Volumetric flowers from mastic quickly and easily. How to make flowers to decorate a cake

A beautifully decorated cake is the main decoration of the festive table. If you look at photographs of elegant desserts presented on restaurant menus or on culinary sites on the Internet, it becomes obvious that the most beautiful of them are those decorated with flowers.

Is it possible to learn how to make flowers to decorate desserts without having a professional education?

Most often, flowers on confectionery products are made from butter or protein cream or from mastic. It seems that only a professional pastry chef can create such beauty. However, making flowers from mastic with your own hands is not at all difficult. We will teach you this. In addition, we will tell you how to prepare mastic dough yourself in several ways, how to color it and how to give a natural shape to the petals. You can even make a bouquet of flowers from mastic. Let's reveal some more secrets of the masters.

Making a flower

To make a flower from mastic, you need to roll out the dough into a thin layer and cut out blanks from it using different-sized molds. Using a metal ball, you can give the edges a wavy shape. Next, you need to place the blanks in round bowls, as shown in our photographs, and press down a little to give a natural roundness to the middle. After moistening the bottom of each piece with water, glue them one to the other. An airy flower made from marshmallow-based mastic is unlikely to work, since a very thin dough is required. But agar-agar will be just right for these purposes.

Poppies and peonies

These beautiful flowers are not at all difficult to make. For them you can use marshmallow mastic. The petals are ovals or circles that curl around each other, tightly connecting at the point of the rosette and randomly converging like buds at the top or diverging at the top, as is the case with blossoming plants. For poppies, you need to take bright scarlet paint and mix it with mastic, and pink marshmallows will make peonies without additional tinting. The tips of the petals must be flattened using a ball. How to do this can be clearly seen in the photograph. These are the flowers made from mastic that can be recommended first for beginners.

Rose

This is a more complex flower, but it can be made from any mastic. Roll out the dough into as thin a layer as possible and cut out circles of the same size using a mold. The first circle needs to be rolled up like a bag. The next one is to wrap around the first one, press it tightly at the tip-base, and flatten the top a little with your fingers. The same should be done with the rest. The splendor of the flower depends on the number of petal circles. Rose is perhaps the most popular mastic product.

Chamomile

Narrow oval shapes of the same size are cut out from thinly rolled white mastic. These are petals. Seven to nine petals are glued at one end to the surface of the cake. It's very easy to do. You need to moisten the joint with water and press the petal to it. You need to glue a yellow dragee in the middle.

Leaves

A bouquet of mastic flowers framed with green leaves looks very beautiful on the cake. For them, you need to add a little green dye to the white mastic and knead it thoroughly with your fingers so that the color is as uniform as possible. Next, you need to roll out this piece and cut out figures from it in the shape of leaves. Greater reliability is not required. But the veins will greatly enliven the composition. They are drawn with a toothpick. The leaves are applied as close to the flowers as possible and secured with water.

Marshmallow dough

Even the most inexperienced cook who has never prepared a mixture for making edible decorations can make marshmallow dough. The photographs clearly show how flowers are made from mastic step by step.

To make the confectionery mass, you need a bag of marshmallows, a small amount of lemon juice, about half a teaspoon, and powdered sugar. It should be the finest grind and well sifted. Even one small grain in the dough will tear it, and the mastic flower will have to be remade. You need a lot of powdered sugar, as it is the base. If the dough gets hard, place it in the microwave for 20 seconds and it will become soft and liquid again. To thicken, add powdered sugar. Nothing complicated. Even a child can handle the preparation of this mastic.

Candies, if they are of different colors in the bag, must be separated. Let you have already colored dough of different shades. Place candies of the same color in a microwave-safe bowl, add lemon juice and place in the oven for 20 seconds. During this time they will turn into a liquid mass. Such a mass cannot be rolled out into a layer. Therefore, powdered sugar is mixed into it until the mastic stops sticking to your hands. It is most convenient to roll out on polyethylene, placing another piece of film on top. Rolled cling film is not entirely convenient. Works well on a regular large, thick cellophane bag.

Agar-agar dough

Gelatin mastic for flowers, the recipe for which we offer you, is used to decorate cakes by professionals. 10 grams of agar-agar should be poured with half a glass of boiling water and left for 30 minutes to swell. After this time, bring the mixture to a boil and cool until warm. Mix about a kilogram or a little more of powdered sugar (as required by the mastic mass) into the agar-agar solution. You first need to stir it in a bowl, and then transfer it to the table and continue until the mass stops sticking. Mastic made according to this recipe is suitable for the most delicate work. It can be rolled out into an almost transparent layer and made into airy petals, like real flowers. This mastic flower looks the most elegant and most believable.

