Hello! Well, we finally have it–a tutorial on anemones! We have received so many requests for this tutorial– and adorning cakes with these sugar flowers continues to be popular trend in cake decorating. I absolutely love anemones, and if you are new to the world of creating gum paste/sugar flowers, this is a perfect place to start.
In this tutorial, you will also learn another simple (yet elegant) textured buttercream technique. This time, I’m creating a pattern of vertical lines with my spatula. I love textured buttercream in any form, as well as piped designs. It’s a fun departure from completely smooth cakes, and I’m going through a phase of textured, more rustic designs lately. ;0)
I hope that you enjoy the video–make sure to check out my list of materials & helpful tips/notes below. Let me know if you have any questions!
Materials:
Gum Paste (***I used Satin Ice Pre-Colored Red fondant with tylose powder kneaded into it, to create a more gum paste like consistency.)
Tylose powder (optional, although you’ll need it if you are working with fondant to create your flowers.)
Black fondant (pre-colored or tinted)- This is what I used for my center. Your centers may vary in color.
Petal Cutters- I used two sizes. 2 inch length & 1 ¾ inch length. Also, this flower could also be made by simply layering a couple of blossom cut-outs onto each other and adding the anemone center after thinning the petals with a ball tool. There is so much variation that you don’t need to feel confined to a particular type of cutter.
Floral Wire–I used a 26 gauge wire (folded to create two wires) to insert into my anemone center. This served as an anchor when I pushed it into the front side of the cake. If you go this route, you must have created a small hole through the center of your overlapping petals (or layered blossoms) before drying them. Other similar gauges would work fine too. If you don’t want flowers secured on the side of your cake, you can skip the wire.
Drinking Straw or cocktail/stir straw (optional) – I used this as a barrier for my the wire that would be inserted into the cake.
Floral Tape: (optional) Necessary only if you are anchoring any of your anemones with floral wire.
Cel Pad/Foam
Ball Tool (I prefer metal)
Veining tool- I use JEM Tool #12 for adding veins to petals. You may also choose to use a silicone veiner, mold, or nothing at all!
Rolling Pin for rolling out gum paste
Vinyl (or “The Mat”)-Helpful for keeping the petals from drying out as you work.
Stamen- I chose to use black stamen.
Tylose Glue (aka sugar glue)– This is simply a mixture of ¼ tsp. tylose & 2 Tablespoons warm water.
Aluminum Foil- Used to help create our flower formers
Flower formers, glasses, cupcake pan, or anything you’d like to use. I used a carrier/carton for apples with nice wells.
Black Sanding Sugar–optional. I sprinkled our centers with it.
Ribbon (optional) I used black ribbon in place of my borders. **If you are using a lighter shade of ribbon, it is a good idea to test it on a patch of buttercream to see if it changes color. If so, you’ll want to back it with waxed paper. Do this by using double sided tape to attach the ribbon to the waxed paper. Then, use an x-acto knife or scissors to cut away the excess paper.
Textured Frosting Technique:
Frosting: I used our Hi Ratio Frosting, but any of our buttercreams would work well with this technique.
Spatula–This is a very forgiving method. I used two sizes, both are offset spatulas with rounded ends. The larger size for the larger tier, and the smaller size for the smaller tier.
-Hot Water- I like to use the “hot knife method” for creating the lines of texture in the frosting.
Notes:
Just wanted to add a few things. First, you do not have to insert floral wire in your centers unless you plan to attach the flowers to the front of your cake. I chose not to wire any of my petals but of course that is an option if you would like more movement.
As for the basic appearance of the flower, there is huge variation when it comes to anemones. I recommend going to flickr.com or google images to look at photos of anemones. You can choose for yourself the look you’d like to go for. There is variation in the number of petals, number of stamen, size, and color. However, you can use this tutorial as a foundation to start from (or simply do as I do!).
I also mentioned above that if you have any blossom cutters, you could simply layer those (after veining and thinning petals with the ball tool) and come out with a very similar look. This may even be an easier route to take if you plan to make a hole in the center to make way for a wired center/anchor.
