There is something magical about poinsettias!
Poinsettias have become a staple during the holiday season, the plant is sold every year, and most homes have a few. It has become a family tradition to design a special cake that represents the season, last year we created a Buche de Nöel (Yule Log), I suggested we design another this year, but Sydney wanted something spectacular! Thinking of a spatular cake isn’t as easy as you think. As I was thumping the front of my head saying “think, think, think,” yes just like Winnie the Pooh, I glanced over to fireplace and saw…a poinsettia plant. Eureka! I had a dazzling idea to create a poinsettia cake with gumpaste poinsettias; Sydney agreed. We had so much fun with this cake I wanted to share how to bring your own poinsettia cake to life!
Poinsettia Gumpaste Plant:
The poinsettia is truly a majestic plant!
Equipment:
• 33, 30, 28 and 26 gauge white wire
• Fine needle nose pliers
• Embroidery scissors
• Wire cutters
• Fine groove needle nose pilers
• Green floral tape
• Art brushes, (http://bit.ly/1KLwAN1)
• Fresh mat
• A-ceto knife
• Jem poinsettia cutters or global sugar
• Foam board, (http://bit.ly/1ZcyWMD)
• Ball tool
• Poinsettia bract and leaf veiner, (http://bit.ly/1NCuLQN)
• Dresden tool, (http://bit.ly/1TtXprZ)
• Groove board, (http://bit.ly/1L6KRC7)
• Flower paste/fondant rolling pin
• Steamer, optional
Materials:
• 1 9-nch square cake covered with Satin Ice fondant
• 120 guauge thread
• Petal dust: Vine, Forest,Ruby, Poinsettia red, Aubergine, and Sunflower
• Sugartex, mimosa
• Flower paste, red,(http://bit.ly/1kMZ9B9)
• -flower paste
• Food paste, (http://bit.ly/1kMZ9B9)
• -Spruce
• Egg white/ glue
Watch the video below to see how I created my poinsettias for the cake topper!
The entire video tutorial may purchased at 5th Avenue Cakes: http://bit.ly/1NPweK9
Prepare your mise en place.
Poinsettia mise en place
You will need to create the flower/plant centre and the stamens, if you do not have sugartex then DIY. Place equal amounts of cornstarch and mimosa petal dust on a piece of parchment paper, set aside.
Now for the stamens cut 3 pieces of 6.35cm/2 1/2-inch serger thread, using your fine needle nose pliers and bend the green 26 gauge wire into an open hook, fold the threads in half, tie a knot around the loop of the hook. Smush/clamp the wire closed on the thread. Tape the 1/4 up of the thread and down the wire, cut the thread, color the thread red, lightly dip the tip of the thread into an egg white, and dip into sugartex or the mixture you previously made, with the cornstarch and mimosa petal dust. Allow the stamens to dry. With floral green tape place 5 stamens and six petals tape then tightly to create The yellow flowers, or cyathia, that is in the center of the colorful bracts.
For buds, kneed a small piece of pale green gumpaste, roll a ball, divide the ball in half, and hollow each half. Attach to the taped wire, add a tiny piece of daffodil yellow paste to the centre of the halved pieces, and use a celstick to place an indent in the yellow piece top.
For the cyathia (petals) cut 12 short white wire (cut the wire in thirds), knead some white gum, using a small piece of the white gum paste roll into a ball, and place on a grove of a groove board. Gently hollow the centre as you pull the petal to a point, dip the wire slightly in the glue (the egg white) and attach the petal. Allow the buds and petal to dry. Dust the buds with moss green petal dust. Dust the petal with daffodil yellow and a little red in the inside of the tip. We brought the poinsettia close enough to see and replicate.
The bracts and leaves are created similar. The poinsettia is actually a plant, and the bracts are the beautiful colored parts of Poinsettias
Most people think of these bracts as the flowers, however they are actually colored bracts (modified leaves). To prepare the bracts and green leaves color some gumpaste light red, knead the paste, roll out the gum paste thin, but not as thin as you would for a delicate flower (poinsettias have deep veins and you don’t want the bract to rip). I find it helps to place the bracts/leaves on the groove broad, lightly roll your gum paste with a rolling pin to create a thick centre for the wire. Dip a piece of wire in your egg glue, holding the bottom of the bract/leaf gingerly thread your wire half way up through the middle, pinch the bottom of the bract/leaf to secure to the wire. Soften the edge, but do not frill, lift the wired bract/leaf, and vein the bract/leaf. Add some movement (bend) to the bract/leaf and allow to dry. The number of bracts and leaves will depend on how big you want the poinsettia to be.
