Practicing Sugar Flower Tulips

I know I'm WAY off season for sugar tulips...at least in this part of the world...but I have been wanting to try my hand at some parrot tulips since I had the chance to take a sugar flower class with the very talented James Rosselle last month. I have made tulips before, but the petals were very simple...nothing like the fun and flirty petals for the parrot variety!

So after enjoying a thorough introduction to parrot tulips in class a few weeks ago, I spent part of a day practicing and re-creating them...

Drying petals:



Dusting the petals with color and pearl:



The finished tulip petals all taped together:



And a little peek at their centers:



I can't wait to try them in different colors and use them in a new topper...how about fluffy white tulips mixed with peonies and hydrangea? I don't think I want to wait until Spring for this one...so please stay tuned...and thanks for stopping by!

Copyright © 2010 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler - please respect copyright laws. If you want to link to my blog, or post any of my photos, please contact me - it would be great to have the opportunity to connect with you. Thank you!

Practicing Sugar Flower Tulips

Petalsweet Preparing for ICES Part III

Hello everyone! Here is the final installment about the display cake I made for the ICES Convention 2010. I certainly appreciate everyone who has been reading and following along...thank you for your patience and encouragement! I hope you like the cake!

In my last post, I left off with photos of all of the flowers in different stages of being finished:



Stacked tiers covered with chocolate fondant... the sizes were 4 - 6 - 8 - 10 - 14 inches in diameter and most were 4 inches tall. The 8 inch tier was 5 inches tall:



Dusted hydrangea flowers and buds:



All of the flowers organized and close at hand on the day I made the cake topper and smaller arrangements. Ranunculus, peonies, hydrangea, freesia, filler flowers and lots of little buds and leaves:



Half of a Styrofoam ball that was used as the base for the topper:



The topper in progress...most of the larger flowers were in place and I was starting to add filler flowers and buds:



The completed topper with all of the flowers:



And here the leaves have been added to the base of the bouquet. The topper is almost 9 inches across:



I used my favorite chocolate brown/white stitching grosgrain ribbon around the base of all of the tiers. The original design sketch had green ribbon with white edging...but in the end, the additional color of that ribbon competed with all of the flowers, so I went with a more tailored and subtle choice...and I actually like it much better!



Keeping the back of the cake as neat and tidy as possible...with the exception of a few smudges:



The small arrangement for the cake:



The large arrangement for the bottom tier:



And at last...the completed cake design:



And a second view from the top so you can see more detail in the topper:



Again many, many thanks for stopping by, and for all of your wonderful comments and good wishes! And now that the convention is over...it's back to work on more flowers and some new designs...coming soon!

Copyright © 2010 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler - please respect copyright laws. If you want to link to my blog, or post any of my photos, please contact me - it would be great to have the opportunity to connect with you. Thank you!

Petalsweet Preparing for ICES Part III

Petalsweet Preparing for ICES Part II

The ICES Convention is about a week away now, and I am just about finished with all of the prep work for my display cake. I need to complete my peony flowers and buds, and will be dusting my freesia and hydrangea flowers today and tomorrow...and hopefully it will all be done just in time to create the floral topper and arrangements this weekend. Here are a few more photos from this past week!

Yellow ranunculus flowers:



The flower prep so far without the peonies and freesia:



Getting ready to dust the leaves:



Dusted hydrangea leaves:



Glazed hydrangea, peony and gardenia leaves:



Styrofoam order from last week...and somewhere in there are the specific tiers I decided to use for my display cake:



...and they have already been covered with fondant, and are ready to be stacked and decorated with the final elements of my design! I'm keeping things pretty simple to balance the tiers and the flowers...and I'm looking forward to having it all come together!

More photos coming soon...thanks for stopping by!

Copyright © 2010 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler - please respect copyright laws. If you want to link to my blog, or post any of my photos, please contact me - it would be great to have the opportunity to connect with you. Thank you!

Petalsweet Preparing for ICES Part II

Petalsweet Preparing for ICES Part I

This summer the ICES Convention is being held in San Diego! For those of you not familiar with it, the International Cake Exploration Societe is an organization of over 4000 cake decorators, sugar artists and vendors from around the world!

