Elegant Fondant Appliques
Today, I'm going to show you how to create beautiful fondant appliques for your cakes. We've done several tutorials for elegant cakes over the years, and this is one of our favorites!
There are all sorts of options available to cake decorators for embellished appliqués, including lace molds.
However, today's cake tutorial will demonstrate how you can achieve elegance with the simplest of tools.
You can do variations of this design for any size or style of cake. It would make a beautiful wedding cake, bridal shower cake, or even birthday cake design! Change up the colors for a more whimsical feel. We hope that you enjoy it!
Table of Contents
Materials
The cakes in our tutorial are dummies frosted with High Ratio Frosting. Sizes: 8/6/4 inch. (I've only used this method on cakes frosted in crusting buttercreams or covered with fondant)
Liz Marek Fondant: This is my fondant of choice and so this is what I used for my flowers. You can use whatever you'd like with good results. If you are using a very soft fondant, you may wish to knead in a little gum paste or tylose powder to help the cut outs set more quickly and also so you can roll them more thinly.
Crusting Buttercream: I used High Ratio frosting (from our Recipes section) to frost the cake as well as to outline the fondant flowers and attach to the cake.
Misc. blossom/daisy cutters (Mine were from a PME blossom plunger set, Wilton Daisy set, and a few misc. metal cutters.)
Sugar Pearls: I used Wilton Sugar Pearls for my centers as well as marble-sized balls of fondant which I brushed with pearl dust.
Pearl Dust/Pearl Spray-- I sprayed my accents with Wilton Pearl Spray before placing onto the cake. I also used a little Super Pearl dust here and there on other accents. You can use one, both, or none...I just like a little shimmer!
"Glue" of choice: I used piping gel to glue the fondant centers to my flowers.
Wafer Paper & Butterfly Punch: This is optional but a nice touch. My butterflies were created with a punch that I bought from my local Michaels.
Floral Wire (I used 32 gauge) & Cocktail Straw: to anchor your "flying" butterfly.
Misc: Cake Boards beneath each tier cut to size, supports/dowels of choice, sturdy cake base/pedestal.
Fondant Appliques: Additional Notes
*As I mentioned in the video, you may find it easier to outline your flowers while they are still on the parchment paper, especially if you are not used to piping on the front side of your cakes (kind of a funny angle to get used to!).
If you go this route, you would want to do your piping in advance with either royal icing or crusting buttercream with plenty of time for it to set firm for easier handling & placement.
Although our cake is frosted with buttercream, this technique would work beautifully on fondant covered cakes as well!
Cake Recipes
There are so many cake recipes that would be perfect for an elegant cake like this. Some of our go-to recipes are Vanilla Velvet Cake, White Velvet Cake, Almond Cake, and our homemade Chocolate Cake.
You can find so many more recipes in our Cake Recipes section, which includes cake recipes from scratch as well as cake mix recipes.
More Elegant Cakes
We have even more elegant cake designs to share with you! Some of our favorites are our Elegant Chocolate Flowers Cake, Looped Ribbons of Buttercream Cake, Elegant White Flowers in Buttercream cake, and Palette Knife Buttercream Roses Cake.
Don't miss our full collection of cake decorating tutorials!
Enjoy the Video
Would it be possible to attch a brooch to the fondant cake? If so, how would I attch it? Thank you.
Have you had an opportunity to view my question? Thank you
Hi Sylvia, I'm sorry for the delay! I have not attached a brooch to a cake before but I see it done often. The size and weight of the brooch will determine your best options.
If the brooch will be in the center of the cake (without support from a tier beneath, etc.) then I would try wrapping floral wire around the pin of the brooch in back, and then thread the excess wire into a straw. You could use a small cocktail straw if you have one, otherwise, a regular straw is fine. You'll need to kink or fold the wire so that it fits tightly within the straw and can be pushed into the cake. (Of course you'll cut some of the length off of the straw... you won't need that long of an anchor.)
If it is a very lightweight brooch or if the brooch will be supported by the tier beneath or by a bow, etc., then you could use dampened gum paste or fondant (slightly dampened and kneaded until tacky) as your glue. If this is a brooch that is special or will be worn again, etc. then you may want to go with the first option. I hope that this gives you some ideas!