I had a request for a 50th wedding anniversary cake that I'm doing this upcoming weekend. The cakes they requested had fondant / sugar paste roses. I've started on the roses early case I run into problems this is my first time actually doing roses with fondant plus Tylos powder.  I let my petals dry overnight. However they're not as flexible, but I'll find whenever I attach the Rose petals before drying out they tend to droop and tear. I'm wondering is this due to the water that I'm using to glue the Roses? Would it be better to use  a light coat  of melted white candy melts?

I would want to use gum paste only for roses -- but I can see me rigging something up with a lot of corn starch too -- for your project  i'd add more tylose before I added chocolate -- a lot of fondanty mixtures like this are better the next day -- and I often dry mine upside down --

well I dry them upside down when I use wires inside instead of toothpicks and wrap the wire over/around the side of a cake pan that's been set on the turntable so there's room for them to dangle down -- but you need a nice stiff product too

I have made many many roses w/fondant w/tylose   Do not dry the petels   It does sound like you are using too much water   Just a very little goes a long way   Make a slurry of fondant and water to mud consistency   What I  see in yours is the lack of movement   Pinch and tweak the edges    Make the edges thinner leaving the rest of the petal a bit thicker by running a ball tool over the edges before they dry will also help

BTW you can see some of my roses in my photos  

I am by no means an expert but when I make roses I have used just fondant and also used a mix of fondant and gumpaste. I cut petals, thin the edges, give them some shape by rolling edges and pinching. I then lay the petals on dessert spoons to dry a little - says a few minutes. Then I attach them to the rose. They tend to hold shape. I often dry upside down for the first couple of layers

So here is the cake that was requested,  except it's going to be square and 3 tiers .

 All my replies are not being posted for some reason. But anyway here's a picture of the cake that was requested except it's going to square with three tiers instead of two.

 Thanks for the tips and suggestions. So I suppose I should throw out the old roses and start over?

  I also am having trouble posting    You really don’t need to throw them out Just make more improved ones  :)  I forgot to say to put them in spoons to dry maybe an hour  - yes good tip   You can use plastic ones    

debbieshobby -- yeah I do that too -- the spoons

So here you go ladies.  I pulled out all the toothpicks and replaced them with floral wire. I stuck them in there with candy melts to ensure that they stayed. I think it looks somewhat better than the other ones however I got a little creative and used a heart shape cutter to make the inside petals and then I used a round shape cutter to make the last two rows of the out side petals. 

that is really nice, nana -- next one make the bud tighter in the center so you can't see down into it -- very very pretty!

Great  improvement   Do as K8 said 

Your roses look at least as good as the ones in the inspiration picture. Absolutely no reason to toss them!  

I make all of my roses, starting with a cone made from gum paste or styrofoam, mounted on a wire.  That makes it a whole lot easier to manage your petals and get a tight center.  I use spoons for letting my larger leaves dry for several minutes, about 10 or 15, and hang the bloom upside down when it starts getting large enough for the outer petals to droop.  It needs to dry upside down for about 30 minutes.  It does help to use a very light coating of glue or it gets too wet and slippery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtRGBaWgRCc&feature=youtu.be

Kara rose. once the centers tightly wound, you can add as many, or as few petals as you wish.

So I did try to wind the Bud's of the Roses tightly but did not work out so what I do is make little tiny Buds and secure them in the center and they turned out really well. 

...here is the finished product. Not perfect by any means, but I thought it turned out well. 

lotsa hard work there, nana -- pretty pretty roses!!!

Great work gal   Glad we could help 

they look good!  well done.  

Beautiful cake and great roses!  Your roses look like satin.  If you enjoy making flowers, you may want to try gum paste, which (to me) is much easier to work with for flowers and drys very quickly.

Thank you! And Thanks for the help. The satin looking roses were completely intentional....lol.. as far as the gumpaste I know it's better to use gumpaste but it's really hard for me to work gumpaste because of the arthritis I have in my hands and fibromyalgia. So I use fondant and tylose powder.  I didn't have a foam pad to shape the petals either. I used the balling tool and the palm of my hand. So I thought they turned out OK. 

The suggestion of using gum paste wasn't a criticism because your fondant roses are beautiful.  I just find it easier to use for making flowers.  My hands are very twisted and crippled with arthritis, too, and it helps me to warm my fondant, gum paste, modeling paste and modeling chocolate in the microwave for a few seconds, when I am getting started, to make it soft and easier to handle.

Sandra smiley ☺ I understand, I didn't take it as criticism. I'm always open to any suggestions  because I have so much to learn. I didnt think about the microwave. Thanks! I will try that. 

I would not ever be able to manage any of those pastes without warming them first.  I helps a bunch and it only takes a few seconds.

Your cake is lovely, and so are your roses. If you a medium density mat of some kind, or silicone mat, you can certainly use that to thin your petals with a ball tool. I just usually use my fingers with my petals under some plastic wrap, or a ziplock bag. Just push on the petals gently until I get them to the shape I want, and the thinness. 

@jchuck Thank you☺