Required Tools:
- Parchment paper
- Scissors
- Plastic wrap
- Flower nail
- Piping bags
- Couplers
- Gel colours
- Litre container or liquid measuring cup (to easily fill a piping bag)
- The following piping tips:
- #104 or #105 petal
- #352 or #356 Vtip
Tips and Tricks before getting started
The buttercream you use is key:
We choose to use swiss meringue buttercream at our bakery because we find it gives us the most stable product. Swiss Buttercream is not as heavy or dense as American Buttercream so your petals will not get weighed down. When preparing your swiss meringue buttercream you want the mixture smooth and creamy. Too firm a buttercream and you do not get a smooth edge to your pearls, too soft and your pearls do not hold their shape.
Always add Foliage to your flowers:
Greenery will make your flowers look more realistic as well as hide any gaps between your flowers and cake. Foliage will also bring all your flowers together to look like a beautiful bouquet.
Make different sizes: Making your flowers in a variety of sizes will mimic nature and give your creation more depth. It is also a great way to fill in gaps you may have in between your larger blooms.
Parchment paper and your freezer are your keys to success:
For easier transfer of blooms, place a small square of parchment paper on the flower nailhead, then make your blooms on it. Once complete, transfer the finished bloom from the flower nial to a baking tray, repeat. Once your tray is full of blooms, place them in your freezer to harden. When your flowers have hardened you can take them from the freezer, remove the parchment paper from the back of your bloom and begin to place them on your cake.
Summary: Making beautiful buttercream florals is a labor of love, but remember to have fun! No two flowers are the same in nature, so embrace your imperfections!
How to’s:
What type of dye coloring to use:
Gel colors are more concentrated and thicker than food coloring, so you do not need much for coloring. Food coloring is typically watered down gel color and therefore you are only able to achieve a light color.
Since the gel colors are highly concentrated, you do not need very much of it to get a bold color. You can find gel coloring at your local cake supply store, bulk store, or online.
Food coloring is most commonly found in the grocery store and usually comes in 4 basic colors like red, yellow, green and blue.
The color palette you choose may determine whether you use gel or food coloring for your buttercream needs.
How to color buttercream:
The amount of buttercream you need to color will vary depending on what you are making and how many colors you need. We recommend starting with 1 cup. You can always darken your color by adding more gel or lighten your color by adding more uncolored buttercream.
For soft pastel color, ¼ drop or less is usually enough for 1 cup of buttercream. Use a toothpick to add the gel color to your buttercream. After the toothpick comes in contact with the buttercream, do not touch the gel color bottle with it again. You can contaminate your bottle with buttercream that can then become rancid.
If you are dying a whole batch of buttercream the same color, start with 1-2 drops and gradually add more. For darker colors you can start with 3-4 drops and go from there. Be careful when trying to create a dark color as the buttercream can easily start to taste like the dye and stain the inside of our mouth. For this reason soft pastel seems to be the color choice when it comes to decorating.
Buttercream is naturally off white due to the yellow coloring of the butter and vanilla extract. If you are planning to color your buttercream you can alway use a clear vanilla extract. Additionally you can add a touch of purple gel color to your buttercream to achieve a color that appears whiter. You can try out this trick if you are looking to keep your buttercream white for masking and decorating.
How to fill and handle a piping bag-
Fit your piping bag with a coupler and then with the piping tip of your choosing and cut the point of your piping bag so the coupler fits through. Attach the tip to the coupler and tighten with the top of your coupler. Roll your piping bag inside out half way so it is easy to fill with buttercream. Fill the bag half to two-thirds full with buttercream and secure the end tightly with a chip clip or close pin. Hold the bag at the top.It’s always best to apply pressure from the top rather than right by the tip. (Think of a tube of toothpaste.) As you use your buttercream you will periodically need to tighten your bag by re-securing the top.
Types of piped flowers
5 petal flower using a petal tip:You will need a pearl tip (#104 or #105 would be best), a very small round tip, a coupler and a flower nail
Hold the flower nail in your non- dominant hand and the piping bag in your dominant hand.
Squeeze some buttercream on the flower nail and add a parchment square on top.
Place the wider end of the piping tip towards the center of your nail.
To shape the first petal, begin to apply pressure on the piping bag and pipe away from you creating a rainbow shape.
Stop applying pressure as you finish the shape. Repeat this rainbow motion all the way around the nail until you get 5 petals and complete your flower.
Prepare a decorating bag with a small round tip with a contrasting color.
Hold the bag straight up and pipe a dot in the center of the flower.
Rose flower using a petal tip:
You will need a large round tip (#7 or #8), a petal tip (#105 is best), a coupler, and a flower nail.
Fit your piping bag with the coupler and the large round tip and fill your piping bag. Hold your flower nail with a parchment square on it in your non-dominant hand and your piping bag in your dominant hand. Pipe a “kiss” shape of buttercream onto the parchment square. This will act as the bud for your rose.
Switch out the round tip for the petal tip. Now pipe three slightly overlapping rainbows that cover the “kiss” or bud, twisting the nail as you pipe and tilting your tip towards the bud.
Begin your second layer of rainbows, this time starting in the center of a previous petal or rainbow shape. Continue to pipe rainbow shapes as you move your tip around the “kiss” , always starting and finishing the rain shape in between the center of a previous petal.