Finally, allow plenty of time for drying. I usually am pretty lucky with dry times…but I would say to be on the safe side, allow at least 3 days. Make extra just in case you drop one ;0) — This rule of thumb has saved me a number of times! ;0) — Have fun!!
I LOVE this cake! It’s so pretty. I agree, the black, white and red look really good together. Thanx again, Ladies! Luanne
Do you have trouble with the buttercream making grease spots on the ribbon? Do you ever use satin ribbon? I am making a wedding cake and the florist told the bride not to use satin ribbon because of grease spots
Thank you Melissa it is now up and running and your work is amazing as always x
Hi Tammy, we usually use grosgrain ribbon rather than satin, but it is affected by grease from buttercream also. Click on this link to a forum discussion on this topic https://www.mycakeschool.com/message-boards/cake-decorating-questions/wedding-cake-help-please#post-4968
Stunning cake, another great job :)
A very pretty cake and the colors do justice to the cake! Love the anemones and everything about the cake! Great job ladies!!
i love this, very simple which is what i need for my nephews wedding…in Tiffany blue…so can anemone’s be in light blue, hmm, will have to look that up, and i have asked to use black as an accent color
I sooooooooooooo love Rustic looking cakes. This is absolutely perfect!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!
I love this cake. Where did you get your cutters? I have not been able to find the sizes you used. I know I could change the size a bit but I really dont want to :)
Are they called something more specific than just petal cutters?
Thanks.
Hi Kathleen, we have had those cutters so long that we can’t remember where they were ordered. If you google petal cutters, you will find several options on where to buy.
Hello everyone!
First of all, Melissa thank you for this video. Since I saw Peggy Porschen’s anemone cake, I always wanted to make one, so this came just in time. I used chocolate ganache for the frosting and filled the cake with mascarpone cheese mousse and strawberries (the cake layers were also chocolate). You can see the cake here:
https://www.mycakeschool.com/gallery/elegant-vintage-cakes/anemone-chocolate-cake/
I
https://www.mycakeschool.com/gallery/elegant-vintage-cakes/anemone-chocolate-cake/
Also, I made the anemones with regular round cutters. Once I cut the petals I just pulled them a bit to make the tear drop size. I think it worked well.
You did such a beautiful job! I love the cake– and I’m glad to hear that the round cutters worked well for you! It’s nice when you can work with what you already have–the flowers are lovely!
Thanks, I had a good teacher! :-)
Love your website! Here’s my interpretation of the Anemones :)
http://media-cache-ec6.pinterest.com/upload/254171972690383589_4pxItKCn.jpg
http://pinterest.com/pin/254171972690383589/
WOW, Maida!! Great job–this is such a striking cake! Fabulous job on the anemones and I am loving the blue with the black & white color combo!
Thanks!! All due to your fabulous website!!
Hello!! love this tutorial, have to try it =:) question, where did you buy your turntable? Thanks.
Kathleen – I bought heart cutters , you can also use round and pull at the top for the heart and the bottom for the round ones .it works perfect.
I couldn’t find black stamens for my anemone’s so I improvised with ‘fake’ eyelashes that I purchased at the dollar store! They come with sticky tape on them so I just put that around my black centre and then trimmed them up to the length I wanted…so simple!
Ha! Cheeky, I love that ;0)
Hi Melissa, can i add to gumpaste flowers to the cake and put it in fridge? I’ve heard it’s not a good idea to put gumpaste in frodge
Hi Nadeen– The safest bet is to apply gum paste flowers and accents on the day of the event. That said, I’ve never had a flower “melt” from being in the fridge. I don’t know if that can be attributed to the Satin Ice gum paste that I use, or maybe those with issues have refrigerators that are more humid than mine.
hi melissa love this site ive learnt so much ..would u be able to show me how to do hydrangers please…:)
Another great video! Was it on your site, or somewhere else that I saw to coat the back of the ribbon with shortening to prevent the bleeding? Seems easy, have you ever tried that?
