Unlike fresh flowers, sugar flowers are shelf stable and can last for years!
They are made from gumpaste, which I make in small batches from scratch before I start creating the flowers. I use tylose powder* in them and I only use the CAI brand because I think it makes the strongest and most stable flowers.
Highlights of Using Tylose Powder:
- Specially formulated to resist high humidity.
- Improves freeze and thaw stability of gum paste.
- Longer shelf life.
- It acts as a great emulsifier, that helps distribute the fat uniformly and prevents fat from migrating to the surface where it could oxidize and spoil the gum paste.
- Gluten Free
Always store Sugar Flowers
in a cool, dry, dark place.
- Sunlight can fade the colors as well as fluorescent light bulbs
- If it’s too hot the petals can “wilt” and droop
- If it’s too cold they can get brittle
- If it’s too humid, the petals will definitely droop
- If you don’t keep them in a closed box, they’ll get dusty
- Check out this blog post for more details about taking care of your flowers.
And as a testament to the shelf life of sugar flowers, I still have a box of the flowers from my wedding 3 years ago (it’s almost our anniversary!!) and they look just as good as the day after my wedding when I took them all off the dummy cake before we left for our honeymoon.
Final Storage Thoughts
So if you want to keep your sugar flowers for a long time, I recommend storing them in a closed box (the shipping box is great for short term— a few weeks or months— storage) like a rubbermaid tub (I like the Roughneck line), and you can even put desiccant packs* in it to prevent humidity. I’m also testing some clear, UV-protected acrylic boxes. I want to see how the light exposure is affecting the flowers. I’ll keep you posted!
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