CAKE CONNECTION SUGAR ROSES CLASS

No I haven't vanished. Again. I've been busying myself making sugar paste roses, hydrangeas and leaves for a small wedding cake that I had agreed to make. I have to say I've lost a little bit of the passion I had had once....a few years ago. I wonder why, myself. But I think it has a lot to do with cleaning up after. Sleepless nights. And stress. I guess.

So it was very timely that I visited Cake Connection a few days ago to get some supplies. Cake Connection is located at Jaya One and has a beautiful supply of gum paste flowers and cake decorating ingredients and tools. As I was paying for my electric and apple green food colours  I was introduced to A World of Roses sugar paste class. I felt a flutter of excitement. So I enrolled almost immediately. My first sugar paste class ever! 

With the class coming up I had a feeling that all I had taught myself was going going going down the drain. I know that I had probably picked up some wrong techniques, some weird habits and have made wrong conclusions from the various sugar paste books and instructions that I have collected over the years. Now it's time for a total sugar paste roses make over. I was totally ready.

This class taught us to make 4 kinds of roses. Intricate wired roses, un-wired roses, ribbon roses and miniature roses. Oh the miniatures were so adorable! And the wired ones were gorgeous. It also taught us how to use petal dust, how to make rose leaves and to colour them. . Lynette was our talented instructor throughout the four hour class. Thank you Lynette. It was very enjoyable and enlightening.

I was glad it was a small class because I was quite the klutz. Stress was written all over some of our faces because we were told to hurry otherwise we would be short of time to make the other roses. 

First off we were taught to make wired petals so that it had time to dry and harden by the time we finished with other roses. We used spoons to cradle them and to give them shape. Why didn't I ever think of that!

This was how it started out. Rolling out the gum paste with wire inserted and cutting out the shape.

After some thinning of the edges and some cupping of the petal and curling of the edges we then had a finished petal ready to be rested on a spoon and air-dried..... 

We made 5 of them and air dried them while we proceeded to make the bud and inner petals of the rose.

The half rose ready and standing. Mine in the forefront.

Then we attached the 5 wired rose petals that we had made earlier to make a full blown rose. We then made and attached the calyx and ovaries (yes.. Lynette said ovaries and we all had a good long giggle) at the base of the rose. And finally we dusted them with pink petal dust.......

The finished rose. Gorgeous no? 

We made and coloured some rose leaves.....steamed them over a kettle to deepen the colour......

 And we made  gorgeous ribbon roses.....so easy and fluffy....YUM..

 

The cool and cozy Cake Connection kitchen....I'd love another class...Inspiration has found me again...

Lynette the instructor in striped blouse. Me, behind the camera.