The rose represents love, elegance and beauty, making sugar roses the perfect choice of decoration for wedding cakes, birthday cakes and special occasion cakes. If you’re just starting out with cake decorating then learning how to make your own sugar roses is a great place to start. Making sugar roses is surprisingly easy and gives you that extra bit of flexibility to create your own custom rose size, colour and design that complements your cake perfectly.

We have a fantastic range of readymade sugar roses available at our Sugarbliss Cake Decorating Shop, Solihull, West Midlands but if you would like to learn a new skill and make your own then read on for our two handy step-by-step methods that have been put together to meet the needs of beginners as well as more experienced sugarcrafters.

Easy sugar roses method

The FMM Easiest Rose Cutter is the perfect way to create beautiful and realistic sugar roses, no matter what your skill level.

You will need:
Cake Star White Modelling Paste – 100g (75001)
Culpitt Cake Decorating Sugarpaste Icing-Brilliant White – 250g (74229)
Colour Splash Gel – your choice of colour
FMM Easy Rose Cutter (81706)
Culpitt 9” Rolling Pin (84788)
PME Flower Foam Pad (84632)
Green Non-Stick Board 10” x 7” (83440G)
Culpitt Edible Glue-17ml (5599)
Wilton Dust-N-Store Pouch (822489) optional
Stay Fresh Multi Mat-Small (83363) optional
Brush for gluing

Create your paste by mixing equal quantities of the sugar paste and Cake Star modelling paste together, or simply using sugar flower paste. Knead well and colour using your choice of Colour Splash gel.

Roll the paste out very thinly and cut out with the Easiest Rose Ever cutter. Thin out the petal edges using the rolling pin on the foam pad.

Brush a line of glue along the length of the paste just above the centre.  Fold in half lengthwise and brush another line of glue along the bottom edge. Roll up to form a small rose, tweaking the petal edges to create a realistic look.

Repeat this process if you want a larger rose until you have the size required, shaping the petals as you go. You can also brush some deeper pink dusting powder into the centre and onto the petal edges to bring your rose to life!

Advanced sugar roses method

If you’re a more confident sugarcrafter then why not try making a sugar rose from scratch?

You will need:
Renshaw Flower and Modelling Paste-White- 250g (0601942)
Colour Splash Gel-Green Leaf 25g (0675078) and one in your choice of colour
Culpitt Rose Cutters-Set of 4 (84778)
Culpitt Calyx Cutter-Set of 3 (84783)
Culpitt 9” Rolling Pin (84788)
PME Flower Foam Pad (84632)
Green Non-Stick Board 10” x 7” (83440G)
Jem Petal Base-50g (JC150) or any white fat
Culpitt Edible Glue-17ml (5599)
Bone Tool from Cake Star Decorating Kit (0684797)
22gauge Dark Green Florist Wire – Pack of 20 (1385G)
Stemtex Tape-Nile Green (1490N)
Colour Splash Food Colouring Powder-Matt-Blush (75116)
Stay Fresh Multi Mat – Small (83363) optional
Brush for gluing

Create your paste by mixing equal quantities of the sugar paste and Cake Star modelling paste together, or simply using sugar flower paste. Knead well and colour using your choice of Colour Splash gel.

Make a hook on the end of a 22g wire and glue this into a small cone of paste. Allow to dry before starting the rose.

Top Tip: if you are making a large rose, use a polystyrene bud instead of using paste for the centre cone – the rose will be much lighter to handle!

Roll out the paste very thinly – you can use the Jem Petal Base or white fat rubbed lightly on the board to prevent the paste from sticking.  Use one of the five-petal cutters from the set, ensuring the petals are large enough to cover the cone, and cut out the first shape.

Thin the edges of all the petals using the bone tool.  Brush glue over base of petals and place the first one over the cone, and petal three opposite. These form the centre of the rose. Take petals two, four and five and overlap them around the bud.

Cut out five more petal shapes, working on one whilst keeping the spare ones under the Stay Fresh mat to prevent them from drying out. Thin out the edges, add glue and push the centre onto the wire.  Push up and stick to the underside of the cone. Stick petals around the outside of the rose, overlapping each petal in turn, tweaking the petals for a realistic look. Repeat with more five petal shapes until you have created the size of rose you want. You may need to increase the size of the cutter you use for the outer petals if a very large rose is required. Allow to dry.

Enhance the finished look of the rose by dusting some Colour Splash dust in the centre and around the petal edges. Tape the stem for a more realistic finish.