Create an easy statement chocolate peony with this fun step-by-step from Erin Gardner.
Decorating a buttercream wedding cake can be tricky business. Buttercream flowers are obviously a gorgeous choice, but they can lack the size and dimension needed to really pop on a larger tiered creation. Gum-paste flowers are also a stunning choice, but not always appropriate for rustic buttercream designs. They can also be cost prohibitive for a couple already opting for a more budget-friendly buttercream cake. Fresh flowers are a hot-button issue for bakers looking to keep their cakes safe and edible for all.
So how do we add dimension, design, and flavor to a tiered buttercream design? The answer is chocolate. The answer is always chocolate. With this chocolate peony tutorial, you can choose to work with real couverture chocolate that requires tempering, or you can opt for candy coating chocolate (such as Candy Melts if you’re buying the Wilton variety), which requires no tempering. When coloring either medium, skip the gel colors and use oil-based candy colors or colored cocoa butter.
The easiest way to make petals quickly is to use apple crates. You can often get these for free from the produce department of your grocery store. If you don’t have those, use several small bowls instead.
Edibles:
- White chocolate or candy coating
- Pink candy coating or pink-tinted white chocolate
Equipment:
- Aluminum foil
- Apple crate
- Plastic spoons
- Paintbrushes
- Small bowl
Make the Chocolate Peony Petals
- Tear off a large sheet of aluminum foil. Press the foil into the apple crate’s wells (or smaller pieces of foil into small bowls). Repeat until all of the wells are lined, or until you have at least a dozen crinkled foil cups. Don’t worry about keeping the foil smooth; it’s the wrinkles that we’re after! They are what give the chocolate petals their ruffled, realistic look.
- Tear off a 3-inch-wide sheet of aluminum foil. Rip that sheet into 3 equal pieces. Use 1 of the pieces to line the well of a plastic spoon, wrapping the excess foil around the edges of the spoon. Repeat until you have at least 6 lined spoons.
- Melt (and temper if needed) the white coating chocolate. Use a small paintbrush (or your immaculately clean thumb) to spread a thin layer inside one of the foil cups. Keep the coverage spotty and sparing. This layer is just to add a little depth of color to the outside of the petals. Repeat with the rest of the foil cups and spoons.
- Melt (and temper if needed) the pink coating chocolate. Use another paintbrush (or clean finger) to spread a thicker layer of pink chocolate into the foil cups and spoons. Swipe the brush up and around the sides of the cups to create each petal’s shape. Coat the lined spoons and cups with enough chocolate so that no foil shows through. Set all the petals aside until the chocolate has hardened, about 10 minutes.
- Brush another thin, spotty layer of melted white chocolate on each of the petals to add dimension to the insides of the petals. Start at the base of the petal and spread up toward the edges.
Assemble the Chocolate Peony
- Carefully remove the chocolate petals from their foil backing. Use some of the foil to reline one of the apple crate cups or a small bowl. Pour a quarter-size puddle of pink chocolate into the bottom of the cup.
- Place a large petal into the cup so that one end of the petal sits in the melted chocolate. Add more petals, filling the perimeter of the bowl and overlapping the edges as you go. Continue to add more petals to the interior of the flower.
- As the flower fills in, it will be tougher to get petals down to that bottom puddle of chocolate. Fill in gaps by dipping the edges of the petal in chocolate before sliding it into place. The melted chocolate will help the petal adhere to the petals around it.
- Use the smaller petals created on spoons for the center of the flower. Break petals as needed to fit them into place. Set your finished flower aside or into the fridge to completely harden before using, about 10 minutes.
Tips for Decorating with Chocolate Peonies
- Always make more petals than you need. Breakage is a part of life with both gum paste and chocolate. Luckily, with chocolate you can whip up a new petal in less than ten minutes.
- Properly made petals will easily release from the foil. Make sure the foil is clean and dry before you begin. Allow the petals to fully harden before unmolding. If petals are crumbling in your hands, then they were probably a little too thin to begin with.
- Handle chocolate flowers by the base of the flower, not the delicate petals.
- If you’re decorating a tiered cake with chocolate flowers, add them when you get to the cake’s final location. Single tiers can be decorated ahead of time if the flowers are just going on top.
- One of the top questions I get about chocolate flowers is, “Do they melt?” Of course they melt! This makes them an ideal MBFF (melty best friend forever) for buttercream.
- Store chocolate flowers in an airtight container at room temperature. They can be held for short periods of time in the refrigerator, but not overnight. The humidity in the fridge will eventually cause the chocolate to become pitted and dull.
- This tutorial originally appeared in the May/June 2018 issue of American Cake Decorating.
Erin Gardner
Erin Gardner is a self-taught pastry chef, author, cake-design instructor, wife, mom, and self-described occasional unicorn. After taking an inspiring sugar-flower class in NYC, she decided it was time to strike out on her own. In 2009, she opened Wild Orchid Baking Co. in New Hampshire. Erin has competed on, and won, Food Network’s Sweet Genius, and received nods from both Martha Stewart Weddings and Brides magazine as one of the top wedding-cake pros in the country. After the birth of her second child, Erin made the big decision to move on from Wild Orchid Baking Co. and launch her website, Erin Bakes, where she draws on her fine pastry skills, modern cake-design aesthetic, and overall kitchen MacGyver-ness to create easy, accessible, and delicious recipes and cake-decorating projects.
