As everyone says, don't stick anything into the cake you would not eat :)

Great Advice ;-)

Thank you for your thread on the floral wire! I always wondered about putting wire into or even on a cake! I love the look it gives, "but how sturdy and how safe can it really be?", was my exact thoughts. Your idea for the straws is brilliant! You can go to your local Sam's Club or even speak with a grocery store owner/manager about ordering some from them (they usually have ordering quotas to meet each week and appreciate the customers who order in bulk for this reason!) My folks own a small store and I can tell you first hand, this is why you sometimes receive a discount for buying in bulk, it helps the owners so much! In fact, we try to order cases of grocery staples when we can!! Back to cake talk now, lol, The florist picks that someone else mentioned is another good and affordable idea if you had a good size cluster of wires. I am so inspired and ready to take on this decorating skill, now that I have found a better alternative to doing it!! Thank you so much again!!!!!!! :D

thanks for the heads up.  Also great idea on the royal icing. Thank you.

I whole heartedly agree. I have never placed wire into a cake. So dangerous, imagine if it was ingested. An easy way of anchoring flowers to a cake that are wired is to roll out a thin fondant disc and let dry overnight . Secure this to the cake with Royal Icing, then place an appropriately sized ball of fondant onto the disc and insert the wires into this , you will need to trim the wires to size. The wires never enter the cake and the arrangement can be removed prior to cutting the cake by running a knife gently between the surface of the cake and the fondant disc.

AHear hear! It's a big no no here in Ireland too!

Here's my thought.I want EVERYTHING on my cake to be edible, so I don't really want to mess with wires, etc.

If you don't want to be able to eat your flowers, buy silk flowers!

Anyone agree?

I usually don't post on here, mostly because I am busy as could be with business, but this caught my eye and may I say AMEN!!! Floral wires are NOT SAFE, oh and may I mention FEATHERS!? It seriously gets under my skin when I see pictures and even worse actual cakes by other 'bakers' who have shoved almost anything you can think of into a dessert to be fed to people! I don't think it is rocket science to come to the conclusion that if it is not something you can safely eat, you don't push it into, on top of or around a cake! So glad to see someone is speaking up about this potentially hazardous behavior! Just like the original post use poly dowels, straws, etc., things that are safe to touch food, the flowers and feathers and every thing else don't have to be done away with, just used in a proper manner. Thank you again for posting :)

AI get it now thanks x

i know it is expensive but charge accordingly.....i use stainless steel wire if i am doing a cake with the floppy bits and pieces sticking out of them...stainless steel is food safe as we all know....it is not easy to come by but you can get it in different thicknesses also...i got mine from a welding supply place but they did have to order it in for me.....

AI love the straw idea!

Thanks for the information. Yes, I've experienced that..I've found wires on my sister's engagement cake. At first, I taught it was something that similar to icing or something like that... but when I tried to cut it with scissor, it was really hard to separate it. 

http://048cbnhny6l0b2dpc6no-t4p2m.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=CAKES  
 

AIf you are using stainless steel, please make sure its food grade, and not made in China.

http://www.cake-stuff.com/equipment-c7/wires-c63/wilton-posy-pick-flower-spike-75mm-p1747

Thank you!!! Great advice. I havent used wires yet but when I do, I will do this.

ALook when I said wire I was thinking you guys knew the ones sold for food use....if I said put flour in ur cake you know which to use right? Take it easy. I was thinking wraping around the berrys not in them...someone asked for help I was trying to help looks like I will not do that any more seeing how you have all that's needed.......

That's just it: there isn't a whole lot of wire that can truly be described as food-safe. The only kinds that come to my mind immediately would be the skewers in a turkey lacing kit, and orthodontist's wire. Florist wire certainly isn't, and neither is the stuff you find in the K+S racks at, say, a model train shop.

I am so glad that I stumbled upon this post.  I have been using wire in cakes but the wire that Duff sells in the cake aisle at the craft store.  Geez.. I never would have thought.  and the floral wire- I've used the wilton floral supplies found in the cake section as well.  The girl at the craft store told me that it is all food safe in that aisle when I was looking for metal to make a cutter. 

What if it was wrapped in tin foil.  would that be safe?

I would suggest using coffee stirrers to insert the wires in.  They are smaller and would be less noticeable.

Thanks for sharing this as I'm sure a lot of people were not aware of this.  I've been using straws and keep a variety of sizes on hand.

I have always used flower picks to put my wires in as they come in 3 to 4 sizes depending on the spray or decoration you are going to use and have always taught my students wires into cakes are one of the biggest no nos in Sugar craft

 John Lewis UK

Excellent advice!! Thank you!!! :)

Thank you for posting this. I do use the coffee and regular size straws, and it works like a gem! I find it definitely adds stability to the wire too :)

AGood to know thanks!!

This is great advice but I thought it was standard practice.  Do people really stick wires straight into their cakes??!

Great information, thank you.

Ok..before knowing that sticking wire straight into cake(despite finding it in the cake decorating section) was a no-no.i cant understand..WHY!!!DO THEY SAG???!!!EVERY TIME I HAVE TRIED USING WIRES THEY SAG AND TEAR MY CAKE!!i have to try and shove it in further than i want or else it acts heavy and leans..i used gumpaste decorations thinking it would be lighter than fondant ones..but still have issues..WHAT AM I DOING WRONG OR NOT KNOWING!!PLEASE??ANYONE?SOOOOO FRUSTRATED!!(if you cant guess by my caps!!hahaha)