OK so these are probably stupid questions  but I am a reasonably novice homebaker who is making cupcakes for the wedding of a friend's daughter.  One of the flavours she wants is a lemon drizzle cupcake which I thought i might decorate with lemon buttercream with a viola flower - i have  a cutter and will be practicing but its occurred to me that the flowers will need to be made from modelling paste not fondant that i would use to cover a cake - i know the modelling paste can be rolled much thinner so the flowers will be more delicate, but they will also dry out more than fondant would - will they be edible?  Do wedding guests generally eat all the decorations on cupcakes?  Should i use something other than modeling paste?

Also I am intending to pipe individual buttercream roses to go on the plain vanilla flavoured cupcakes she wants - how far in advance can these individual flowers be made and still be edible?  Can I make them and freeze them?

Many thanks in advance, Helen

I think modelling paste is the same thing as gumpaste.  In that case, it is technically edible, but no one would enjoy eating it.  They can be removed or you use something like modelling chocolate.

Most of the flowers I have made over the years were in fondant.  They dry hard/solid enough for easy handling.  I can get fondant rolled quite thin.  You can always add some Tylose powder OR use Wilton's dry gumpaste mix.  Either will help the fondant be less delicate/soft but yes, it does dry out a  bit faster.  These can be made weeks in advanced.

As for b'cream roses, use a recipe that has only 1 cup fat to 1# of powdered sugar and don't add any liquid.   If it is too hard to squeeze through your tip add a bit of piping gel or just a bit of water to soften it.  The less fat compared to sugar the more the b'cream will crust therefore you will be able to handle the flowers.  I would make b'crream flowers  up to a week in advance.  Store them in a cake box or similar out of heat & light to keep them dust free.  Some people will tell you to freeze the flowers but the heat of your hands melts them almost immediately and can be a real problem trying to place them :(  Air dried won't give you any problems.  There's another old thread regarding this topic:  

Quote from indydebi:   Let them air dry. Don't freeze them. Things that are frozen will "melt" when removed from the freezer.  http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-674832-cascade.htm

And another thread with similar info: http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-676696-air.html+fbct

thank you both so much - I'll certainly have a look at those links and investigate modelling chocolate - I know I can get it in different colours - she's having yellow roses and i thought it would be nice to echo that colour in the cake flowers.

These are some orchids I made using fondant that I worked some Tylose or CMC powder into...you can roll the flowers out really thin and they dry firm and taste much better than gumpaste :)

Also fondant comes in a variety of colours....may help lessen the number of steps you need to take...have fun !! :)

Kakeladi - What does the 1# of powdered sugar mean?

Lovely orchids.  I have got some gum tragacanth which i see is the same sort of product as tylo powder/cmc so i will have a play!

I'm sorry I thought everybody knew that the # was a symbol for pound.   

thank you - i didnt realise the # meant a pound but my husband has helpfully said he knew that!!

When I've made small gumpaste decorations, they usually get eaten, especially if there are kids at the wedding, dried fondant and dried gumpaste just taste like sugar.  At one wedding where the decorations were different forest themed items, acorns, leaves, ferns, etc.  the kids were trading each other to make sure they got to eat one of each.  And if someone doesn't want to eat it, they can always leave it on the plate.   

thank you all