Flower Cakes

July 27, 2011

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Channeling Chanel

Neatly tailored tiers draped in pale-pink fondant and trimmed with braids of royal icing serve as the backdrop for a few artfully placed gum-paste camellias. Cake maker Wendy Kromer took a cue from Coco Chanel, who chose the lush flower as her signature bloom. Both elegant and exuberant, it's always in fashion.

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Put Your Stamp on It

A rose is a rose is a rose. But the bloom is charmingly unconventional when it's done as a two-dimensional motif in rolled white fondant. Kromer used custom rubber stamps (from Stampworx 2000) and a sharp blade to form the flowers, meant to recall appliques you might find on a gown, and imprinted the shorter tiers with a reversed set of stamps. The piped royal icing takes its cue from dotted-Swiss fabric and picot-edge ribbon.

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Brimming with Beauty

The scale and shape of this cake suggest a gorgeous Victorian hat, so it's appropriate that the decorations adorning it are millinery flowers -- fabric blossoms that are traditionally used by hatmakers. Kromer's royal-icing "string work," a stenciled top, and icing flocked with shimmery sanding sugar all add to the romantic feel. Favor boxes, by Denise Sharp, ornamented with fabric calla lilies are covered in custom paper.

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A Tropical Treat Wave

Setting vivid (and long-lasting) orchids against spring-green fondant-covered tiers results in a look that's fresh and utterly modern. There are hundreds of orchids to choose from; we used (from left) cattleya, dendrobium, lady's slipper, and "Japhet' cattleya.

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Dessert and Decor

From left, we used phalaenopsis, cymbidium, and 'Japhet' (we also hung them from the ceiling) to decorate these cakes. Added bonus: Groups of small cakes like these serve as table decor as well as dessert.

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The Frill of It

Learn how to make crepe-paper flowers

Cheery poppies don't have to be in season for you to make this pretty, fondant-covered cake. If you're the kind of bride who bookmarks etsy.com, fashion crepe-paper ones yourself, or look for similar ones at crafts stores. Either way you slice it, you've got a cake with flower power that lasts all day.

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Basket All-Star

A tisket, a tasket, a cake that's just fantastic. Chamomile, jasmine, aster, roses, scented geranium, and wax flowers dress up this classic cake topped with piped buttercream in a basket-weave pattern. White hyacinth forms the wreath (hyacinth is not food-safe, so it's used only in the topper, which sits on a foam disk to keep it away from the cake). A particularly sweet choice for a garden wedding, this cake definitely weaves a spell.

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Something Blue

Shrinking violets? Not the riotous ones piped in luscious buttercream on the winningly old-fashioned four-tier cake by Kromer, which also features sugary pansies and sweetpeas.

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Miniature Blooms

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These matching truffles, made from a rich chocolate ganache dusted in cocoa powder and adorned with miniature blooms, are perfect served after dinner or on a dessert buffet. After all, why not let them eat cake and rich confections, too?

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