BLOGS BY JANE TAYLOR | TOP TIPS | HOW TO | BUSINESS HELP

Buttercream roses are likely to be the most common flower you’ll be asked to pipe!

As I’m sure you are aware by now there are so many different varieties of roses but for the most part, all piped with the same technique!

I have so many rose tutorials ranging from the Large Petal Rose through to mini roses and my favourite rose of all The Taylor Made Rose! My most realistic rose.

There are tips I can give you to help you master buttercream roses 🌹

First of all…

If you can get into the routine of making your buttercream at the beginning of the week for the whole week ahead you’ll see a huge difference in your buttercream consistency.

Store your buttercream in a big container with a lid or a bowl and cover with clingfilm. Pop it in the fridge this will get rid of any air bubbles! Your buttercream will last in the fridge for as along the expiry date on your pack of butter. If you’re using my buttercream recipe that’s great! But if you’re adding milk or cream to your buttercream then you cannot use this rule.

The buttercream will obviously solidify because you’ve refrigerated it. Take out only what you need to pipe the flowers you are about to pipe! Pop it in a bowl and blast it in the microwave for 5 second or 2 second spurts on high! It will depend how powerful your microwave is? Now when you get to the point where you think it’s almost there! Don’t put it back in!! by the time you’ve added colour it will be the perfect consistency! It’s like velvet…. This is the perfect way to achieve smooth petal roses.

If you’ve been following me for long enough you’ll know I freeze my cupcakes (game changer) I pipe straight onto frozen cupcakes! I don’t let them defrost I simply remove straight from the freezer and flat ice immediately! Then pipe immediately!It’s amazing for setting your buttercream quicker and in the hotter months a life saver.

Get into the habit of flat icing your cupcakes! This is basically a crumb coat like bakers do for big cakes! Also if you make a mistake and you don’t like what you’ve piped you can scrape it off without leaving cake crumbs in your buttercream! Which can block your piping nozzles.

This tip does apply to all buttercream flowers but especially for the roses, you must have a tight piping bag at all times. I stop and tighten my bag every two petals! The minute your piping bag starts to have some slack you will not be in control of what comes out the other end. If you’re obsessed with smooth petal roses then this is how you achieve that. Stop and twist the bag, stop and twist the bag. If you get into the habit of doing this all the time it will just become second nature.

I do also love frilly edge roses! This usually happens when you’re piping bag is slightly loose or if you’re using freshly made buttercream.

Peonies do require you to use freshly made buttercream as you want the edges to be frilly and kind of broken, because that’s what real peony petals are like.

If you’re right handed you will pipe anti-clockwise! If you’re left handed you will pipe clockwise. Left handed pipers can use the same nozzles just pipe in the complete opposite direction to what I teach.

When I’m piping roses, once I piped the centre I tip the cupcake away from me. So the bottom of the cupcake is almost facing you! This allows the petals to stay vertical and you can see where your next petal will go. Keep your nozzle vertical too if you notice that your petals almost drape? That’s because your nozzle is not vertical! Once you get to the last layer you can then tilt your nozzle to finish it off! Remember stop and twist your piping bag!

For mini roses I pipe straight onto the cupcake! You don’t have to you can use a flower nail! Use a tiny square of greaseproof paper then you can move them to a tray to pop into the freezer to solidify, then you can add them to your cupcake! You will need to add a tiny blob of buttercream to the cupcake to make then frozen flower stick. Then add your chosen foliage!

Two toning your roses will take them to then next level! There are so many ways to two tone but my absolute favourite is so simple but oh so effective.

Pop your nozzle in the piping bag! Squirt a small amount of gel colour in the bag. Rub the bag between your hands so that it covers the whole piping bag. Then add your chosen colour or just use uncoloured buttercream. The effect this gives is so realistic and each rose will look slightly different! I love it personally.

So I hope this has helped! It’s all about the angle of the cupcake 🧁 remember tip away from you! The nozzle! Keep it vertical! Your piping bag! Keep it tight at all times. Use buttercream that’s been refrigerated!

Happy piping

Love Jane x

Rose Courses Available here