How To Make Sugared Flowers For Cakes, Cocktails, & Other Recipes!

When it comes to decorating cakes or other desserts, my students are often afraid they’ll need to learn crazy piping skills to make something beautiful. With this easy How-To Guide, you’ll learn the quickest, simplest way to decorate everything from cupcakes and cocktails: making Sugared Flowers! With just a few minutes of effort, you can turn Mother Nature’s beauty into a candied adornment for whatever you please.

Jump to:

• About This Recipe
• Ingredients & Substitutions
• List of Edible Flowers & Rules to Keep in Mind 
• Equipment
• How To Make Sugared Flowers For Cakes
• Optional Variations
• Expert Tips
• Frequently Asked Questions
• More How-To Recipes
• How To Make Sugared Flowers For Cakes, Cocktails, & Other Recipes!

About This Recipe

Candying or sugaring flowers is one of the best, easiest ways to make your desserts look super professional. They’re brightly colored, sparkling, and come in lots of different shapes and sizes to suit whatever your aesthetic is. It's also a great way to give a nod to seasonality, by picking the type of flowers that are in season to decorate with.

Oh, and you can also make sugared berries and herbs, too, which means there are nearly infinite designs you can make! Even if all you do is a quick crumb coat or plain layer of frosting, you can make your cakes look picture perfect by mixing and matching these glittering natural jewels to your heart’s content. 

Best of all, you only need three simple ingredients and about 15-20 minutes worth of active time to make these beautiful candied flowers. Easily up your decorating game by following along below.

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Organically Grown Edible Flowers (or Petals) - Make sure you gently but thoroughly wash and dry your flowers before starting. The process is the same whether you’re making candied rose petals, candied violets, or any other type of sugared flower. Also, make sure you’re buying your flowers from a vendor you trust, specialty grocery stores, farmers market or using flowers that you have grown yourself to ensure that they are food safe.
• Egg White - Large egg whites acts as a natural glue here. Feel free to use the kind that comes in a carton! You can also swap in aquafaba if you are egg-free or vegan.
• Granulated Sugar - I typically use plain ol’ white granulated sugar here. Feel free to swap in superfine sugar, sanding sugar, or any granulated sugar substitutes you please.

List of Edible Flowers & Rules to Keep in Mind 

If you’ve ever wondered if you can eat flowers, the answer is a resounding YES! That said, there are a few things to consider when choosing what flowers to eat:

1. Not all fresh flowers are edible. In fact, some are poisonous! Make sure you do your research before sticking strange, pretty things in your mouth.
2. Even if the type of flower is edible, the way it was raised may make it not food-safe. Did you just drive by a hill of gorgeous, edible plants? Unfortunately, you have to keep driving. All the roadside pollution makes those beauties inedible. In addition, any flowers that have been treated with chemical pesticides are also not recommended for human consumption. You want organic flowers!
3. Depending on the small flowers, different parts of the plant may or may not be edible. For the flowers listed below, all of the petals are perfectly edible, but the stems and leaves may or may not be. Again, do your research. 
4. Edible flowers are very delicate. Once you procure your edible flowers, get right to work. They’ll last a maximum of 4-6 days from being picked if kept under refrigeration, so there’s no time to dawdle. 
5. Edible flowers vary widely in flavor. Some are spicy, others are vegetal. Some taste the way they smell, some are sweet, and some are sour. The more experimenting you do, the more you’ll be able to decipher which ones are your favorites!

So, what flowers are edible? As long as they were responsibly grown, you can eat at least some varieties of each of the following types of flowers:

For more details on how to decorate cakes with flowers that are edible and non-edible, head over to my guide for decorating cakes with flowers!

Equipment

Shockingly, you need neither tons of crazy equipment nor a lot of time to make beautifully crystalized sugar flowers. Here’s what to grab:

Shockingly, you need neither tons of crazy equipment nor a lot of time to make beautifully crystalized sugar flowers. Here’s what to grab:

• Food-Safe Paintbrush - You don’t have to go to a specialty shop to find one; any craft store will have a delicate paintbrush you use. Just make sure to mark it with masking tape or something to remind you not to use it for other crafts. Why? Well, Modge-podge makes pretty things, but it definitely shouldn’t be ingested, you know?
• Cooling Rack - Once you’ve painted and sugar-dipped your flowers, they’ll need a spot to dry and harden on a wire rack or drying rack. I like using a cooling rack so it can dry from all angles at the same time and cuts down the whole process of drying time.

How To Make Sugared Flowers For Cakes

Making candied flowers for cake decorating is quite simple. Here’s how it’s done:

Step 1: Coat in egg white. Before getting started, wash and dry your edible flowers thoroughly and place the sugar in a medium-size bowl. Using a paint brush dedicated to food, gently paint each side of the individual petals with the egg white mixture. The surface of the petals should be glistening with the egg white coating.

Step 2: Coat in sugar. Next, place the coated flower and coated petal in the small bowl of excess sugar, making sure to coat both sides. You can spoon sugar on top of the edible blooms to coat the sides of the petals or gently lay the top of the flower directly into the sugar.

Step 3: Leave to harden. Transfer the sugar-coated rose petals to a wire cooling rack, leaving space in between each in single layers. Place the rack in a cool, dry place for at least 4 hours or overnight for the best results.

Step 4: Use them ASAP. Use your candied rose petals ASAP, as they’ll soften the longer they’re stored.

Optional Variations

These sparkling sugar flowers are a treat for the eyes, but depending on your diet, they might not be suitable for eating. Here are a few of my favorite variations to consider:

• Sugar-Free - You can make candied roses without refined sugar. Just replace the granulated sugar with date sugar, coconut sugar, or monk fruit crystals. 
• Egg-Free - For an egg-free variation, replace the egg white with aquafaba (the liquid or brine in a can of chickpeas). 
• Dehydrated - If you happen to have a dehydrator or a “dehydrator” setting on your oven, you can place the petals on a baking sheet in the oven at 175°F for 2 ½ hours so they harden faster.

Looking to create delicious and homemade garnishes to elevate your creations? Try adding Candied Rose Petals, Dried Orange Slices or Sugared berries!

Expert Tips

• Bathe, but don’t shower. You’ll want to submerge your flowers in a pool of cool water rather than cleaning them under running water. This will help to protect the delicate flowers from damage. Wiggle them gently from side to side to help dislodge any critters that might be lurking.
• Dry gently, but thoroughly. Use a clean, soft flour sack towel or paper towels to gently dry them off after cleaning. Make sure to avoid bruising them as you work!
• Use your edible flower jewels quickly. Of all the ingredients in the food world, edible flowers are among the most delicate and have the shortest shelf life. 

Frequently Asked Questions

More How-To Recipes

As always, I love seeing your creations and hearing from you! If you make these gorgeous sugared flowers, please leave a review or share your creation with me on social media! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and Pinterest - for more delicious recipes sent straight to your inbox, sign up for my newsletter!