My First Sugar Flowers

When I was thinking to start this blog, my lovely friends helped me to choose the name Lulu’s Sweet Secrets. I was mainly inspired and motivate by my friends Layla and Carol. They are cake designers passionate about their work and I was fascinated about their beautiful art. Some of my first posts I ventured to make recipes using marshmallow fondant. Carol suggested me this recipe from Le Cordon Bleu that she used before in one of her cakes. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the result that I was expecting and, for some reason that I can’t explain, I didn’t try it again. Maybe it’s because I was so excited to prepare different dishes and learn other techniques that I forgot to give it another chance.

But this week I was looking at my cake board on Pinterest and I noted that I’ve been collecting a lot of cake photos over these months. Most of them are beautifully decorated. As I love decorated cakes, I realized that I should give a second chance for the fondant. I decided to use the same recipe as before, but after reading this amazing post by Sommer from A Spicy Perspective, I could see what my mistake was. Marshmallow fondant needs a lot of shortening to work well. I follow her instructions and now I got a beautiful one. I was so happy! As a flower lover, I started making some modest little roses.

The fondant soft texture and its sweet smell give such a pleasure to model infinity forms. Work with it was an amazing experience. I modeled petal by petal for hours and I didn’t see the time passing. It made me remembered when I was a child and how I enjoy to play with dough. What a mixture of sweet memories and dreams! I think I'm addicted to it now. For the next week I will try to make these sugary flowers with a delicious cake for your delight my dear readers. 

Marshmallow Fondant

10 oz mini marshmallows

1/4 cup water

2 lbs of powdered sugar

2/3 cup shortening

Drizzle the water over the marshmallows and microwave 1 minute and 25 seconds. Transfer to a mixing bowl, and add 1 bag (2 lbs) of powdered sugar and 2 tbs shortening. With the paddle attachment, mix about 2 minutes. Finish on the table, use more powdered sugar if necessary. Wrap in plastic wrap or bag, and store at least 2 hours or overnight before using. Always knead fondant before using.

For a detailed recipe go to A Spicy Perspective post.