Milk dough

Milk mastic has a unique and very pleasant taste, but its characteristic yellowish color does not allow the mass to be painted in all colors. For preparation you need dry and condensed milk and powdered sugar. It's equal in total. Usually they take 250 grams, that is, as much as condensed milk in one iron can. It is better to take GOST milk. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir. Then put it on the table and, if the mass sticks, stir in a little powder. The mastic flower according to this recipe turns out very tasty. However, unlike previous options, this mastic is not made for future use.

Coloring

To color mastic, it is very convenient to use food coloring, which is available in regular grocery stores. This color must be added very carefully so as not to spoil the taste. Stir it by simply kneading the mastic dough with your fingers. To obtain a red color, you can recommend beetroot juice, for orange - carrot juice, and for green - spinach juice. This is inconvenient, as they dilute the mastic, and you have to add powder. The brown color is obtained by adding cocoa powder, and the black color is obtained by adding cuttlefish ink.

Marzipan

If you have baked a delicious sponge cake and made beautiful flowers from fondant with your own hands, then it’s time to place them on the cake. A large, thinly rolled sheet of mastic is used as a base for the flower and to cover the cakes. Since cake layers are usually soaked in syrup or cream, mastic placed directly on the cake will absorb moisture and dissolve after a short time. To protect it, the cake is coated with buttercream or ganache, lightly frozen and only then covered with a whole sheet. In other cases, a marzipan layer is made between the mastic and the wet cake. It’s also worth learning how to make marzipan dough because you can make flowers from it. They taste excellent.

To prepare marzipan dough you need 250 grams of almond flour, the same amount of powdered sugar, a teaspoon of lemon juice and two egg whites. Mix all ingredients until smooth. Roll out into a thin layer, slightly larger than the size of the cake. Cover the cake with it, smooth it out, and trim off the excess. A thin sheet of mastic is placed on the marzipan, smoothed and trimmed.

Ganache

It will require 210 grams of dark chocolate (at least 72% cocoa) and 210 ml of heavy cream for whipping. Break the chocolate and melt it in a water bath. Add 70 ml of cream, stir thoroughly and put in the refrigerator for 7-8 hours. After this time, shake the chocolate mixture slightly. Whip the remaining cream and combine with the chocolate mixture. Spread ganache over the entire outer surface of the cake. Place the mastic directly on it.

Confectionery products should not only be tasty, but also aesthetically attractive. Professionals use special mastic to decorate sweet products, from which they create beads, flowers, letters or garlands. You can create this kind of cake elements yourself. For example, making flowers from mastic with your own hands, following the classic recipe step by step, can be made even by those who rarely deal with making sweets.

What is confectionery mastic made from?

Decorating mastic is a plastic paste that is made from powdered sugar, potato starch, crushed almonds with sugar, egg white, gelatin powder or marshmallows. But if sugar is a mandatory ingredient, then the rest are added depending on the type of mastic. This plasticine-shaped decoration first appeared in the 16th century. However, at that time, mastic was used as a raw material for candies. And only in the 20th century they began to make original sweet decorations from it. Due to the fact that mastic is very plastic, it can be used to make any decoration elements for confectionery products.

Types of mastic

Confectionery mastic differs in composition and, accordingly, in types:

How to choose mastic?

The choice of mastic type depends on 2 factors:

your level of proficiency in creating jewelry from mastic;
elements that you are going to make from this material.

As for the first condition, of course, for beginners it is better to start with universal, industrial mastic. After all, it is suitable for any finishing details: both for fitting and for creating three-dimensional elements.

If you already have some skills in working with mastic, then decide on the parts that you plan to make from it and select the most suitable type. However, remember that if you are planning to make a cake with flowers from fondant, it is better to choose a floral one. You can also use it to cover the cakes.

Tools for working with mastic

To facilitate and simplify the process of sculpting decorations from mastic, special tools are used to work with this confectionery material:

Homemade mastic recipe

If you want to do all the stages of preparing and decorating the cake yourself, then you can’t do without a mastic recipe.

Ingredients:

2 tsp. gelatin (or 200 g of white marshmallows);
500 g sugar (preferably powder);
¼ glass of water.

Preparation:

The marshmallow recipe does not use gelatin. The marshmallow thickener is pre-melted with water - the mastic turns out softer. The material for confectionery finishing should be stored in the refrigerator.

How to make roses from mastic?

Flowers are rightfully considered the most festive, elegant elements of cake design, among which roses occupy a special place. A variety of shapes and shades allows you to create original, luxurious compositions. The master class will help you make such flowers from mastic.

Ingredients:

pink mastic;
powdered sugar;
silicone mat;
cutting and modeling sticks;
washcloth;
rolling pin;
water;
paint brush;
toothpick;
a few dessert spoons.

