15 Jul How To Make a Simple Fresh Flower Cake Topper!

Posted at 09:01h in DIY, Featured, Flowers by

It's an easy way to decorate your cake


...for any occassion!

I LOVE a dressed-down “naked” cake. Something about how the actual cake peeking through the thin layer of icing giving it an organic, natural feel that I think makes it look super rustic and cool! Rustic for a fancy occasion is a “yes please!” for me. I’m a sucker for pretty and rough mixed together.

For this DIY project, I’ll show you how I dressed up this undecorated naked cake. I know…it seems like a scary feat to stick flowers into a perfectly frosted cake, but don’t worry, after the first stem you stick in, the scary factor fades by a lot 😉 

Recently, we celebrated my daughter’s 16th birthday and she wanted me to put a fresh flower topper on a simple naked cake that we ordered from a local bakery. My daughter picked out the color scheme she wanted and decided on a light and airy summer flower theme. The combination of the green hydrangea mixed with the pop of orange tulips and bits of blue and yellow and white tiny flowers turned out just how she wanted it to. 

I’ve done several cakes this way over the years. Last October I did this cake topper (above) for my mother-in-law’s milestone birthday. I chose bright colored roses to pair with the turquoise and gold cake color. All white flowers would have been great also but I wanted to do bright and cheery for this special celebration! Roses and alstroemeria are the only two flowers I used in this topper. The possibilities are endless. You can use any colors and flower combinations you want, really!

So to get started, I simply cut the stems super short and stuck them directly into the cake. I know it seems like you are going to ruin the whole cake! Trust me…I freak out a little bit before I place the first stem. But as I mentioned earlier, after you start, it becomes less scary! 

I decided the hydrangeas would be the “base” of my arrangement so I started with that. 

Expert tip 😉 : you don’t have to buy extra bunches of flowers for this kind of project.  I literally used leftover flowers from the little centerpieces and dessert table arrangement to make this cake topper. Since there are not a lot of flowers, just save yourself a few stems of each flower to use on your cake. 

Next, I just continued to cut the stems short and placed them right next to the other flowers. I knew my daughter did not want anything big and dramatic, so I just kind of eye-balled how much to add as I went along. I decided right from the start about how big in diameter I should make the topper based on the request to make it just a “little something” in the center and leave a lot of cake showing.

I “reflexed” the tulips to open them up and add a little interest. Reflexing means gently inverting the petals so they stay open, revealing their amazing centers. I balanced out the orange around the arrangement so it wouldn’t be lopsided looking. Then I added the little pops of white and yellow and blue for more color and texture.

I added the flowers until I thought it looked full…but not too big, keeping a good amount of cake showing all around the perimeter.

Literally ten minutes after I started the cake topper…I was finished! It takes no time at all. It should be one of the last things you do before the party begins. I kept the cake (flowers and all) in the fridge until it was time to display it on the cake table and sing Happy Birthday!!

This is a stunning, simple way to kick your party cake up a notch! It’s not just for professional cake decorators or florists to do…you can do it! The first one is the scariest… and then you realize it isn’t too hard and the result is quite amazing! I always love to see fresh flowers on a cake and if you create it yourself…even better! Have fun with this one!

~Debora

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