This tutorial is by Angela Skirving from The Sweet Little Cakery.
Angela Skirving has been a midwife since 2003 and, like many of us, stumbled into cake decorating when she made a cake for her son’s 3rd birthday in December 2011. Angela opened The Sweet Little Cakery in 2013 and creates beautifully simple and elegant cakes. Angela takes us through this simple yet very effective technique as an introduction to wafer paper.
Equipment Required
• Wafer paper sheets x 7 in red, yellow, pink, purple, green, orange and blue printed with edible printer. If you don’t have an edible printer, you can alsouse petal dusts or airbush the paper lightly with your chosen colour and allow to dry
• Sheet of white wafer paper
• Round circle cutters (various sizes)
• Circle craft punches 2” and 1” (optional)
• Scissors
• Piping gel
• White edible balls
• Royal icing in piping bag
• Water
• Small brush
Step 1
Take your first sheet of coloured wafer paper and your choice of circle cutter size, I have used 3”.
Step 2a
Press your cutter down firmly to create an indent on the paper.
Step 2b
This will act as a template.
Step 3
Cut around the circle as neatly as possible.
Step 4a
Repeat this process with a smaller cutter.
Step 4b
Alternatively, if you have a craft punch, then you can use this as it will be neater and quicker.
Step 4c
I have used a 2” craft punch for the medium sized circle and a 1” punch for the smallest circle.
Step 5
Cut a slit towards the centre of the circle, approximately 1/3 of the way.
Step 6
Using the brush, dip into the water and brush against the side of the dish or blot on a paper towel (the brush should be damp only). If the brush has too much water, it will dissolve the wafer paper. Brush over the left side of the cut.
Step 7
Fold the right side gently over the left. Press gently together. The water acts as glue and the edges will stick together. Repeat the process with all the circles.
Step 8a
Using the damp brush, gently brush the centre of the largest circle then place the middle circle on top of the large.
Step 8b
Press down gently. Then brush the middle sized circle in the centre and add the smallest circle. Again, press down gently.
Step 9
Next, use a very small amount of piping gel on your brush and add to the centre of the flower. Place a small edible ball in the centre.
Step 10a
Punch out a small 1” circle using white wafer paper.
Step 10b
Pipe a pea size amount of royal icing on and gently push your flower on top. This is the base of your flower which will be used to stick your flower to your cake.
Step 10c
Set aside to dry. Repeat steps 1-10 with all colours of wafer paper in varying sizes. I usually make three flowers in each colour in varying sizes (3” being the largest)
Step 11
Cut out 4”, 3” and 2” squares (they do not need to be perfect).
Step 12
We are aiming to cut out a spiral. If you do not want to do this freehand, you can draw a spiral on a piece of white wafer paper then place on top of your coloured paper and retrace around your drawing, pressing firmly to mark the paper below.
Step 13
Begin cutting your spiral. Keep in mind thewidth of your spiral will dictate the height of your finished rose. When you reach the centre of your spiral, continue cutting to a point and cut the middle out.
Step 14
Then, cut the square edge off at the point you made your initial cut. Continue cutting out spirals in varying sizes and colours. You will need approximately 12-15 depending on the size of cake.
Step 15
Brush some piping gel on the outer edge of your spiral (approx 1”). That will soften the paper to allow you to start rolling the spiral (which will become the middle of your rose).
Step 16
Begin rolling between your thumb and forefinger.
Step 17
Carry on rolling using your thumb as a base for the rose. Keep the edges flat to your thumb. Using either piping gel or a dampened brush with water (I find water works best), brush lightly around the bottom edge of the spiral at intervals to help it stick. When you get to the end again, use a damp brush to moisten the end and gently push together to secure it in place.
Step 18
Here you can see my finished roses, you can see the difference in rose size here, using a 4” square and a 3” square.
Step 19
Set all flowers aside and leave to dry for about an hour.
Step 20
Pipe a pea sized amount of royal icing onto the wafer dot that we placed on the round circle flowers, and a pea sized amount of royal icing also on the base of the rolled roses.
Step 21
Decide where you would like to place the flower and gently push onto the cake. Hold in place for a few seconds. My cake is 8” base tier, 4” high; 6” middle tier, 6” high; and 4” top tier, 4” high. Iced with white fondant.
Step 22
Continue placing the wafer circle flowers on your cake. Mix the colours sporadically. The rolled roses are used as a filler flower so, every so often, stand back and have a look at your cake and see you if you need more or less.
Step 23
Your cake is finished!