Preparation:

How to create lilies from mastic?

No less interesting are cakes decorated with lilies made from pastry fondant.

Ingredients:

mastic;
sugar;
water;
paint brush;
rolling pin;
felling;
modeling sticks;
toothpicks.

Preparation:

Squeeze lily petals onto a rolled out layer of mastic.
Using a stick, we make a ruffle-like edging for each petal. We lay out the workpieces to dry.
We wrap a piece of mastic around a toothpick - this is the pistil of a lily.
Using the same pattern, we make stamens.
We connect the parts of the flower, wetting the contact areas with water.
Leave the finished mastic lily to dry for 2-3 hours.

Secrets of working with mastic

If you decide to decorate a confectionery product with figures from homemade mastic, then it will be useful to learn some tricks of working with this material. Knowing the nuances, you will make a cake with mastic flowers that you can rightfully be proud of.

If you are preparing colored mastic, add the food coloring while mixing the ingredients, otherwise you won’t get a uniform color.
Beetroot or carrot juice works well as a dye.
The mastic is stored for about 3 months, but at a temperature of 10 to 20 degrees.
To make it easier to roll out the mastic into a layer, you can heat it up a little.
Three-dimensional figures stand more firmly on a base of thick cream or marzipan.

Any confectionery product, especially cakes, looks better with unusual decorations. Therefore, you can make flowers from mastic with your own hands, following the instructions step by step. This edible design will add even more brightness to any holiday and make it memorable for both children and adults.

Flowers made from sugar mastic are difficult to distinguish from living buds plucked from a flowerbed. Do you want to learn how to create such beauty? There is nothing impossible about this!

Have you ever admired a gorgeous wedding or birthday cake decorated with incredibly beautiful and realistic flowers? Sometimes it even seems that these roses and orchids have really just been plucked from the bush. But in fact, these are flowers made from sweet mastic made by skilled craftsmen, and any passionate woman can master the art of sugar floristry.

A little delicious flower history

The first flowers made from sugar mastic appeared in England at the end of the 19th century. They, like , were invented by confectioners, who previously had to decorate cakes for palace events with live vegetation from flower beds. Natural bouquets quickly withered; moreover, some flowers were poisonous, which could threaten the masters with accusations of trying to poison important people. So they had to look for a way out of the situation, which quickly degenerated into an entire art.

In 1981, English admirers of sugar floristry united into the country's first British Guild of Craftsmen. In modern Britain, perhaps the most famous representative of the guild is pastry chef Alan Dunn. His master classes are now very popular all over the world. Partly thanks to him, sweet art turned into a separate one.

How to learn to make sugar bouquets

At first glance at skillfully made bouquets, it may seem that this hobby requires some special artistic knowledge and skills. But this is a deep misconception. Despite the fact that the elegant products look like small masterpieces of a talented sculptor, it is quite possible to make flowers from sugar mastic with your own hands. True, you will have to stock up on patience, special tools and materials, and also carefully watch several master classes from professionals.

At first, you should learn how to sculpt flowers using store-bought mastic. And only when your hands become dexterous enough can you switch to homemade ones. It is better to start mastering basic skills by making simple flowers consisting of just a few parts, for example, sweet pea inflorescences.

Tools and materials for creating sugar flowers

It should be said that without special tools it will not be possible to make high-quality flowers from sugar. In principle, the tools used are exactly the same as those used to work with, and they are also very similar to stacks for modeling plasticine. So, if you have any of this at home, you can safely use it. If there is nothing, then you need to look for something suitable in specialized confectionery stores.

A set of necessary tools

The required set of tools consists of:

boards for rolling out mastic;
plastic rolling pin;
rubber pad to shape the petals;
cutters and stacks for molding;
artistic brushes for touching up details;
floral tape for fastening flowers and leaves;
floral wire.

For work you will also need patterns of petals and leaves of different colors. Over time, if your hobby develops into a serious activity, you can purchase special metal cuttings, but a thick cardboard pattern will do for starters. You can download it from the Internet or draw it yourself. In the latter case, it is better to disassemble the living flower you like “for parts” and trace its details on paper.

Two types of food coloring are used to color sugar flowers: gel and powder (also called colored powder or pollen). Gels are added to mastic to give the overall tone to the product. Before assembly, the finished parts of the flower are tinted with dry paints, giving maximum resemblance to its natural counterpart.

Secrets and recipe for making sugar mastic yourself

The composition of the mastic from which sugar flowers are made for a cake is very different from that from which various figures are sculpted or covered on the cake itself. This mastic should be very elastic, sway subtly, harden fairly quickly and hold its shape well.

