An elegant dipped strawberry centerpiece accented with organic roses can easily be made at home with a Styrofoam florists’ cone. Place them on reception tables for wedding décor, or make a sweet gift for someone special.
Months before I’m scheduled to make a wedding cake I go into research mode. My desk becomes piled high with cake magazines and I scour wedding websites to get an idea of what’s new in cake design. This year I’m making two wedding cakes so I’ve been scouting double-time. (And imagine the imminent clutter!) One thing repeatedly caught my eye wasn’t cake at all, it was a table centerpiece.
Strawberry towers (also called trees) aren’t a new idea. It seems they’ve been around for a while, but the new-ish addition of fresh roses and greenery makes a very pretty centerpiece.
DIY saves money!
A few fancy bakeries are offering these towers for purchase at around $200 for a 10-inch tower (as I’ve made here). I think the price tag is justified if you don’t have time to make one yourself, but I must tell you, this DIY version costs much less!
Seek out organic roses.
I purchased two dozen roses for this project in two different colors. I didn’t use all 24 buds on the tower, but it was nice to have a variety of sizes and colors to choose from. Organic roses will be pesticide-free, so I suggest seeking them out. Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s are both good places to look for them and they are less expensive than florists. The tower will hold about one pound of dipped strawberries, but I suggest getting two pounds so you can pick the very best berries of the two containers.
I couldn’t find many tutorials on how to build a strawberry tower, and the ones I did find had the berries sticking out at odd angles. Ideally, the berries should be pointing upward so they appear to have a rosebud-like shape. After some experimenting I figured out how to achieve this look. The following tutorial is my own method.
Use this step-by-step guide.
- First, pick only the prettiest, unblemished berries. Pull off their green tops and wash and thoroughly dry them. Line the berries up smallest to largest on a parchment sheet. Melt 12 ounces of vanilla candy wafers (or white chocolate) and dip each strawberry into the candy. Leave a nickel-sized portion of the strawberry uncovered on the backs of each berry (see picture 1). Place them on the parchment and allow them to stand until set, about 1 hour.
- Choose an 8-inch serving plate or cake stand with a lip. Place a little leftover melted candy (about 1 tablespoon) in the center of the plate.
- Press the bottom of a 9×4-inch Styrofoam florists’ cone in the center. Let stand until set.
- Cut a rosebud head from its stem and dip the end in melted candy.
- Place the flower head at the base of the cone with the melted candy stem touching the cone.
- Repeat the process, alternating the roses with macarons. Do not use melted candy on the macarons, they should be easy for guests to pull away from the arrangement. I made the bottom of the arrangement with only macarons and roses.
- Stick a toothpick into the cone just above the bottom row of flowers/macs at an upward angle. Starting with the larger dipped strawberries, thread one onto the toothpick. Thread it at the nickel-sized open area on the back of each berry. Arrange it so that the strawberry’s pointed end is pointing upward and not straight out.
- Repeat process, alternating with roses in the same fashion. Continue the next row with strawberries only and use smaller berries as you travel up the cone. I added a few more roses about 1/3 from the top of the tower, but you could use only berries if desired.
- A larger and more bloomed rose can be used for the top of the tower. Insert a toothpick in the very top of the cone and thread on the rose. There will be some gaps between the berries. Tuck individual rose leaves between berries and anywhere the Styrofoam cone is visible.
Other considerations.
Here are a few more tips/things to consider as you’re making this project.
- Choose roses that have tight buds. You want the berry shape and the rose shape to almost be the same.
- Rose heads that are bloomed or are too large can be made smaller by plucking off some of the outer petals.
- The Styrofoam cone can be covered with plastic wrap before adding the berries, if desired.
- You may have to re-position some of the toothpicks as you arrange berries on the tower, If you have to pull a toothpick out of the foam, hold the top of the tower down as you do so. The candy will definitely hold the cone stationary as you work, but it’s not super glue.
- The tower can be prepared one day ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator overnight.
The final tally.
I think the total cost of my tower was less than $40, not counting the cake stand that I already had on hand. The roses were the bulk of the cost ($25), and the 1 lb berry baskets were on sale at the grocery store (BOGO!). Store-bought macarons can be pricey, but I only used six. The candy coating is usually around $3 per package and can be found at most craft stores in the baking aisle. Most of what you need can be found locally, but I’m including a few quick shopping links so you can be sure what to look for. I also included the link to the cake stand I used.
Galvanized 8-inch cake stand with raised edge
DIY Dipped Strawberry Tower
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. fresh strawberries
- 9 x4-inch green Styrofoam cone
- 24 ounces 2 packages vanilla candy melts or white chocolate
- 2 dozen fresh organic roses flower heads and greenery washed and dry
- 6 store-bought macarons
- Toothpicks
- 8- inch cake stand or cake plate with a lip
Instructions
- Pick only the prettiest, unblemished berries. Pull off their green tops and wash and thoroughly dry them. Line the berries up smallest to largest on a parchment sheet. Melt 12 ounces of vanilla candy wafers (according to package directions) and dip each strawberry into the candy. Melt more candy as needed. Leave a nickel-sized portion of the strawberry uncovered on the backs of each berry. Place them on the parchment and allow them to stand until set, about 1 hour.
