Fresh flowers on cakes

Fresh blossoms give a cake a natural, bakery-garden look, but food safety comes first. The University of Minnesota Extension says edible flowers are used to garnish foods, including desserts, and advises making sure the plants are pesticide-free.

It warns against eating cut flowers or flowers picked from the roadside, and notes that systemic pesticides cannot be washed off. For most edible flowers, it is best to eat just the petals, removing the stamens and pistils before serving.

Flowers from a florist or garden center are usually grown for display, not for eating, so cake decorators look for blossoms grown for food. To keep them away from wet icing, bakers often set flowers on a small piece of parchment, a piped dot of buttercream or a food-safe holder just before serving, and tell guests the flowers are decoration.