How to Paint & Assemble a Magnolia | Sugar Flowers

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Learn how to paint and assemble a magnolia sugar paste flower from cake designer Amy Noelle in this Howcast cake decorating tutorial, part 3 of a 3-part series.


After the center and the petals have all dried for 24 hours, it's time to
paint and assemble our magnolia flower. I'm just going to add a tiny bit of
petal dust on the center. And I'm going to use three different colors. I
like when the centers of magnolias fade from one color to another.

So I'm adding a little bit of green, and then I am going to use the same
brush to add a teeny, tiny little bit of pink. Then I'll finish it off with
a little bit of yellow petal dust, just so that we have a nice fading. The
petals for a magnolia though are going to remain white, so all of the color
stays in this center. When I go to add the petals, I need to make sure to
bend the wires. I'm going to reach down and hold it at the very base of the
petal. I don't want to grab the top of the petal because this is sugar and
it will break. So I fold open, holding the base of the petal, and bend back
the wire, kind of cupping it back so it looks like a chair. And that will
allow the petal to fit underneath the center when I go to attach it.

The way in which I attach it, is by using floral tape. I need to make sure
to stretch my floral tape so that it's sticky. I take my floral tape and
using a little tab on one side and most of the floral tape in my other
hand, I'm going to fold over that tab and squish the tape together. Floral
tape pretty much just sticks to itself, so I want to make sure to spin the
wires and then squish the tape. I'm going to add the petals one at a time.
The first layer is made up of four of my small petals. So I started with my
small petal. I'm going to add four all the way around. I turn the wires,
and squish the tape, probably two or three times, in between adding each
petal.

Now when I'm adding each petal I kind of think like a clock, so I want to
be adding the petals at 12:00, at 3:00, at 6:0,0 and at 9:00, as I work all
the way around, and I'm rotating the wires, and using the floral tape in
the exact same position as I go around. I'm not going down the wire just
yet. After the first layer of petals is added, now I can add the bigger
petals. I have four larger petals to add on. And I add those in between. In
between the gaps of the first petal, and I rotate the wire around two or
three times, then I'm ready to add the next petal for this layer, and I
continue filling in the gaps as I work all the way around.

Now I have to tell you magnolias are very ancient trees. They actually
predate bees. It makes them really cool. That's why they have such a sturdy
center in the middle so that they used to be pollinated by beetles instead
of bees. Once I have all of the petals, all the way around, I'm going to
rotate and spin the wires, and continue the floral tape all the way around
to the base of the wires. Once I finish, if I have any extra floral tape, I
can just pinch that off, and I have a beautiful sugar flower to add to my
cake.