- Choose an 8-inch serving plate or cake stand with a lip. Place a little leftover melted candy (about 1 tablespoon) in the center of the plate. Press the bottom of a 9×4-inch Styrofoam florists’ cone in the center. Let stand until set.
- Cut a rosebud head from its stem and dip the end in melted candy. Place the flower head at the base of the cone with the melted candy stem touching the cone. Repeat the process, alternating the roses with macarons. Do not use melted candy on the macarons; they should be easy for guests to pull away from the arrangement. The bottom of the arrangement should only consist of macarons and roses.
- Stick a toothpick into the cone just above the bottom row of flowers/macs at an upward angle. Starting with the larger dipped strawberries, thread one onto the toothpick. Thread it at the nickel-sized open area on the back of each berry. Arrange it so that the strawberry’s pointed end is pointing upward and not straight out. Repeat the process, alternating with roses in the same fashion. Continue the next row with strawberries only and use smaller berries as you travel up the cone. I added a few more roses about 1/3 from the top of the tower, but you could use only berries if desired.
- A larger and more bloomed rose can be used for the top of the tower. Insert a toothpick in the very top of the cone and thread on the rose. There will be some gaps between the berries. Tuck individual rose leaves between berries and anywhere the Styrofoam cone is visible.
- Serve extra dipped strawberries on a serving plate alongside the tower.
Notes
Rose heads that are bloomed or are too large can be made smaller by plucking off some of the outer petals. Use blooms that can be confirmed as food-safe, organic and grown in safe conditions, sourced from your own garden or a trusted friend’s organic garden. The Styrofoam cone can be covered with plastic wrap before adding the berries, if desired.
You may have to re-position some of the toothpicks as you arrange berries on the tower, If you have to pull a toothpick out of the foam, hold the top of the tower down as you do so. The candy will definitely hold the cone stationary as you work, but it’s not super glue.
These are so pretty! And they look pretty easy to put together too, great job on the tutorial for them! 🙂
Gorgeous and very creative. Thanks for sharing!
This is beautiful! Both crafty and delicious – LOVE!
Beautiful
Perfect for Valentine's Day, thanks!
This is incredible! So, so pretty!
Sues
So pretty!
Whoa! I would love to go to a party with this as the centerpiece. Or maybe it's more like, once this tower is present, then it can be a party!? Chicken/egg dilemma going on here. 😉 Beautiful work!! <3
Beautiful! So elegant! 🙂
That is just so beautiful!
Kari
http://sweetteasweetie.com/
This is stunning! This would be a great centerpiece on a dessert table!
Can I just lie in bed and pluck the dipped strawberries and just inhale DEEPLY those beautiful roses and SIGH SIGH this is so pretty.
Hello! Im thinking about doing this for my daughters birthday. However, im confused on how to dry the chocolate strawberries without the back having that ugly flat side from laying down on parchment paper..do I stand it up? Please help!
Hi! All of the strawberries I dipped had a flat side from lying on parchment. That side is hidden when you attach them to the cone.
Do you think you could use this with squash? Thanks for the great idea.
these look good. what kind of chocolate did you use?
May I know will the strawberry sweat after fridge ? I'm planning to do it for my baby birthday party ?
What if you can't buy organic flowers? Does it hurt to use regular ones?
Hi! Organic flowers are preferred because they aren't treated with pesticides. I think non-organic roses could be used by first rinsing them thoroughly with water. Let them air dry completely before using. Thanks for your question!
Thank you!! I was searching online and no one else had clear instructions on how to make one of these. It's so beautiful I cannot wait to make one. <3
Thanks a lot for your tutorial.It's so clear! ???
Love this! I think I'll have to try it with dark chocolate, since I'm not a fan of the white stuff. I'll bet that would look good with deep colored roses. If I make one for my niece's upcoming baby shower, I could use blue candy melts(and macarons) because she's having a boy!
HI there, Thank you for your tutorial! How far in advance can these be made? Or is it best to make them day of serving? Do you think strawberries could handle being made the day before? Thank you!
hi! great info and the step by step is soo helpful! just to be clear, do the roses need to be on toothpicks too? or do you leave some stem to poke into the foam cone?
thanks!
Hi! I attached the roses with tooth picks. I found it best to stick the toothpick in the styrofoam, and then place the rose head on the toothpick. Hope this helps!
This is beautiful but as a florist, never, ever use fresh flowers next to any edible item. Most roses originate from Ecuador, and the water/sanitation systems are not like those we have in the USA, plus the amount of toxic pesticides they use – do the research.
Good morning florist – as you can see in the blog post, I adivse to use organic roses that are pesticide-free. Whenever I use flowers along with my sweets I always recommend using blooms that can be confirmed as food-safe, organic and grown in safe conditions, or sourced from your own garden or a trusted friend's organic garden. I believe your comment is meant to be helpful, so I'd suggest spreading the word on wedding cake websites where roses are abundantly used and without any kind of safety advisory. A quick web search of 'wedding cakes with fresh roses' will… Read more »