I became a member earlier this year to have the opportunity meet and learn from other decorators and artists, and to plug into the ever-increasing network of people who love to do the same things I love to do. I also decided that I would attend the convention this year because it is so close to home. Many of my colleagues and cake friends are traveling to participate in the convention as well, and I am really looking forward to seeing everyone.

In addition to the many demonstrations offered and the vendor shopping, the convention boasts a room to display the work of the attendees. Anyone can bring a sample of their work....it's not a competition, but an opportunity for folks to share their craft. And because the logistics are very much in my favor this year (no long and precarious trip in a car or plane)...I have registered to bring a cake to add to the display!

I thought I might post a few photos along the way...I'm feeling pretty organized at this posting, and hopefully the process will continue to move forward smoothly. Enjoy the photos and let me know what you think as the cake takes shape! I'd give you a look at my final sketch, but that would spoil the surprise...



Sneak peek:



Filler flowers, freesia buds and hydrangea centers:



Leaves and more leaves:



White ranunculus flowers ready for final dusting:



Thanks for stopping by...and stay tuned for more photos!

Copyright © 2010 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler - please respect copyright laws. If you want to link to my blog, or post any of my photos, please contact me - it would be great to have the opportunity to connect with you. Thank you!

Petalsweet Preparing for ICES Part I

Sugar Flower Ranunculus and Gardenias

Although sugar flower peonies are still in very high demand, the flower that is currently holding strong in second place is the ranunculus! I have had many inquiries about this adorable flower, and have been so happy to have the opportunity to both make them and teach them!

I recently worked with two lovely and talented students for a full day of sugar flower private instruction. On the curriculum...gorgeous deep pink ranunculus flowers, and the always elegant gardenia.

Getting started...all the tools and supplies in place:



Work in progress:



The color palette for the day:



Dusting flowers and buds:





All of the beautiful ranunculus flowers:



Fabulous student work:



All of our completed flowers and buds:



Adorable and happy students:



And how cute is this? My student sent me a few photos of her gardenias...a beautiful close-up with the leaves attached:



And one of her gorgeous sugar flowers sitting among REAL gardenias...it looks amazing:



Many, many thanks to my wonderful students...it was a great day filled with laughter and some fabulous flower-making!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Copyright © 2010 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler - please respect copyright laws. If you want to link to my blog, or post any of my photos, please contact me - it would be great to have the opportunity to connect with you. Thank you!

Sugar Flower Ranunculus and Gardenias

Sugar Flower Ranunculus Cake Topper

I hope you are having a wonderful summer! I recently finished another sugar vase cake topper...this one was filled with white ranunculus, peonies and filler flowers, green hydrangea, and a variety of little buds and leaves. The final bouquet was in a color palette of white and different shades of green...perfect for a summer wedding cake!

Here are some of the flowers in progress:



The sugar vase in progress (I made a base too, but later decided I did not want to use it in the final design):





Styrofoam ball "glued" into the vase with royal icing...I arranged all the flowers in the ball:



And here is the completed topper:



Thank you so much for stopping by!

Copyright © 2010 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler - please respect copyright laws. If you want to link to my blog, or post any of my photos, please contact me - it would be great to have the opportunity to connect with you. Thank you!

Sugar Flower Ranunculus Cake Topper

Modern Peony Cake

I traveled down a busy and bumpy road this past June...one filled with many twists and turns that also took me away from all the fun things that make up Petalsweet!

One of the biggest turns looked like this:



And the amount of time involved was staggering! There is nothing quite like moving, right? But all is finally settled and in place, and I am grateful to have time to create again!

I wanted to create a design that was fresh and modern, and I actually found these before I drew my sketch:



And I knew I wanted to use some of these:



This is the final result...two tiers covered with chocolate fondant, and decorated with over-sized sugar peonies and a scattering of leaves. Grosgrain ribbons finish the base of the tiers:



Thank you for stopping by!

Copyright © 2010 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler - please respect copyright laws. If you want to link to my blog, or post any of my photos, please contact me - it would be great to have the opportunity to connect with you. Thank you!

Modern Peony Cake