Royal Icing Goldenrod

Whoops; I already did tributes to both Kentucky AND Nebraska (aka my grey period); states where the goldenrod is the official state flower! So much for 50 states in 50 days…anyway, here's a little bonus. The goldenrod comes in 100 different varieties, so this is just a typical example. Photos I've seen of them show them in clusters, so you'll probably want to pipe lots of these and then scatter them across a cake or cupcakes. Here's all you'll need: stiff consistency royal icing in yellow (er, goldenrod), oval tip #57, round tip #5, parchment paper squares, a flower nail, a Styrofoam brick to rest the nail in, a glue stick, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch. Start by sticking a parchment square to the nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Holding the #57 tip at a 45 degree angle and against the surface, pipe 4 petals starting from the center and aiming at 12, 3, 6 and 9. They're just over half an inch long. When you stop pressure and pull the tip away, you might leave a point; touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and soften the point into more of a blunt end with it.

 The petals don't need to be perfectly evenly-spaced; they'll look more realistic if they aren't. Pipe in a bunch of petals wherever they'll fit. Tap them flat with a dusted fingertip if they begin to stack up on top of each other.

 Switch to the #5 tip and pipe a cluster of dots in the center. Pipe another smaller cluster of dots on top of those to give the center some depth and height. Peel away the parchment when the icing is dry and get to work on a cake celebrating Kentucky and/or Nebraska (print invitations on goldenrod paper if you really want to be thematic!).