Cake

Crossword CompetitionEnter our competition for your chance to win thisbundle of flower cutters and products fromFMM Sugarcraft, worth £85!``````Email your answers [email protected] Date: 31st AugustWIN!Wire gaugeMake sure you use the correct thicknessof wire for your flowers and leaves so thatthey stay covered with gum paste and don’tpoke out. The higher the gauge number, thethicker the wire is. 22 or 24 gauge wire is fora medium sized flower; wires go up to 30 forvery fine, small leaves and down to 18 to holdlarge, heavy flowers.``````Use a Styrofoam dome for your top floralarrangementPlace the dome on a cake board that is smaller thanthe top tier of your cake and cover it with sugarpaste.Wired flowers can be inserted directly into it as it canbe easily removed as a whole piece and will not touchyour cake.``````Wrap wires in floral tapeNot only does floral tape holdyour wired flowers together, itprevents the lead content ofthe wire getting into the cake.Wires are not food safe and tapeprovides an extra barrier.``````Whether you use sugar flowers or fresh flowers, it is important to ensure that items that are not food safe don’t come intocontact with the cake. Buttercream vs Ganache``````Place covered wires into a posy pick, straw or coffee stirrerAgain, floral tape is not food safe and shouldn’t have direct content with thecake. You can buy posy picks in different sizes or cut straws or coffee stirrersto the right size.To ensure your flower sprays don’t move inside the posy picks, wrap thespray in more floral tape until snug. Or for straws, royal icing is often pipedinside just before adding the wire and left to set in place.Flower Spray SafetyFresh flowersNot all flowers are edible andtherefore shouldn’t be placeddirectly on a cake. Use the samemethod as sugar flowers butensure the flowers do not directlycontact a part of the cake that willbe eaten.``````DOWN1 Indiana’s state flower (5)2 A trumpet shaped flower thatsignals the start of Spring (8)3 A fragrant shrub used to flavourtea (7)5 Button-hole flower (9)7 Found in the woods and namedafter an item that rings (8)11 Shares its name for thecoloured part of the eye (4)UP4 An exotic plant with unusuallyshaped flowers of vivid colours(6)6 Small flowers that are used tomake a chain (5)8 A woody climbing plant that the‘Desperate Housewives’ lane isnamed after (8)9 Often given to your valentine (4)10 Also a girl’s name (4)12 A tall flower that is namedafter the star at the centre of oursolar system (9)13 Flowers of a fruit tree (7)