used pansies one time, they lasted through the party but were looking very droopy by the end. Also depends on the temp. But I would say you could put flowers on several hours before be ok. Good Luck!!! By the way I think fresh flowers make some the most beautiful wedding cakes.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions!!!!! Now I feel like I can decorate the cake with fresh flowers and feel confident.

bricker