This festive cake from Italian award-winning artist and Drageekiss ambassador, Veronica Seta is a showstopper! Perfect for a Christmas wedding, elegant holiday party, or even just a special Christmas dessert. Learn how to create this gorgeous cake design with an easy step-by-step tutorial below.

Poinsettia Wedding Cake

By Veronica Seta

Components:

•  SatinIce white fondant
• Royal icing
• Dusting colors: Poinsettia from Squires Kitchen,pink, foliage green, wood green, autumn gold from Sugar Flair
• 500 gr. White Chocolate fondant paste by Cake&Cake
• 200 gr. 100% edible porcelain, Cake&Cake or SatinIce white gum paste
• 300 gr. white modelling paste by Cake&Cake
• White paste for sugar lace by Cake Lace
• Red paste for sugar lace by Cake Lace
• Gold sugar for sugar lace by Cake Lace
• Non-pareils
• Gold micro pearls
• Glaze
• Edible glue
• Gold spray
• Printed sugar sheet, 10x14cm
• Desiccated coconut
• Gelatin
• Components
• Two round boards 12-inches and 10-inches
• A round board 25cm
• A round 8-inch dummy
• A round 6-inch dummy
• A round 4-inch dummy
• CelPad
• Poinsettia veiners. Roberta Serafini SugarFlowers
• Poinsettia cutters.
• Paint Brushes
• Ball tool.
• Cutter tool.
• Dresden tool.
• Flowers plunger cutters.
• Rolling pin
• Non slip mat
• 30,28 and 26 gauge floral wires.Culpitt
• Pale green floral tape. Hamilworth
• Aluminum foil
• Lace mats Cake Lace
• Pearl applicator. DragéeKíss
• Moulds Silicone Craft Mould, Katy Sue Designs
• Flower pics

1) To create the decorative garlands, condition a small amount of white modelling paste by kneading it with a tiny amount of vegetable shortening until pliable. Press the gum paste into the decorative leaf mold, or a similar mold. Trim away any excess and turn out. Create multiple garlands using the same technique.

2) Spread the red lace paste on a lace mat with a Confectioners’ spreader (lengthwise, crosswise and diagonally). Remove the excess. Let it dry for at least 10 hours. Peel the sugar lace from the mat very gently. Prepare 12 lace fans.

3) Cut some small flowers with a plunger cutter and thin the petals with the Dresden tool.

4) To prepare the cake, roll out white fondant to 1/8-inch thickness and cover your chilled and iced cake, smoothing and trimming as necessary. Cover the base of your cake with the lace fans prepared in step 1. Place the cake onto the decorated drum sprayed with gold color and fix it in place with a little royal icing. Stick the small flowers in between the fans as shown.

5) Spread the gold lace paste on a lace mat and proceed as in step 2

6) Cover the 8-inch dummy with white fondant, brush the gelatin (You can also use piping gel) on half the dummy as shown, and adhere the non-pareils  by gently pressing them to the side of the cake.

7) Cut the lace strip prepared in step 5 into two parts. Fold one part to create a ribbon and the other one to form the tails. Place the ribbon on the right side of the 8-inch dummy. Place a small flower at the center of the ribbon.

8) Condition thick strips of rolled white chocolate fondant paste by kneading between the fingers with a little vegetable shortening and then press into the quilting silicone mold. Place it in a freezer for a few minutes and then turn out the mold and set it aside. Repeat the previous step until you have enough molded pieces to cover the exterior of the extended 6-inch round dummy.

9) Stick the golden pearls into the divets of the molds with a bit of edible glue and a pearl applicator tool.

10) Roll out white fondant and cover a 4-inch dummy. Stick the lace fans around the perimeter and the flowers in-between them.

11) Wrap fine white cotton thread about 8 times around two slightly parted fingers to create a loop. Cut a 33-gauge wire. Bend it to create a hairpin shape through the loop of thread and squeeze it tightly to hold the thread in place. Repeat this method around  the loop with another 3 wires.

12) Use fine scissors to cut through the thread to create short stamens on each wire. Trim them shorter if needed.

13) Rub the tips of thread against an emery board to fray them, and dust the frayed ends with red petal dust. Dip the tips in a bit of edible glue and then in lemon yellow dust color mixed with semolina. Bend a hook in the end of 33-gauge wire and attach a tiny ball of pale green gum paste to the hook. Work the ball against the wire to secure it well. Create a very slight point at the tip and at the base. Dust the buds with foliage green mixed with yellow autumn.

14) Tape the buds and the stamens with pale green floral tape and then tape them together into groups to create an open center.

15) Make a rope shape with red edible porcelain. Roll over the paste with a small rolling pin on a Celboard. Cut the various bract shapes using the different sizes of cutters for poinsettia. Work the paste at the base of the bracts between your fingers and thumb down onto the wire to create a paste-coated section over the wire. Put the petal on a CelPad and roll its edges with the ball tool. Vein it and when dry, dust the petals red poinsettia. Define  the edges with foliage green. Prepare 3 bracts for the smaller sizes and 4 bracts for the medium size.

16) Tape together the center of the flower with the smallest bracts first.  Proceed, then, with 5 more bigger size bracts. Soften the  edges with a ball tool and vein each bract. Dust them with red poinsettia color.

17) Roll out some light green gum paste on a Celboard, cut the poinsettia’s leaf shape and insert a moistened 26 gauge wire into the ridge to support half a lenght of the leaf. Work the gum paste at the base of the leaf between your fingers and thumb down onto the wire to create a paste-coated section over the wire.Soften the edges of the leaf with a ball tool. Vein it. When dry, dust it  mixing foliage green and autumn gold, wood green and finally foliage green. Define the edges red poinsettia. Prepare 3 leaves.

18) Tape together the center of the flower, the medium and bigger size bracts and the leaves with pale green floral tape. Dust the tape foliage green and red poinsettia. Place the flowers on the top and at the right side of the 6-inch dummy tier.

19) Repeat steps 15-19 , this time using pink color for the poinsettia’s bracts as shown.

20) To finish the design, place the pink poinsettia at the left of the 6-inch dummy. Sprinkle the desiccated coconut all over the cake.