After more than two years at Wilton, there are still products that puzzle me. Here is an example. I found this set of plastic lily nails that are used to create icing flowers. But how do these really work? For those who are not familiar with this product, it’s a mystery unsolved, an intriguing object that looks very difficult to use. To find out more about it I headed to the decorating room and enlisted the help of Diane, one of our professional decorators to find enlightenment.
The first thing Diane explained to me is that there are two pieces for each size provided in the set. The one that she uses the most is the 1 5/8” in. You can make several types of flowers and you must use royal icing. The greatest advantage of these nails is that they aid the creation of 3D flowers in advance, so that you can place them on your cake at a later time, even after doing a test layout.
Start by lining the bottom nail with a square of foil. Press the upper nail piece to shape the foil in the bottom bell. Use your fingers to wrap the rest of the foil all around the bottom bell. You can use different pressure to create different foil depths, which will ultimately change the depth of your flower.
To make a lily, use tip #68 to pipe three petals, starting from the center of the bell and pulling up only to the top of the nail. Then start again by layering an additional three icing petals in alternating positions.
Now switch your icing color to a light green, and use tip #14 to create the center of the flower. Finish off by adding three stamen pieces. Gently remove the square of foil from the nail by opening the corners that were folded under the bell. Set the flower aside and let dry on the foil for 24 hours. When set, you will be able to peel away the foil and reveal your beautiful dry icing flower!
Here is an example of a white lily that Diane had pre-made. As you can see it is completely dry and you can place it directly on a cake or on cupcakes.
Thanks Diane for showing us how easy it can be!
Other examples of flowers that you can create with the Lily Nail Set:
Giulia is the Associate Product Manager for Gingerbread. Born a crafter, Giulia moved from Italy to the U.S. where she enthusiastically joined Wilton. She LOVES baking, decorating, crafting, cooking, family and friend gatherings, shopping, and pretty things. 
This is so interesting!!!! The Wilton product line is so extensive that even the employees can’t keep up with it. I doubt that I could ever make such lovely flowers, but your expert, Diane, made it seem possible. Kudos to Diane for her expertise and to Giulia for asking the question and passing the info on to us!!! What a team!!!
Wow! Beautiful work Giulia. Can I ask what type of icing you used?
Hello Nicole,
Diane used the royal icing recipe for this project. You can find it on the Wilton wesbite, link below.
http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Royal-Icing
I took Wilton’s Classes and LOVED LOVED LOVED them BUT I still had a hard time with the Lily THIS is easier to understand! I guess Im a visual person. Your Flowers are GORGEOUS!
these are really good Ive taken all of the Wilton classes but i had trouble on these flowers just how do you peel away the foil without breaking the flower? is there a trick? or is it just from practice?
Good morning Patrick!
Here is what the decorating room recommends:
These flowers take longer than most to dry as they are deeper and thicker at the base….so make sure you are doing a few days in advance of when needing to peel away the foil. When totally dry there should not be a problem.
Really beautiful!!! I think I need practice, I like this, Your explanation is understandable, and the flowers are beutifull, thanks, greetings from Mexico.
p.d. Sorry, for the bad orthography.
arenita
What do you use the smallest lily nail for? It’s teeny tiny.
Hello Doreen, here is what the decorating room is suggesting:
“You would use a number 1 or 2 tip and make a tiny lily or spike flower….any flower that you can do with the larger one can be done with the small one just using the small tip ….all the steps are the same”
your explaination is very royal.May god always bless you…forever
Could you use bc icing?
This tool is designed so that the flower can dry on it, and then be easily removed. Buttercream icing would not dry hard enough.
this Lily nail is very handy. i have foiled the opposite side and made some roses. this avoids using the icing for the middle of the rose. i left the rose to dry and then removed the foil.
Now, that’s a creative use!! Thanks for sharing Vendra!
Hi Diane,
Iam from Maldives.
Your flowers are very beautiful. could u pls. send me how I can do royal icing.
Thank you,
Hello Naseema,
follow this link to find the Royal Icing Recipe.
Happy decorating!
Giulia
http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Royal-Icing
that is totally cool . thanks for the info.. go wilton….
I understand abut the nail with just a cup. But what about the other nail that has the stem in the middle of the cup? What do you do with that?
Hi,
I love your flowers. I tried using the lily nail but I have a hard time peeling it off from the foil. Even when I dried it for a few days it still cracks. Do you have any tip so this doesn’t happen (especially the lily flower). I read somewhere that you should use new icing. Do you have any other tips? Thanks.
P.S. I tried no#67 tip for the lily bec. I don’t have the #68 but when I use the icing it seperates so it seems that the middle part gets blocked. Is there something wrong with the icing?
i just bought the Ultimate Professional Cake Decorating Set yesterday and these came in it and i couldn’t figure out what the heck they were. this really helped….now i can start making flowers
thanks Giulia and Diane
Please HELP! My lily petals broke when I peeled down the foil!!! Is it my icing? Should I spray the foil to make release easier? I then tried dusting the foil with the dust pouch and that didn’t work either…:(