Reflecting on my childhood, I will always be grateful for the warm and
loving home my parents provided my siblings and I. We were encouraged
to be inquisitive, explore our creativity and not fear self expression.
Our dad – always the story-teller – used his vivid imagination to parlay stories that would transform our living room into magical forests with giant frogs and colourful birds, all of whom could talk in humorous ways. His stories always had an underlying moral, revealing a life lesson.
And our mom – not far removed from her teenage years – would spend countless hours at our side, teaching, loving and playing with us; letting us be children in the most caring way.
One of my fondest memories of my childhood is making mud cakes with my brother for tea time with mom. We would decorate these culinary “masterpieces” with flowers, grass, sticks and just about anything else we could get our little muddy hands on. We spent what seemed like hours ‘baking’ and then ‘selling’ these cakes to our mom, who would of course invite us to enjoy the fruits of our labour with her during tea time.
Just the three of us, sitting there quietly and pretending to be most refined with
our little pinkies in the air as we ‘savored’ the most delectable ‘baked’ goods.
Ingredients
Ready to use fondant (ready to use white rolled fondant by Wilton)
Water or egg white
Food colouring (optional)
Water or egg white
Food colouring (optional)
Tools
Foil paper
Fondant rolling pin (Wilton 9”)
Fondant mat or parchment paper
Scissors or leaf shape cookie cutter
Plastic wrap
Fondant shaping foam by Wilton or thick foam
Confectionary ball tool by Wilton
Decorator brush or small paint brush
Plastic spoons
Fondant rolling pin (Wilton 9”)
Fondant mat or parchment paper
Scissors or leaf shape cookie cutter
Plastic wrap
Fondant shaping foam by Wilton or thick foam
Confectionary ball tool by Wilton
Decorator brush or small paint brush
Plastic spoons
Directions
Step 1 – Roll a ½” ball of fondant and form into a teardrop shape to use as the rose centre. Using foil paper, make a doughnut shape approx 3” wide.
Step 2 – Add desired food colouring to fondant rose centre and knead until thoroughly mixed. Roll fondant 1/16” thick on fondant mat or parchment paper.
Step 3 – Using scissors or a leaf shape cookie cutter, you are going to cut a total of 11 petals.
1st Set – 3 petals of approx 38mm high and 38mm wide
2nd Set – 3 petals of approx 35mm high and 40mm wide
3rd Set – 5 petals of approx 40mm high and 45mm wide
As you make each set of petals, cover them with plastic wrap to avoid drying out
1st Set – 3 petals of approx 38mm high and 38mm wide
2nd Set – 3 petals of approx 35mm high and 40mm wide
3rd Set – 5 petals of approx 40mm high and 45mm wide
As you make each set of petals, cover them with plastic wrap to avoid drying out
Step 4 – Place 1st Set of petals on thick foam and use ball tool to soften the edges of the petals.
Step 5 – Using a brush, apply water or egg white to the first petal and wrap around cone horizontally. Continue to wrap the remaining two petals in the same manner.
Step 6 – Soften and shape 2nd Set of petals as described in step 4.
Step 7 – Apply water or egg white to the 2nd Set of petals and stick vertically onto rose bud. Continue to add remaining petals around bud.
Step 8 – Prepare 3rd Set of petals and place onto plastic spoon, allowing them to set for 20 minutes.
Step 9 – Adhere the 5 petals (of 3rd Set) around the rose, slightly overlapping and shaping as you go.
Step 10 – Place rose into the foil shaped doughnut and allow to set.
What seems like a lifetime ago remains vivid in my memories and heart.
And now I am the mom in the story as I re-enact those same precious
moments with my own daughter. As she is getting older and the little
tea sets appear less and less with each passing year, I hope she too
will fondly remember having had tea with her mom.
I hope you have a beautiful day!
much love,
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Wow Lucy! This is a “You know you are an artist when” kind of moment! “When even the cupcake flowers you make look absolutely gorgeous and real”. These are stunning, and somehow I just know that mine wouldn’t look nearly as realistic or delicate! LOL!! I love seeing what you create! Always a joy!
Have a great rest of the week!
Becky
Amazing! These are just so pretty. You are very talented.
Mary @ Orphans With Makeup
What a beautiful post and what wonderful memories of your childhood. The pictures are so good and explaining how to make roses – thank you.
Have a wonderful week.
Mary
Lucy what a glorious story you shared. Your parents really showed their love for you and it is great that you have all these memories. That is the best, isn’t it?? I am lucky on that front too and with my mom gone now I cherish and feel so privileged to have such great memories and to have had such a great world with my mom and dad. What a beautiful rose. I have never worked with fondant, maybe one of these days.
Cynthia
I am sure her memories will be just as fond and her roses just as beautiful. Amazing flowers.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful post about your family. Very inspiring! I will have to try and make these cupcakes, they’re so pretty! You are definitely an artist!
Hugs,
Jody
Exquisite! Both the cupcakes and your family story. Your icing roses look so real.
Judith
So lovely!! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Memories of child hood are so special. I’m glad you had a wondeful story teller in your dad, and a creative mum.
HUgs
Oh my not only are the fondant flowers lovely to look at, but the story was so beautiful as well! LOVE! 😀
Lucy, these are so beautiful, that I thought they were real even after reading the title. What a sweet story too. I hope we get a chance a chat next weekend, so looking forward to the whole weekend and the terrariums -the picture looked so sweet.
these are gorgeous! too pretty to eat!