Royal Icing Wild Prairie Rose

The wild prairie rose, Iowa's state flower since 1897, is found throughout the state, where it blooms from June through late summer. It comes in many shades of pink; I thought this would be a good excuse to try Fuchsia Soft Gel Paste by AmeriColor; it has a raspberry sherbet quality. You'll also need yellow stiff consistency royal icing, petal tip #104, round tip #2, parchment paper squares, a glue stick, a flower nail, a Styrofoam brick to rest the nail in, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of cornstarch and powdered sugar. You may find using a primrose template decal on the nail will help keep your petals equal in size. Start by sticking a parchment square to the nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Using the #104 petal tip with the wide side in the middle of the nail, almost flat on the surface, and the narrow side facing outward and angled slightly upward, pipe a heart-shaped petal. Squeeze slowly while moving your hand in a motion similar to a "3" lying with the curves up. Stop pressure and pull the tip away towards yourself when you reach the end of the shape.

 Pipe another petal, overlapping the first one slightly.

 You don't need to pipe the petals overlapping one after the other. I piped one opposite the first two just to mix things up…

 …and then the fourth…

 …and the fifth. Touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and gently tap the center flat.

 Use the #2 tip to pipe a cluster of yellow stand-up dots for stamens. Hold the tip against the surface, squeeze while pulling the tip up and away for about 1/4", then stop pressure and pull the tip away. With their heart-shaped petals, wild prairies roses would be cute on a Valentine's Day dessert.