Make a Royal Blue Icing Hydrangea
Magnificent sprays of edible flowers on cakes can be awe-inspiring to behold. You need not be a professional cake decorator to craft delicate and lifelike hydrangeas composed entirely from sugar. Create royal blue hydrangeas from a variety of different media. To make them out of icing or fondant and gum paste, you will need some advanced planning and a variety of tools. Fondant will give you pliability, while gum paste will give you strength; combine the two for a sturdier hydrangea. Buttercream may be more accessible and doesn't require as many intermediate steps.
Instructions
Buttercream
1. Create a free-standing cluster of royal blue hydrangeas using a piping bag filled with royal blue-tinted buttercream with a #102 tip. The buttercream should not be too liquid, or it might be difficult to transfer the dried flower later.
2. Pipe a small amount to create the effect of the flattened hydrangea petal; there should be four petals per flower. Keep piping, amassing the flowers together, overlapping and layering them on top of each other for a three-dimensional effect.
3. Transfer to another piping bag with a different tinted buttercream, such as yellow, and a #2 tip to create the pistils of the hydrangea --- in this case, small daubs in the center of the flower. Wait for at least 24 hours, up to 48 hours, for the flowers to dry. Then transfer them onto a plate with a spatula.
Gum Paste and Fondant
4. Use a 50/50 mixture of fondant and gum paste to create a "flower pot" of royal blue hydrangeas. For a more structural and vertical presentation of a hydrangea with its distinctive "bushy" shape, use a Styrofoam ball to serve as the base for the hydrangeas.
5. Color some of the 50/50 gum paste and fondant mixture with the royal blue icing tint. Roll the mixture out into a thin sheet using the rolling pin and cut out the hydrangea patterns with the hydrangea cutter.
6. Dust each flower with cornstarch and place between the veiner molds and press, shaping them individually to look more natural. Transfer the flowers onto the egg carton foam to dry for 24 hours.
7. Dust the center and edges of the dried petals with contrasting dust colors, darker hued dust in the center and lighter for the edges. For the centers, use a #2 tip to pipe a dot of white royal icing in each flower.
8. Affix the Styrofoam ball into the sugar pot after applying some royal icing into the opening. Twist to ensure a good seal.
9. Cover the ball with the hydrangea flowers, starting from the top of the Styrofoam ball. Adhere them onto the ball using royal icing colored to the same shade as the royal blue of the flowers.
10. Hold the flowers in place with pearl-headed pins until dried. Remove pins.
Tags: blue hydrangeas, royal blue, royal blue hydrangeas, royal icing, Styrofoam ball, Blue Icing
