Lillies

Instructions:



Lillies are stunning as a focus flower on any celebration cake, but especially a wedding cake. Those who are familiar with these beautiful flowers will know that they come in a large variety of colours - and some petals are frilled whereas others are straight-edged and waxen in appearance.

Most lillies have six petals, in two rows of three, with the top row of petals being broader than the three below.

This flower requires two unique tools for a realistic effect. The first is simple to obtain - an empty egg carton. The second, is a lilly "veiner", which is shown in the picture below.

In addition, you will require the lilly cutters shown in the diagram - as these are unique only to this flower.

To begin, it is best to prepare the stamens first. You will need a total of seven stamens per lilly - remove the very tips. Tape the stamens onto a wire "stem", with one stamen in the centre and the remaining six flared out around it. Roll tiny pieces of paste, and attach to the stamens with a little flower glue or egg white.

Line the inside of one cavity in the egg carton with foil, making it large enough to support the petals till they have dried with the amount of curl you desire.

The Calyx:

Colour a small amount of moulding paste green, and cut out a calyx. Rub your fingers around the edges of the calyx to thin and neaten them, then lay it on soft foam, and press in the centre with a ball tool. Fit the calyx into the foil cup.

The Petals:

Roll your petal paste very thinly, and cut out six petals. If you have two sizes, work with the narrow base petals first. Smooth the edges with your fingers, and dust on any chalk colouring at this stage.

Press your petal face down onto the veining mould, to leave a veined impression on the face of the petal.

Using your fluting tool (I use a rounded toothpick), flute the edges just a little, then lay them on soft foam.

Moisten the base of the calyx with a little flower glue and arrange the first petal inside the foil cup. Work the remaining ptals in the same way, arranging the last three over and between the first three. Secure them firmly in place with flower glue.

Using thinned royal icing, paint from just above to just below the tape holding the stamens. Push the stem down into hte centre of the flower till only the stamens and no tape shows. Set aside to dry.

Note - because of the length of these petals, they can break quite easily. Keeping this in mind, you may wish to add a pinch or two to your moulding paste to make it a little more durable. In addition, you may wish to roll your moulding paste just a little thicker than usual until you have experience handling these fragile flowers.

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