Using your thumbs and forefingers, flatten one small purple gumdrop to 1/8-inch thickness; dredge lightly in granulated sugar. Using a blossom cutter, cut shape; flatten slightly between fingertips, and dredge in granulated sugar. Pinch the center from behind, gently squeezing to form a bell-shaped blossom. Repeat procedure for desired number of violets.
• You can use a small wooden dowel to roll out the gumdrops before cutting and shaping, but we found it easier to simply flatten them between our thumbs and forefingers.
•Lightly coating the cutter with vegetable cooking spray minimizes sticking. The same trick works with scissors if you use them to cut leaf shapes or to snip and trim free-form flowers from flattened gumdrops.
• When necessary, use the blunt tip of a wooden pick or bamboo skewer to help release the shape from the cutter. After making several flowers, you may need to rinse and dry the cutter before reusing.

What’s Cooking?
Do you have a recipe for a fabulous dessert? We’d love to try it. For each recipe we publish, we’ll send you $20 plus a copy of the Southern Living Annual Recipes cookbook in January. Please e-mail recipes to sl_foodedit@timeinc.com.

"From Our Kitchen: Cakes in Bloom" is from the April 2008 issue of Southern Living.