The Contemporary Buttercream Bible (21 page)

A

2 Repeat the same process and pipe two or more

layers of petals. Make sure you pipe the succeeding

petals in between the first row (B).

B

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3 Cut the tip of the piping bag and use plain

buttercream to pipe spikes in the centre of each of

the flowers by holding the piping bag at a 90 degree

angle and squeezing it until the buttercream creates

a vertical line, then release the squeeze before

pulling the bag away abruptly (C).

C

4 Pipe some leaves using a leaf nozzle (see

Sunflower and Leaves) (D).

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D

Tip

Make sure that you pipe the petals really close

to each other so that you cannot see any gaps

in between. This flower can be piped on the

side of the cake but be careful not to make it

too big because this will make it heavy and it

could potentially fall off.

Daffodil

1 Pipe a guide circle and ‘points’ to help you

position the petals evenly (A).

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A

2 Using a small petal nozzle (Wilton 104), position

the nozzle at a 20 to 30 degree angle with wide end

pointing down. While continuously squeezing the

piping bag, move the nozzle up (B) then turn it to

the right and back down until you create a long

petal (C). Make sure there is no gap in the middle.

Repeat the same process and pipe a total of five or

six petals.

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B

C

3 Cut the tip off a piping bag and use slightly darker yellow-tinted buttercream to pipe an overlapping

spiral as the centre of the flower, about 1–1.5cm (1⁄2–

5⁄8in) tall (D).

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D

4 Pipe some leaves using a leaf nozzle (see

Sunflower and Leaves) (E).

E

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Tip

With daffodil petals, you just have to follow a

long ‘U’ shape without a gap in the middle.

Make sure you pipe five petals or your flower

won’t look right.

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To create this cake…

• 20 × 10cm (8 × 4in) round cake (bottom tier), 15

× 10cm (6 × 4in) round cake (top tier)

• Dowel rods

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• 1.8–2.5kg (4lb–5lb 8oz) buttercream

• Paste colours: light yellow, (Sugarflair Melon and

Autumn Leaf), mid yellow (Sugarflair Melon and

Autumn Leaf), pink (Sugarflair Pink), orange

(Sugarflair

Egyptian

Orange),

light

green

(Sugarflair Gooseberry), dark yellow (Sugarflair

Autumn Leaf), dark green (Sugarflair Spruce

Green)

• Piping bags

• Petal nozzle (Wilton 104)

• Leaf nozzle (Wilton 352)

• Chrysanthemum nozzle (Wilton 81)

• Scalloped cake comb

• Scissors

• Cake stand or covered cake board

Crumb coat, dowel and stack the cakes (see

Buttercream Basics) and place on a stand or

covered cake board. Cover the cakes with

600–700g (1lb 5oz–1lb 9oz) of light yellow tinted

buttercream, giving the top tier a smooth finish and

the bottom one a ridged finish with the cake comb

(see Covering Cakes in Buttercream Basics). Colour

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the remaining buttercream in the following

quantities 250–350g (9–12oz) each of mid yellow,

pink and orange, and 150–250g (51⁄2–9oz) each of

light green, dark green and dark yellow. Pipe the

flowers according to the tutorials, using mid yellow

and dark yellow for the daffodils and orange and

pink for the chrysanthemums. Add some stems in

light green and leaves in dark green (see Sunflower

and Leaves).

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Rose and Rose Bud

Roses are undeniably the most popular flower of all.

Often described as the symbol of love, a rose never

fails to touch someone’s heart. A single rose on a

cupcake or a cake says it all. How much more will a

bouquet of roses express? With sufficient practice,

you can master how to pipe truly realistic

buttercream roses that will create a stunning effect.

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