sugaring flowers

I have been totally charmed by simple wedding cakes lately. Sugared flowers have been around forever, but lately I have seen some beautiful cakes on Pinterest, and at some of the very chic barn weddings I've photographed in the last nine months. They have that homemade organic feel, simple, and quite beautiful, it seems brides are moving away from the ornate bakery cakes, and leaning more towards homespun dessert tables, and I am loving it. I adore the look of vintage 1940's milk glass cake stands and eclectic china to add the the charm of the dessert table. You can easily find things like this on ebay, or at tag sales, and flea markets. So I thought I would share with you a "how to" on sugaring your own edible flowers. They are so sweet atop a simple cake. They keep for up to two weeks, once they are finished, so it is a feasible DIY project, you can tackle several weeks before the rush of the wedding.

Ingredients
1-2 cups of edible organic flowers
1 teaspoon water
1/2 cup superfine sugar
one small paintbrush
wire drying rack
wax paper

Prep
1. add the water to the egg white and whisk, till there are just a few bubbles.
2. working with one flower at a time dip the paintbrush in the egg white, and gently paint each petals, on both sides.
3. hold the flower above the bowl of sugar and sprinkle the top with a thin layer of sugar.
4.place flower on the wire drying rack to dry completely (depending upon the humidity in your house, this could take up to 24 hours.
5. use tweezer to dip the smaller petals (such as lilac) into the mixture and lay it on wax paper when you sugar them.
6. Store in airtight container for up to a few weeks (or more).

For a full list of edible flowers check this chart.



xoxo