Coloring the Bract and Leafs.
The sugar paste/gumpaste poinsettia will stay alive forever.
Prepare your mise en place.
Poinsettia color mise en place
Having a poinsettia to look at helped us create the color, the red bracts had green and purple colors, some of veins were colored an aubergine purple and some were dark green. The green leafs had red and a smokey purple color, and veins were a light color, we mixed elderwise with vine petal dust to create a vibrate yellow green.
To assemble the poinsettia add six small bracts, one at a time to the centre buds/petal, using green floral tape to secure gingerly bend the bracts were you want them to be, then add five of the next larger size (still a small bract), one bract at a time, sightly lower then the first six bracts, again bending the bracts,and then add five medium size bracts, one bract at a time and slightly lower then the preceding bracts. For the larger poinsettia we added five of the large bracts, one at a time and sightly lower. After you have added the bracts and are satisfied with the placement of your bracts add you green leafs, in the same manor you added your bracts and bend them in place. As you are adding your bracts and leafs watch closely, it is quite easy to create a very large poinsettia. Sydney had to stop me, because my first poinsettia was almost as large as the plant I was replicating. No harm done, except to my ego.
I hope if you plan on creating a poinsettia cake our tutorial helps and you and your family have fun!
What better way to ring in the New Year?
Enjoy and Happy Holidays!
Voila!
I love the tutorial, but the pictures get out of wack. Is there any way for you to send them to me so that i can see them in secession? THANK U!
Jessica, the sliders can be manually played, just press the arrow, and then they will go in consecutive order. If you have any other questions let me know.
thank you for the great tutorial! you are very skilled! just need to find the cutter and veiners to get to work.
Thank you!
Many thanks Bobbie for inviting me to view your site/blog and I am so impressed with these poinsettias – this has come just in time as I have been asked to make a wedding cake for December – with guess what? Yep Poinsettias on it, so I can see how you have done it and have plenty of time to practice. Thank you so much for sharing your talent.
Kind regards
Sally x
Sally, I am so thrilled I was able to help you; if you have any questions please do not hesitate! 🙂
Wow, this is stunning, I am so glad I found this. Now I need to see if I can get all these items in the UK, especially the poinsettia cutters, we are going to make our wedding cake, and we have until next christmas 2014 to practice, but I desperately want poinsettias on it, as they are just the epitomy of christmas aren’t they 🙂 x
Yes you are able to find the all the items in the UK; try http://www.cakedecoration.co.uk
it look so real 🙂 thanks for the tutorial! 🙂
You did a very beautiful job, you save me the money and the time for the class! TANK YOU!!!!!! Hope to see more of your ideas, and hope to help you in the future, i have a few tricks of my own! Lol.Again Tank You! Truly
Maria Roa
Maria, Thank you and I would enjoying herring your ideas.
so very glad i found this, was searching for weeks. thanks a bunch; question: do you also have tutorials on other Christmas flowers like the Christmas rose and orchids ?
Monica, At the moment I have a snowman cake, but I will be posting video tutorials on more Christmas flowers in November.
lovely! thank u very much for sharing 🙂 x
It was my pleasure!
its nice i need make one this is helpful can you tell me where i can buy this cutter and veiner set thank you
The veiner can be purchased at http://shop.bobbiesbakingblog.com/?s=veiner and the cutter from Global sugar art; it is their brand.
Oh my goodness – these are the most realistic ones I have seen to date – even the ones done by “the professionals” don’t look this realistic. Thank you for sharing you knowledge and expertise.
Thank you, I will showing creating a video soon!
Thanks a bunch for the list for making The Beautiful Poinsettia Flower! – Love and Wish I could take class lessons from you on gum paste flower making – we are neighborring countries but still distance apart!
Thank you Rae, Did you receive my email list?
It look so real.Thanks for the tutorial
Thank you!
yo me gusta mucho esa flor me gustaria hacerla es tan linda,si estubiera alguna posibilidad
Muchas gracias, Maria! Yo enseño y viajar si hay una tienda de decoración de pasteles en su área le puede pedir que inviten a que enseñe!
Beautiful thank you for sharing 🌹🌺🌷
Thank you, Rosanna!