How to make red sugar flowers for Christmas cakes

Hi:

I hope you had an excellent Thanksgiving Day in company of your loved ones. I did enjoy the company of my family and Thanks God for the privilege of having them with me on that special day.

I also thank all your e-mails and questions. It gives me a clear idea of what is important to you and gives me opportunity to share with you my cake decorating experiences.

One of the question often asked is how to get a really bright red color, specially for the Christmas season that red and green are the most used colors. There are three ways to get really red color to make the holly and the poinsettia flowers.

First: To get deep red when using pastillage, tint the paste with burgundy or red. Do not use a lot of color, because then the paste become brittle. Use just a little bid or leave it white. (Yes, white). Make the petals and let dry. Then dilute red paste color in vodka, do not put too much red, the mix should be liquid. (If you place too much red the petals will not dry ever (unless, you can wait about 2 month for them to dry}. Once the petals are dry, dust them with red powder. You will be amazed of the bright red color you can get using this technique.

2nd. In place of pastillage use tylose or flower paste. Flower paste can hold a lot of paste color in it, but beware, do not over do it, because then the paste will get hard to manage. Just add enough color to look light red; it will darken when it dries. Let the petals dry. Then apply the red powder.

3rd. You can also use an air brush. Do not forget to use your gloves and wear a mask when using the airbrush, unless you want to look like Rudolf the reindeer with a red nose.

Have a wonderful week.

Marivi