4 Ways to Safely Add Fresh Flowers to Your Cake 

Using fresh flowers is a GORGEOUS way to decorate your cake. Adding fresh florals can have a huge impact while requiring relatively low effort! They can make a plain white cake turn into a wedding-worthy cake, add a pop of color, add height to your cake, and more.  However, to safely add fresh flowers to your cake so the cake remains safe for consumption, it requires mindful selection of flowers and preparation before adding them into the cake. Let’s cover 4 ways to safely add fresh flowers to your cake!

What to consider when selecting and preparing fresh flowers for your cake:

1. Select pesticide-free flowers
2. Not all flowers are safe for use on cakes! Although we’ll do our best in the upcoming recommendations to ensure that the flower isn’t directly touching the parts of the cake that you’ll eat, the close proximity of the flowers to your cake will warrant caution in selecting a non-toxic type of flower.
   1. Some examples of unsafe flowers to be used on cakes include hydrangeas, baby’s breath, eucalyptus, daffodils, holly, lilly, tulips, and hyacinth. See here for a sample list of toxic flowers, but this is not comprehensive so be sure to do your own research as well.
3. Select flowers that will not have flowers dropping pollen (or remove the stamen beforehand to avoid this issue). We don’t want pollen on our cakes!
4. Be sure to thoroughly and gently wash your flowers (including any stems & leaves that you wish to use). Let them air-dry on paper towels.
   1. Flowers that are fresh should be able to withstand gentle water and being air dried, but flowers that are a bit older and past their prime may fall apart after washing. Try to always use fresh, newer flowers!
5. Try to add the flowers as close to your event as possible to avoid wilting, since the flowers will no longer be in water once placed on the cake. You can refrigerate flowers on a cake up to 8 hours in the fridge, but try to minimize this as much as possible. 
6. There are some flowers (like chamomile) that are not only non-toxic, but also edible! If they are pesticide-free, they can be applied directly to your cake. See here for a list of edible flowers, but do your own research as well. 

Now that we’ve selected & prepped our flowers, let’s discuss the different methods you can use to safely add them to your cake. It’s important to not apply flowers directly in a cake to avoid any leaking of fluids or any residual inedible parts coming in contact with your cake. 

Here are 4 ways to safely add fresh flowers to your cake:

Method #1: Floral tape

Floral wrap, sold in craft stores like Michael’s and floral shops, is a non-adhesive, waxy type of tape that has a slight stretch, intended for being wrapped around stems to seal them. They are typically sold in a green color to blend in with the color of the stem, although white is also available. 

To use:

• Trim your stem to your desired length (leaving some length to be inserted into your cake).
• Place the end of your stem over your floral tape edge; while stretching the floral tape with one hand at an upward-angle, rotate the stem with your other hand so that the floral tape is being wrapped up the stem. 
• Since this type of tape isn’t sticky like traditional tape, it is important you stretch the tape tightly over the stem and use pressure to have it stick. 
• Once you’ve covered the stem, cut the end of the floral tape and press the edge around the stem. 
  

Method #2: Flower spikes

Flower spikes are small, 3-4”  plastic tubes (often with a “spike” end) that are intended to  be inserted into a cake and hold the flower stem. 

Although this is quick and convenient, purchasing these spikes can be costly since they are one-use.

To use:

• Push the flower spike into the cake.
• Add a flower stem into the canal of the flower spike
  

Method #3: Straws

Similar to flower spikes, this is a craft way to add a holder for the flower stems into your cake so the flowers aren’t directly inserted.

This is an inexpensive and quick option, but it may be difficult to fish out all of the straws when serving.

To use:

• Cut a straw (bubble tea/milkshake straws can be used for thicker stems) into 2” or 3” inch pieces.  
• Push the straw half-way into the cake
• Cut your flower stem so that it is shorter than the length of your straw
• Add the flower stem into the opening of the straw
• Push the flower (and therefore the stem) down until the straw is hidden
  

Method #4: Green candy melts

This is a tip I learned from @saucybakes ! If you have candy melts or white-chocolate on hand, dipping your flower stem into the melted candy can be a quick way to seal in any moisture. The green color helps it blend into the stem, but green is not required. 

To use:

• Melt ¼ cup candy melts in a narrow glass or storage container (mason jar, tupperware, etc.) by microwaving in 20-second intervals and stirring in between each interval. 
• Make sure your floral stem is dry. Then, dip your stem into the melted candy.
• Place the flower on parchment paper until the candy melt has set. 
• If you have leftover candy melts, you can save it for next time and repeat the steps above! Be sure to reserve the leftovers only for dipping stems into, though. 

I hope you found this helpful! Depending on what products you have available and the quantity of flowers you’ll be using on your cake, different methods may work best for your use case. Try these ideas out and see which of these 4 days to safely add fresh flowers to your cake that you like the most!