Sugarpaste Flowers

Colour 100g Flower and Modelling Paste with Sky Blue ProGel to make a pale blue. Cut the wires into thirds and make a small hook at the end of each wire with the pliers.

Form a very small pea sized ball, place it over one of the grooves for making Mexican hat style flowers. Pin out very thinly using the cel stick. Dust the groove with cornflour or grease with a little vegetable shortening if the paste sticks.

Turn the paste over and place the blossom cutter over the lump, making sure it’s in the centre of the cutter. Cut out and place the blossom on the foam pad, thin the petals with a cocktail stick. 🌟 Academy Advice: If your hands are warm and the paste is becoming sticky, lightly dust your fingers with cornflour.

Brush the hooked end of the wire with a little Edible Glue, then push the other end through the centre of the flower. Pinch the bottom of the flower and gently drag the excess paste downwards to secure onto the wire. Leave for 24 hours to dry completely.

Mix Baby Blue and Periwinkle Blue Powder Colour and brush liberally all over the flower.

For the calyx, colour 100g Flower and Modelling Paste with Holly Green and Leaf Green ProGel to make a pale green. Form a very small pea sized ball and roll it at one end to make a cone. Open the cone and thin out the edges with a cocktail stick as with the violet. Take the small scissors and cut out five “V” shapes. Thin again with the cocktail stick then brush the inside with a little Edible Glue. Slide the calyx up the wire and attach it to the back of the violet, leave to set then dust with Moss Green Powder Colour.

Fill a ceramic bowl with boiling water and set a side plate on top. Place 1tsp cocoa butter into the centre of the plate and a small amount of Sunset Yellow and Snow Drift Powder Colour around the sides of the plate. Once melted, mix the Powder Colours with the cocoa butter to make a paint. 🌟 Academy Advice: Mix a little Snow Drift into the Sunset Yellow Powder Colour when painting with cocoa butter to make the colour more opaque.

Paint inside the throat of the flower first with Snow Drift and the centre with a dot of Sunset Yellow for the stamen.

Cut the wires into thirds and make a small hook at the end of each wire with the pliers. Roll out a small amount of Flower and Modelling Paste until paper thin and cut out a 9mm blossom. Place the blossom onto a foam pad and frill the edges with a cocktail stick. Brush the centre with Edible Glue and feed the wire through. Close the blossom over the hook of the wire to create the centre, leave to set.

Cut out another blossom shape of the same size, frill and apply glue in the same way then feed through the wire, positioning behind the first blossom. Repeat until you have 4 layers of this size. Then cut out a 12mm blossom, frill and attach with glue for the final layer. 🌟 Academy Advice: Bend and shape the wires to give the flowers a more natural appearance.

To make the buds, cut the wires into thirds as before but do not make a hook. Make very small pea sized balls, brush the ends of the wires with glue and insert them into the buds. Pinch lightly at the base to secure and leave to dry.

Dust the bases of the flowers and buds with Moss Green Powder Colour to create the calyx. Cut a length of florist tape and trim in half. Pull the tape gently to release the adhesive and tape the wires.

Tape the flowers and buds together in groups of three, then tape together three groups of three. You will need a lot of these for a realistic look.

Colour 100g Flower and Modelling Paste with a small amount of Holly Green and Leaf Green ProGel to make a pale green. Cut the wires into thirds.

Turn the paste over and place the leaf cutter over the vein, making sure it’s in the centre of the cutter. Cut out and place the leaf on the foam pad, brush the end of the wire with Edible Glue and carefully insert into the vein until it’s a third of the way up the leaf. Turn the leaf over and thin the edges with a ball tool. Press the veiner onto the leaf to texture.

Curl the edges and leave to set for 24 hours. Dust the leaf all over with Moss Green Powder Colour then dust the edges with Claret.

Cut a length of florist tape and trim in half. Pull the tape gently to release the adhesive and tape up the wire. Tape the leaves together in odd numbers as they appear in nature. 🌟 Academy Advice: The large rose leaf can be used for various leaves such as elm, beech and violet leaves.

Colour 100g Flower and Modelling Paste with Purple and Ice Blue ProGel to make a pale violet colour. Cut the wires into thirds and make a small hook at the end of each wire with the pliers.

Form a small pea sized ball, roll it at one end to make a cone shape then flatten the base of the cone by running it over a smooth surface. Push a cel stick into the flattened end and gently roll it against the side of your finger or onto a foam pad to open it up. Make sure the paste isn’t too thick. Your cone should now look like a flute shape.

Take a small pair of scissors and make five incisions. Three close together, then one at either side of these. This will give you two small petals at the top of the flower, two slightly larger petals at the sides and one large petal at the bottom.

Separate and thin out each petal between your finger and thumb while holding the tip of the cone. Place the flower on the foam pad and gently roll each petal with a cocktail stick. Trim off any harsh corners with the scissors.

Brush the hooked end of the wire with a little edible glue, then push the other end through the centre of the flower angled upwards so it emerges above the point of the cone and behind the top two petals. Pinch to secure. Leave for 24 hours to dry completely.

Mix Royal Blue, Aubergine and a little Snow Drift Powder Colour to make a violet dust. Brush liberally all over the flower.

For the calyx, colour 100g Flower and Modelling Paste with Holly Green and Leaf Green ProGel to make a pale green. Form a very small pea sized ball and roll it at one end to make a cone. Open the cone and thin out the edges with a cocktail stick as with the violet. Take the small scissors and cut out five “V” shapes. Thin again with the cocktail stick then brush the inside with a little Edible Glue. Slide the calyx up the wire and attach it to the back of the violet, leave to set then dust with Moss Green Powder Colour.

Fill a ceramic bowl with boiling water and set a side plate on top. Place 1tsp cocoa butter into the centre of the plate and a small amount of Sunset Yellow and Snow Drift Powder Colour around the sides of the plate. Once melted, mix the Powder Colours with the cocoa butter to make a paint.

Paint inside the throat of the flower first with Snow Drift and the centre with a dot of Sunset Yellow for the stamen.

Cut a length of florist tape and trim in half. Pull the tape gently to release the adhesive, tape the wire then shape to a slight curve. Tape the violets together in groups of odd numbers at differing heights. The Large Rose Leaf tutorial can be followed for Violet leaves, attach these towards the bottom of the stem.