Buttercream flowers can turn any cake into a showstopper. They are so easy and fun to make you’ll be adding them to your creations in no time.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 15 medium buttercream flowers
Special equipment: smooth round piping tip, petal piping tip, flower nail, piping bag, parchment squares and stand mixer.
For the buttercream use our recipe for Easy Swiss Buttercream found here!
Directions:
Before you start making any flowers, you’ll need to cut out small parchment squares. These should be slightly bigger than you flower nail. Cut out 15 squares.
To make Peonies:
Once you’ve made your buttercream, prepare your piping bags. One piping bag should have a medium size round nozzle and the other should be fitted with a petal nozzle.
Fill the piping bag with the round tip with white buttercream.
Then grab some pink food colouring, we use Colourmill, and drip a line of colour on the inside of your second piping bag fitted with the petal tip. Make sure you drip it on the side of the piping bag with the thinnest part of the nozzle. Now fill the petal piping bag with the white buttercream.
Grab your flower nail and dot a small amount of buttercream to stick your parchment square to.
Once the parchment square is secured on the nail, take your round tipped piping bag and pipe a short fat dot of buttercream into the middle of the parchment square.
Take your petal tip piping bag and hold it with the thinnest part of the tip at the top. Time to pipe your petals. The first petals should cover your mound of buttercream, you will do this by starting at the base of the buttercream dot and piping a rainbow shape over 1/3 of the dot. Do this 3 more times until the dot is covered.
This rainbow shape is how you will form the rest of your flower. Keep the petals tilting in so they end up looking like a peony bud.
As you get further from the centre you can start arching your piping tip slightly backwards to make more open petals.
Finish the flower with a swoop of buttercream around the base.
Place the flowers on their parchment into the fridge until firm enough to handle.
You can transfer them to your cake by cutting under the flower with scissors to release it from the parchment.
To make Roses:
Once you’ve made your buttercream, prepare your piping bags. One piping bag should have a medium size round nozzle and the other should be fitted with a petal nozzle.
Add some pink food colouring to your buttercream to get your desired shade, we use Colourmill colours.
Fill the piping bag with the round tip with buttercream.
Then fill the petal piping bag with the buttercream.
Grab your flower nail and dot a small amount of buttercream to stick your parchment square to.
Once the parchment square is secured on the nail, take your round tipped piping bag and pipe a medium sized dollop of buttercream into the middle of the parchment square.
Take your petal tip piping bag and hold it with the thinnest part of the tip at the top. Time to pipe your petals. The first petals should cover your dollop of buttercream, you will do this by starting halfway up the buttercream dot and piping a rainbow shape over 1/3 of the top of the dot. Do this 3 more times until the dot is covered.
This rainbow shape is how you will form the rest of your flower. As you move further from the centre bud, gradually angle the top of your piping tip back towards you to make petals that appear more open than those in the centre. Work your way down the dollop of buttercream until you’ve got the size of flower you want.
You can always stop early and have a small rose bud.
Place the flowers on their parchment into the fridge until firm enough to handle.
You can transfer them to your cake by cutting under the flower with scissors to release it from the parchment.
