Simple Sugar Roses Recipes

ROSE-SCENTED SUGAR

Steps:

• Using a mortar and pestle, a spice grinder, or a food processor, blend together sugar, rose petals, and essential oil until mostly pulverized. Sugar can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature up to 2 weeks.

BAKED APPLE ROSES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter 2 small ramekins (6 to 8 ounce) and dust with white sugar.
• Place apple slices on a plate, overlapping slightly if necessary. Microwave on High about 45 seconds just until slices have softened a bit. Cover plate with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel.
• Mix together sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
• Roll puff pastry sheet to less than 1/8-inch thickness. Using a pizza cutter, cut two 3-inch by 12-inch rectangles. Reserve remaining pieces for another use.
• Spread melted butter over dough; top with a generous amount of cinnamon-sugar. Place apple slices along 1 long edge of dough, about 1/4 inch beyond edge of dough, overlapping slices slightly. Fold bottom half of dough over the apple slices to form a long "folder" of dough with rounded edges of apple slices exposed.
• Beat egg and water together in a bowl. Paint surface of dough with egg wash. Sprinkle with more cinnamon-sugar, to taste.
• Starting from one end, roll dough not too tightly to form a rose-shaped pastry. Seal roll with end of dough strip.
• Transfer roses to prepared ramekins. Sprinkle with a little more cinnamon-sugar. Place ramekins directly on middle rack of preheated oven.
• Bake until well browned, about 45 minutes. Remove ramekins with tongs and place on baking sheet to cool 5 to 10 minutes. Remove apple roses from ramekins and finish cooling on rack. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

SIMPLE SUGAR ROSES

Steps:

• Start with the roses. Knead a little of the colouring paste into 150g of the icing until pale and even. Break into three balls, then add a little more colouring to two, giving three varying depths of colour. Keep under cling film. Rub a very thin layer of fat over a smooth work surface. Roll out one of the balls of icing thinly, about 1-2mm, then trim into a rectangle about 8 x 20cm. Cut off a 1cm strip of icing widthways, keeping the rest covered.
• Carefully roll the icing up and around itself. For a more realistic rose look, start rolling slightly skew-whiff so that the outside edge of the finished rose sticks out further than the middle. With about 2cm to go, start to guide the end of the icing down and under to make a neat rosebud. Pinch to shape, then cut or pinch off the bottom. Set aside for at least 1 hr until firm. Repeat with the rest of the icing.
• For the leaves, colour the remaining icing green. Pinch off small pea-size pieces, roll into balls, then flatten a little. Pinch one end to make a leaf shape. Leave to dry.
• Once the roses are dry and firm, dust a little lustre onto each rose using a paintbrush or your fingertip. Sprinkle with sparkles, if using. Position the roses onto the cupcakes in clusters of three, following with three leaves. You'll need 36 leaves and roses for 12 cakes.

SUGARED ROSE PETALS

Steps:

• Hold petal with tweezers, and brush egg wash over one side. Sprinkle with sugar. Set on baking sheet lined with parchment. Let stand overnight. Store in a single layer, airtight, at room temperature up to 3 months.