Browsing the web, I found http://fimocrazy.blogspot.com/2006/01/tropical-flawer-totorial.html and I thought that if this could be done with polymer clay, why not with icing.

It was getting on for the evening, and I didn't have any sugarpaste hanging around, just marzipan but I was desparate to give it a go.

First I used the method from the link above to create some petal canes (although mine aren't as beautifully blended as the clay ones - polymer clay modellers use a pasta machine to produce those lovely blends and I don't have one of those at the moment)

First I guessed at how much I would need of each colour

All coloured up (note the cocktail sticks in the corner - I dip them in the colouring then wipe the colour onto the marzipan so as to make sure I don't add too much colour)

I rolled a sausage out of the pink, then rolled the blue into a sheet and wrapped it around.

Now, following the instructions at the top I cut the tube in half down the middle

Squish one side down, then roll it up, starting from the flat side, keeping the pink inside:

It's hard to see, and hard to describe, but I'll try again - you turn the squished cane over, so it's pink side up, then starting from the long, thin side fold/roll it towards the other side so that you end up with the pink in the middle, the blue all around the outside again, but with a little blue swirl where the squished side was.

Now I roll out the cane to make it thinner/longer and using a sharp knife cut little sections off to build my flower. I didn't put my marzipan in the fridge to firm up, but if I had, it would have been much easier to work with I think.

I've rolled out the cane a little more to make the smaller petals on the outer ring.

Next I want some leaves. The link above didn't have a tutorial for those, so I guessed (I've since found leaf tutorials, so I can make better ones next time)

I made them by putting light green and dark green sheets on top of each other, then pleating up:

Then I cut it in two down the middle, and placing them next to each other:

Rolled this out until they were about the right size for the leaf I wanted, sliced them, and added them to my flower

Now I pad it out with the white marzipan - so that when I roll the cane out it maintains the shape of the flower:

Now it's time to turn this patty in to a cane (real cane builders use much more clay so they have a thicker start) I do this by carefully and gently cupping my hands around the edges patting, then moving the disk round so I can pat from a different direction.

When it's tall enough to roll, I put it on the side and roll it until it's about an inch across:

Here, I've taken my flower slices, placed them on the board, then squished, and rolled with a pin until I have a nice sheet made from the tiles (you could do this on a backing sheet of marzipan if you wanted to avoid deforming the flowers)

This I can pick up and use to cover something as I would with a normal sheet of marzipan. I didn't make very much so all this can cover is a cupcake:

Here's a zoom in on one of the flowers.

Not bad for a first try!

I think that for my next go I'll try to get a pasta machine and use sugar paste so I can use some more of the clay modellers techniques. Also, putting the canes and models in the fridge to firm up.

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