Sunday, April 15, 2012

Royal Icing Lily Pads

I recently found directions in an old Wilton book for piping a water lily, which I'll attempt soon. I thought, however, I'd start with piping some lily pads (and, you know, eventually a teeny-tiny frog and some cattails). All that's needed is a #104 rose tip on a piping bag filled with green stiff-consistency royal icing thinned with piping gel, a flower nail, a non-toxic glue stick, a square of parchment paper for each lily pad, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch.
 Stick a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick.
 Hold the rose tip almost level with the nail, with the wide end in the center.
 Begin piping in a smooth, continuous flow as you turn the nail. Touch a finger to the dusting pouch, then tap out any jagged edges, and the hole in the middle (if one forms).

 I tried a few variations:
 This one has more of a V-shaped split in the center, rather than rounded:
 I tapped the narrow end of a toothpick on the dusting pouch, then laid it gently on the pad to make "veins" on this one:
 For a lily pad with more depth, I gently waved the narrow end of the rose tip up and down to create this slightly ruffled edge while turning the nail:
 This one has an added #2 round tip stem. When the lily pads are completely dry, the parchment paper should peel away cleanly; you can speed up the drying process by placing the lily pads under a desk lamp.

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