My journey to Chelsea started back in February at the
qualifying heat in Cornwall, the standard was really high with lots of previous
Chelsea competitors vying for first and second place to enable them to compete
at the prestigious RHS Chelsea flower show in May.
The brief was;
Design and create a floral cake for an Asian themed wedding.The cake does not have to be edible.The whole design must not exceed 50cm in diameter.There are no height restrictions.At least two thirds of the finished design must be fresh flower and/or plant material.The fresh flower and/or plant material must be visually dominantThe judges are looking for a high standard in Design and Technique.
Well
thank heavens this was a floristry competition and not a baking one was my first thoughts. The second….
Where on earth do I start!
Cue
quite a few hours scouring the internet for Asian/oriental inspiration and
creating moodboards, in the end I decided to opt for a Japanese theme, with
colours inspired by kimono fabric and origami.
The
next step in designing my cake was to look at those fabulous chocolate and
butter icing cake decorating techniques. There were two types that I thought I could
translate into floral design techniques;
1) Butter iced roses – I recreated these with felt preserved magnolia leaves and fresh cordyline leaves. These were used on the base tier that supports my up turned geisha inspired oriental parasol. Upon the parasol are also nestled cupcakes made with the same technique.
2) Chocolate
pencils – this was an easy one, using lengths of red cornus I edged the side of
the top three tiers.
I create my cake by using polystyrene cake blanks covered in air drying clay. The top tiers threaded onto the handle of the parasol that nestles in a hollow of the base tier. The stand is made by using a cake board and ornamental door knobs. The main theme for my cake was the paper art of origami and quilling. The kimono fabric and parasol reinforce the design concept of an Asian themed wedding along with the Oriental orchids and plant materials. The rich colours are linked in the origami and the fabric table banner. Red cornus creates a chocolate pencil style effect and the swirled 'icing' roses on the base tier are created using cordyline leaves, red magnolia and felt.
The finished design gained me 2nd place and a place at Chelsea Flower show... Story to be continued!