Hi ReNae, thanks!–
Yes, whenever I use ribbon for a quick and easy border, this has become my favorite method. It’s just a matter of rubbing a light coating of vegetable shortening on the ribbon, so it is very quick and easy. Doing this forces an even discoloration of the ribbon, so that you won’t have to worry about splotchiness later. So, the drawback is that your ribbon will change slightly. It’s best to do a test on a small snippet of your ribbon to make sure that you are happy with the color after coating.
The next best thing to the above method is to back the ribbon with waxed paper. To do this, place double sided tape on the back of your ribbon, place the ribbon onto waxed paper and cut away the excess. However, with this method, there’s still that small chance that some part of the ribbon (for example the top edge) could make contact with the frosting. So, when possible, I coat my ribbon in shortening instead of using backing.
Thank you Mellisa, I appreciate the quick response. Can’t sleep, so back to your videos. :)
Hi Melissa, quick question..could you have also used gum paste and colored it red? You did mention it, but stressed that you used tylose with the fondant so I was just wondering I dont have those if I could color the gumpaste…thanks so much melissa!
Hi Terri, yes, gum paste could have been used and colored red. We used pre-colored red fondant and added Tylose to make it more like gum paste just for convenience. It takes quite a lot of color and is time consuming to achieve deep red and also black, so we buy pre-colored fondant.
Oh I see!!! I understand now!!! Makes perfect sense!! Thanks so much Bebe!!!
Hi Melissa,
Wondering if I could use the Wilton Stamens I have ( which are white, etc.) and color them with black petal dust, food marker or paint them. Have you ever done that and not have it come off on the cake or flower? Thanks. Looking forward to making this. My client loved the picture of your cake, wants a red ribbon. No so sure about that with the grease issue.
Hi Paintmycake~ I’m glad that you are making these! The white stamen that have pearl tips may be tricky to color. The stems would accept color, it’s just the pearl tips that may be more difficult. (If they aren’t the pearl tips, they should be fine!) I would just give it a try since you have some on hand and see how it goes. If all else fails, you could possibly get by with dipping the tips in a non-toxic black paint since nobody will be eating the wire stamen or gum paste flower. Let us know how it goes!
Also, re: the ribbon, the best thing to do is to lightly grease the entire ribbon with vegetable shortening so that the discoloration is consistent and you will not have to worry about splotchiness. Just test a small piece of the ribbon first and make sure that you are okay with the slightly darker color that will result. I used to try to back my ribbon with waxed paper, but this is the method that I always use now…so much easier ;0)
Hi Melissa,
Did you really add 1 Tbsp. Tyler to 3 oz fondant? I just did that, actually a little less than a Tbsp. not only did it lighten my fondant to a very light red ( Satin Ice) it turned it almost into a brick. Haha- dried quickly. Was it really those proportions?
Also, I did paint the stamen with black gel and a little vodka- with gloves. It should work in a pinch but have to let it dry. I ordered some black pearl stamen, since they would arrive quickly and it’s going on a bridal shower cake anyway. Will see how they look ok. Thanks.
Hi Paintmycake–Yikes! I must have used that much, but it was probably a very soft batch of fondant (and who knows..could have been a rainy day). I usually start with maybe a teaspoon and then add bit by bit until the consistency is what I’m looking for. I’m sorry that you wound up with a brick! Normally the proportion would be more like 1 tablespoon of tylose per pound of fondant. Pre-colored is almost always going to be softer than white pre-made fondant…but there can be some variation. I usually just go by the feel as you can feel the elasticity change as you knead it a bit. Good luck with everything!!
Yes, I thought that was too much, but decided to give it a try. I knew I was in trouble when I started to knead it and thought you may have meant tsp. but I tried and then re-made it with much less.
1 Tbsp/3 oz would be a heck of a lot per 16oz of fondant! You may want to add a note to the video for others? Thanks!
I wish I had seen this much sooner!! lol I am making these flowers and attaching black ribbons horizontally (3 each on an 8″ and 6″ cke then stacking). I LOVE these flowers and you have simplified it and made it look so beautiful! Thanks for the tutorial!
Hi Gloria! I’m sure your cake will be beautiful! Thanks so much for your feedback & kind words! xo