The goal is to overlap the petals so they mimic nature.
As a pipe each layer or petals you will need to increase the number of petals while also changing the the tilt of your piping bag slowly from towards to bud to away from the bud. This will give the effect of the rose opening .
The more layers of petals the larger the rose. You can also create buds by piping a single layer of petals. Remember, a variety of sizes is best when decorating a cake with buttercream flowers.
Leaf with a leaf tip:
You will need a leaf tip (#352 or #356 Vtip)
Once all your flowers are placed on your cake, you can pipe your leaves. Pipe with the piping bag at a slight upward angle from the flower surface. The point of the tip should be upright, like a bird’s beak. Squeeze hard to form the base of the leaf. As you squeeze, slowly pull the tip slightly away to form a leaf point. With no pressure, pull the tip away to finish off your leaf.
Summary:
Continue to practice your buttercream designs. Practice makes better! Once you are happy with your flowers and the variety you have created, store them in the freezer until your tiered cake is ready to be decorated. Piped buttercream flowers last up to 3 months in the freezer, stored in a container.
RECIPES FOR THIS CLASS:
TRADITIONAL SPONGE CAKE
YIELDS: 1x 6” tall round cake or 3x 6” round cake layers
(or adjust cake layers to preferred height/weight and adjust bake times accordingly)
Ingredients:
- 4 eggs, separated
- 125g sugar (split into 2 parts)
- 75g flour
- 25g cornstarch
- pinch of salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder (optional, cake insurance)
- 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
Method:
- Combine egg whites and half of the sugar with an electric or hand held mixer, sprinkling in the sugar a little at a time while the mixer is on. Bring to ‘stiff peak’ stage.
- Combine the yolks and the other half of the sugar as well as the vanilla if using. Whisk immediately and vigorously until the mixture looks pale and thick.
- Fold in ~1⁄4 of the egg white ‘stiff peak’ meringue.
- Sift and fold in flour, cornstarch, salt and baking powder (if using) into egg yolk mixture, until all the ingredients have been incorporated.
- Gently fold in the rest of the egg white meringue, in 2-3 parts, until just combined.
- Portion batter into greased and lined pans. Tap the cake pan down on the table to fill in any large air pockets at the bottom of the cake and to have the batter come to level.
- Bake at 325F or 160C until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, ~20-25 minutes for a tall 6” cake and ~15 minutes for 6” cake layers.
- Demold the cake while it is still hot out of the oven.
- Cool the cake completely and decorate on the same day or wrap cakes tightly in plastic wrap and store in the freezer (not the fridge) for up to three months.
NOTES:
- make sure to preheat your oven and bake the sponge cake as soon as the batter is ready.
- keep a close eye on the meringue once it’s at ‘soft peak’ stage to ensure that you don’t overmix your egg whites.
- use the ‘folding’ motion when mixing sponges to encourage an airy texture.
- take a sponge cake out of the cake pan as soon as possible after it comes out of the oven.
AMERICAN BUTTERCREAM
Yields: enough buttercream to stack and mask a 6” round cake
- 900g butter (room temperature)
- 480g icing sugar (sifted)
- up to 250g whole milk (room temperature)
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Mix the room temperature butter using an electric mixer until the mixture is smooth and fluffy
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Add sifted icing sugar in 2-3 parts. Mix each time starting on low speed and mix until the mixture is homogeneous, light and fluffy.
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Add milk a little at a time on low speed, thoroughly incorporating any liquid before the addition of more milk and scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time. You can add more milk for a looser texture or less milk for a firmer texture.
- Use buttercream to decorate on the same day or transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to one week or the freezer for up to three months.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- you can heat up your milk to room temperature in the microwave or in a saucepan.
- icing sugar is also called “powdered” or “confectioner’s sugar” in some countries.
- granulated sugar can be used in place of icing sugar, but the frosting will be a little bit granular in texture from the sugar crystals.
- pair bold flavours which go well with butter for an ‘American’ buttercream.
BONUS:
SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM
Yields: enough buttercream to stack and mask a 6” round cake
- 300g sugar
- 225g egg whites (pasteurized)
- 340g butter (room temperature)
- a pinch of salt
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Setup a bain marie (also known as a double boiler) with a pot and water filled around a third of the way. Set to low/medium heat so that the water will simmer rather than boil. The bowl resting on top of the pot should not be touching the water.
- Combine egg whites and sugar into a bowl and whisk immediately. If you’re using a stand mixer, use the electric-mixing bowl to minimize dishes!
- Continuously stir the egg whites and sugar with a whisk over the bain marie until the mixture is hot to touch and the sugar granules are melted. Make sure you keep stirring along the bottom of the bowl!
- Once the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is hot, use the whisk attachment on your stand or handheld mixer on medium-high speed to bring the mixture to ‘soft peak’ stage.
- Add the butter a little at a time on low to medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time and thoroughly incorporating the mixture before the addition of more butter.
- Use buttercream to decorate on the same day or transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to one week or the freezer for up to three months.
NOTES:
- you can (almost) always fix a broken buttercream!
- warm your buttercream to make it more pliable and easy to spread.
- ‘swiss meringue’ buttercream pairs well with both subtle and bold flavours
- is using fresh eggs, check with your local Health and Food Safety Department for local rules regarding eggs and pasteurization times/temperatures