There are a huge number of recipes. It’s worth trying several to find the one that’s most comfortable for you.

Ready-made mastic in different colors

Confectioner Alan Dunn has developed his own recipe for sugar mastic, for which you will need:

500 g powdered sugar;
11 g CMC (food grade carboxyl methylcellulose);
10 g gelatin;
35 g cold
50 g edible glucose syrup;
40 g egg white;
2 teaspoons cooking oil;
5-10 drops of lemon juice.

The powder is mixed with SMS powder. Gelatin is poured with cold water, allowed to swell and heated in a water bath, stirring until completely dissolved. Add cooking fat and glucose to a slightly warm gelatin solution, mix and pour it into the powder. Lemon juice and protein are also added there. First, mix the mixture with a spoon and then with your hands. Knead until you get a homogeneous elastic mass that slightly sticks to your hands. The mastic is placed in a bag, the air is released from it and left for 6-8 hours in a cool place.

Show a little perseverance and imagination - and you can always surprise your guests with real confectionery masterpieces on the festive table. If you successfully master all the secrets of sugar floristry, then your hobby can easily turn into a fairly profitable activity.

On any holiday, at any celebration, even for the most insignificant reason, flowers appear! This could not but affect confectionery products - so bright, elegant flowering cakes burst into our lives, replacing the small standard roses according to GOST.

A cake with flowers is a real work of art. It is endowed with fame and enjoys great popularity. Such decor can be arranged in different order of design:

Fashionable, modern, in demand, cascade - a tape smoothly descending in a straight or spiral line.
Elegant interlayer decor along the contour. Elements of different sizes at several levels of the product look modern and unusual.
Chaotically scattered exotic inflorescences give the dessert a cosmic or fairy-tale look.
A floral hat for minimalists is decorated exclusively on the top of the product.

In addition to living plants, a flower meadow can be made from confectionery materials. Which ones exactly we will figure out.

Cakes with cream flowers

Opinions are mixed about which cream is more convenient to make decor from. Everyone chooses their own “favorite”. The most popular among confectioners are Charlotte cream and milk-butter cream. Both of them are good, and both provide excellent results while providing ease of use.

Milk-butter cream

Ingredients

Milk (cold) - 80 gr.
Butter (cold) - 225 gr.
Powdered sugar - 90 gr.

Cooking method

Pour powder into cold milk and stir.
Cut the butter into small cubes and place in a mixing bowl with a mixer.
We begin to beat at low speed, introducing milk in a thin stream.
Increase the speed to high and beat until a homogeneous, smooth texture is obtained (about 15 minutes).
Divide the mass into parts if you need to get several colors, and paint each part in a separate bowl.
We transfer it into a pastry bag with the necessary nozzle, and begin the creative process - forming roses.

Cream Charlotte

Ingredients

Butter - 300 gr.
Egg - 1 pc.
Egg yolk - 1 pc.
Sugar - 200 gr.
Milk - 180 gr.

Cooking method

Combine milk with sugar in a saucepan with a thick bottom. Place on low heat until the milk warms up and all the sugar dissolves. There is no need to bring to a boil.
Beat the egg and yolk into a fluffy foam. Add vanilla.
With the mixer running (at minimum speed), add the milk syrup in a thin stream.
Pour the mixture back into the pan and put it on the fire again to obtain a thicker consistency.
After the mixture has thickened a little, remove from heat, transfer to a clean container, cover with film and leave to cool.
Beat softened butter (room temperature) with a mixer. This process will take you about 7 minutes.
Add the custard base in small portions, beating well each time with a mixer.
Add coloring with the last portion.

Flower cakes with mastic elements

Mastic for confectioners is just a godsend. You can use it to make incredibly realistic and mesmerizing beautiful decorative elements. We looked at how to make mastic in. You can watch a detailed master class on making roses from it in the video.

A flower cake is a magnificent spectacle, exquisite, bringing celebration. Additionally, you can decorate with mother-of-pearl sprinkles, beautiful butterflies made of marzipan, elegant dragonflies or cute ladybugs made of icing.

A fashion trend this year was the appearance of 3D flower cakes. They represent the image of a real bouquet. This is a new word in culinary art, which barely resembles a traditional delicacy.

The ability to beautifully decorate a cake is an art, and decorating it with edible flowers that inspire poetry rather than tea drinking is the height of skill.

Is it possible to learn how to make flowers to decorate desserts without having a professional education?

Making a flower

Poppies and peonies

Rose

Chamomile

Leaves

Marshmallow dough

Even the most inexperienced cook who has never prepared a mixture for making edible decorations can make marshmallow dough. The photographs clearly show how flowers are made from mastic step by step.