Flowers are essentially the most traditional types of tops on ice cream cakes. Different types of flowers are used. Let me share a couple of them.
Royal Icing dries solid and is used for many decorations such as daisies, roses, violets, pansies, etc. Royal Icing is edible and shaped like a candy. Flower designs are usually made by placing buttercream on roses or flowers with or without leaves.
Gum paste is best used when you want very hard flower designs and other decorative elements. It is a mass of sugar that can be rolled out and shaped into elegant flowers. These flowers are probably the most realistic and can be made using toothpicks or floral wire in flower arrangements. Gum paste arrangements make especially impressive cake toppers that can be kept as a keepsake for years to come. They can be made ahead of time, allowed to air dry, and stored in an open container, in any cool, dry place, until placed on the wedding cake. Even though these designs are exceptionally beautiful, you should plan to pay more for them to home bakeries and cake decorators because of the time it takes to make each gumpaste flower.
Fresh designs can be stuffed, like squash blossoms, and then deep-fried or used in stir-fry dishes. Safe-to-eat flowers may crystallize; frozen in ice cubes and included with drinks; turned into jellies and jams; used to make teas or wines; chopped and added to cheese spreads, herb butters, pancakes, crepes, and waffles. Many flowers can be used to make cooking vinegars, marinades, or salad dressings. The edible flowers can be used fresh as a garnish or as an essential part of a dish, for example a salad. When decorating a wedding cake, some may do a large sprinkle type arrangement on top and/or scatter some petals around the edge of the wedding plate for a lovely finishing touch. You can find lots of great ideas on the Cake Central website. They have thousands of great cake decorating ideas.
Fresh flowers are very popular and exquisite, but some can be dangerous if eaten. Be careful when deciding on the types of flower designs within your cake arrangements. Use those that have not been sprayed with pesticides (or collect some from your garden that are organic and natural). There are different ways to decorate with edible flower designs: Assemble large bouquet-like arrangements, which are easy to place on the wedding cake when delivered. Another way is to cut out the flower and greenery designs just before the wedding and place them on top of the table surrounding the wedding cake. Or sprinkle some petals around the edge of the cake plate for a stunning finishing touch when the cake is served.
Using fresh flowers also means that you meet with the florist and discuss delivery times. It is not possible to transport cakes to place flowers before serving when you have a function. A wedding cake is usually prepared the morning of the wedding, regardless of whether the reception is for that evening. The flower designs should be fresh and cold when preparing the wedding cake. The most respected florists are charged with taking into account the needs of the fresh flowers that rest on the cake.
