Flowers for Cakes
- Kathryn Docherty
- Feb 18
- 3 min read
Whenever you search google for wedding cakes one of the most common items you see used for decoration are flowers. From fresh or dried to hand-piped or modelled from sugar paste, you can find flowers in pretty much any medium to suit you. Knowing which to choose can come down to a few different factors including things like, personal taste, who is making the cake, who is providing the flowers and budget to name just a few.
Fresh Flowers
Fresh flowers fall into three categories. Toxic, Non-toxic/Contact Safe & Edible. Using posy picks or foam these can be arranged on top of or to the side of the cake in various arrangements to suit your style.
Toxic Flowers
Under no circumstances should these flowers be eaten or be allowed to come into contact with food.
Daffodils
Poppies
Bluebells
Foxglove
Oleander
Clematis
Rhododendron
Hydrangea
Lily-of-the-Valley
Edible Flowers
As long as they are grown on a fully organic farm without pesticides and harmful chemicals, the following flowers are edible.
Hibiscus
Pansies
Lilac
Lavender
Rose
Calendula
Dahlia
Violas
Borage
Non-Toxic / Contact Safe
While these flowers are not edible and should not be consumed, they will not poison your cake if prepared correctly. I.e. the stems are wrapped, placed in a posy pick and removed before eating any of the cake. Some examples include;
Lisianthus
Lilac
Peony
Allium
Eryngium
Freesia
Greenery
Borage
Clover
Thyme
Rosemary
Bay
Olive leaves
Organic Growers
Any flowers that you plan to put on your cake must be organic. Even if you're sure that the variety of flower is edible/contact safe, chemicals/pesticides used on non-organic farms can make you extremely ill and should be avoided at all costs. To check if a grower is organic or not, the UK Government has assembled a list of approved control bodies to verify growers in the UK https://www.gov.uk/guidance/organic-food-uk-approved-control-bodies
These lists of flowers are by no means extensive and at the end of this post you can find a few links on making safe flower choices for your cake.
Pressed & Dried Flowers
Similarly to fresh flowers, pressed & dried flowers must be non-toxic and organic in order to make sure that your cake remains safe to eat. The benefit of using dried flowers is that if you are ordering them yourself you can order them months in advance of the wedding without worrying about them being fresh or in bloom for the day. They also can be used to create some beautiful designs and using the pressed ones means they can be pressed right against the cake and be easily incorporated with other design elements.
The important thing, before choosing to add fresh or dried florals to your cake, is to thoroughly research the types of flowers you wish to use and where they are grown. If you're still not 100% sure, you can choose a different, more documented flower or there are other options available . . .
Hand-Piped Flowers
Hand-piped flowers are usually made from American Buttercream or Royal Icing. The advantage of having hand-piped flowers are
Always fully edible so no worrying about removing them from the cake
You can ask for flowers from any season in any colour you like to perfectly complement your theme
They taste fabulous
Sugar Flowers
Sugar flowers are probably one of the most intricate variations of a flower you can have on your cake. They're made from sugar paste and are manipulated to create delicate & realistic looking flowers. The benefits of these flowers are similar to that of those that are hand-piped, however, due to the level of detail involved, sugar flowers are very time consuming which is often then built into the cost of your cake.
Artificial Flowers
Artificial flowers aren't what they used to be. Silk flowers have come a long way in recent years and can be very realistic in a beautiful array of colours. (I once bought silk flowers for my mum thinking they were real) These are a great option if you want the look of a real flower without the stress of worrying about toxicity.
If you do decide to use real flowers and you're not having them provided by a professional florist, here are a couple of guides to help you make a beautiful but safe choice.
Flower Usage Guides
Organic Flower Suppliers
Happy Wedding Planning
Kathryn
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