We rolled up our sleeves and learnt how you can really make a wedding your own at Rosalind Miller Cakes
Photos Max Miechowski
I’ve mastered working with real flowers – now it’s time for me to get to grips with flowers made from sugar. Luckily, I’m being instructed by Rosalind Miller, a former lecturer in design at Central St Martins who has created some of the most impressive, design-led wedding cakes I’ve seen. One of her most popular creations is a three-tiered, ombre cake covered in roses. Today, she’s equipping me with the skills I need to shape my own detailed flowers from scratch.
Surrounded by shining examples of the finished product, we start with a sugar rose. While I’m disappointed to hear that they’re not edible, the regret fades when the team brings over some delicious offcuts from a white-chocolate cake they’re baking for a wedding at the weekend. I start by rolling up five identical balls of sugar, then flatten them and slowly thin out the sides with my thumb to create a petal shape. From here, I carefully overlap the petals over a small cone of sugar to create the bud. Around this, I layer five more petals, making sure to gently pull each one out so the flower ‘blooms’. It’s fiddly, but satisfying when it all comes together and starts to resemble a pretty pink rose.
Next, we’re all shown how to make delicate hanging flowers, this time using scissors and a ball tool to shape bluebell-like petals. I accessorise them with wire stems and stamen – and they end up looking very authentic. The final task sees us fashioning leaves using cutters and a ‘veiner’ to imprint the foliage with a stalk and veins. I carefully shape the edges of the leaves to make them appear a little more lifelike.
Naturally, Rosalind makes each process look easy. With a little practice we start to improve too – if ever a creation goes south, you can just roll it back into a ball and start again. By the end of our class, I’m convinced that a couple of my roses and a trail of ivy leaves would make a real impact on a simple cake. They might not strictly be edible, but they definitely look good enough to eat.
Details
Prices start at £195 for a full-day masterclass with Rosalind. The workshop can accommodate groups of up to 10.
Emperor House, Dragonfly Place, SE4 2FL
020 7635 5447
You can also learn how to make your own invitations and bouquets for the big day.
Explore more ideas for your wedidng cake with our guide to the best wedding cake toppers.
This article was first published in SquareMeal Weddings 2017