Putting fresh flowers on a cake is a great way to add beautiful decorations to your wedding cake, but it’s important to make sure the flowers are prepared correctly. Placing fresh flowers in a cake without sealing them can cause toxic chemicals (such as pesticides) to seep into the cake and potentially cause a serious food hazard for your guests.
Follow this simple guide on how to put fresh flowers on your cake without making anyone sick.
Why do you need to make flowers food safe?
Aside from leaching toxic chemicals into your cake, some flowers are actually poisonous to humans when eaten. Some of these flowers can cause stomach pain, but some are deadly poisonous.
This doesn’t mean you CANNOT use all of these flowers on your cake, but you should take extra precautions to make sure they are sealed, safe and clean before placing them on the cake.
Step 1 – Where do you get fresh flowers delivery for your cake
I spoke to my florist friend Kim, who owns Swoon fresh flower in Dubai and she says she did her first flower shopping online from a popular site for flower delivery in Dubai, but you can get your flowers from a grocery store or whatever is more convenient for you. Make sure you buy more flowers than you think you need because some of the flowers may wilt and not look good when it’s time to use them.
Choose large flowers as the main attraction and then smaller flowers and leaves to use as fillers. If you are only using large flowers, it will be more difficult to fill in the holes in some areas.
Step 2 – How to prevent fresh flowers from wilting
Flowers usually come with a pack of flower vitamins that you mix with water to keep them fresh. Follow the instructions on how to mix it and then keep the flowers in the water until you use them to prevent them from wilting.
Step 3: Who puts the fresh flowers on the cake?
Once upon a time, there was a rustic buttercream cake at a wedding and I placed it on the cake table. The florist arrived while I was setting up and proceeded to push fresh roses into the cake without even asking me.
Step 4 – What tools and materials do I need to put fresh flowers on the cake
You will need floral tape, scissors, and cling film. I’ve used straws or spouts in the past and those work quite well too, but sometimes my stems are too thick for straws.
Step 5: how to make fresh flower food safe
Making your fresh flower’s food safe is pretty simple, although it can take a long time depending on how many flowers you need to put on the cake. I usually give myself an extra hour to set-up to place the flowers.
Cut your main flower large and a few smaller flowers to accent it.
Cut some cling film to form a 3 ‘x3’ square.
Take about 4 ″ of floral tape and stretch it to activate stickiness. Wrap the floral tape around the plastic wrap to secure it to the flower
Now you can insert the flower into the cake without fear that the water will run into the cake
What are other ways to make flowers food safe?
You can also use a product called Safety Seal which is food-grade wax that once melted, you can dip the flower stems into the wax to seal them. This is great if you have access to a microwave when putting the flowers in the cake
I also used chocolate as a seal on the backs of some gerbera daisies which I used to decorate my cream cake.
What about edible flowers?
Okay, so now that you’re probably afraid of putting even a single flower on a cake, let me calm you down. Levels of toxicity vary according to the level of contact with the flowers. For example, ingesting even a small portion of some flowers can cause symptoms, while for others it is necessary to ingest a large amount to see any effect. In the event of any exposure or symptom, it is recommended that you contact the Poison Control Center or your doctor immediately.
Keep eating the cake and you should be fine.
There are also some flowers that are completely safe and can even be eaten. These edible flowers do not need to be sealed and can be placed directly on the cake IF they have not been treated with pesticides. Edible flowers should also not be eaten if they are not organically grown.
