What do you do when your little sister calls you up and asks,
“How hard would it be to decorate frosting flowers on cupcakes?”
“How hard for you? Or how hard for me? Are you asking me to help you?”
“Um, yes.”
My sister, Janice, was in charge of bringing cupcakes for a friend’s baby shower who was expecting her first child, a boy. When my sister came over, her top priority was to make them “cute”. Okay, I can do cute. My only requirement would be that she, herself, would have to learn how to decorate them. Not that I was opposed to helping her but I am one of those types of people who believe in the Chinese proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. In this situation it was more like, “Decorate others cupcakes and you’ll be asked to do them all the time. Teach others to decorate their own cupcakes and they have no excuse to ask you ever again”. In all honesty, I believe teaching her some basic cake decorating skills will serve her well in the lives of her children. If she ever needs an assistant I’m just 5 minutes down the road.
What we ended up with were baby blue pansy-like flowers made from buttercream. My focus wasn’t to re-create a particular type of flower, just a nice looking one. We topped each one off with silver sugar sprinkles and the results were great. Beautiful cupcakes always look and taste better, don’t you agree?
I had no intentions of doing a cupcake decorating tutorial when we started piping flowers but my sister kept on asking me,
“Shouldn’t you be taking pictures of this? I think your readers would like to know how to do this.”
“No, I don’t want to take pictures right now.. let’s just get these done.”
“I know… lets videotape this!”
“No way, man… look at me! I have no makeup, grubby clothes, and I don’t want to change.”
“Okay, how about we don’t get your face in the video.”
“You promise?! No face! Or else.. I am going to smoosh all your cupcakes.”
“Promise.”
As a result we filmed a little video using her point and shoot camera. Please forgive my messy kitchen and the quality of the video, but I think you’ll find it helpful if you ever plan on tackling buttercream flowers for cupcakes. If you still have questions after reading this post and watching the video, just ask them in the comment section and I’ll try to answer them as best as I can. Enjoy!
Directions in a nut shell: Fill pasty bag with medium firm buttercream frosting with a #61 or rose petal cake decorating tip attached. The tip will look like a slanted tear drop. Starting at the center of your cupcake and with the rounded part of the tip towards the center, squeeze and apply pressure to pasty bag in an upside down “U” rotation. On the downside of the “U”, release pressure and connect the tip to where you started. In other words, apply pressure when you go up and release pressure when you come down. Continue to do this until the cupcake is full of pedals. Easiest way to do this is to rotate the cupcake as you complete each petal. To finish it up add a little squiggle to the top of the cupcake to cover up any holes. Top off with a pinch of sprinkled decorative sugar. It’s important to note that while you’re decorating, you’re piping wrist is at a 30 degree angle in proximity to the cupcake. However, you’ll want to make sure your cake tip is at a 45 degree angle.
linda hernandez says
These turned out beautiful! I can’t wait to try! Thank you for sharing.
alice says
Hi Jen- Once you decorate your cupcakes, they should maintain their shape regardless. The only exception to this would be if they were left out and it was very hot inside and outside. I typically refrigerate cakes/cupcakes up to a day in advance. The frosting itself can be made weeks in advance as long as it is kept in an airtight container. Depending on how much frosting you make, it could take any where between 30 minutes to an hour to come to room temperature. Just be sure it stays in the airtight container when you do this. I have decorated cupcakes in advance and left them in my refrigerator overnight in a sealed tupperware container with no problem. I’ve also put them in the freezer as well. No, the cupcakes were not dry. As long as you keep them in an airtight container you should be fine. Hope this answers all your questions.
Alice
jen says
Hi Alice!
Great tutorial! Few questions:
1. I too am wondering how far in advance do you decorate the cupcakes in order for the frosting to maintain it’s shape? Do you refrigerate after?
2.If the frosting is made in advance and has been refrigerated, how long does it take for it to come to room temperature for piping?
3. Have you decorated the cupcakes in advance, refrigerated overnight…what were the results of your cupcake…was the cupcake dry?
Thank you!
MissJean says
These are adorable and just what I was looking for! How far in advance can I decorate the cupcakes and still have them look cute? I have time to cook/prep on Wednesday for a party on Thursday. If I keep them refrigerated, will the cupcakes still be OK on Thursday?
cesia256 says
Ah – my laziness in the way of mixing has been exposed! Thank you very much for the info, Alice. I think I’ll either have to stump up for a mixer or develop bulging biceps…. (And as a determined cake eater I think you can guess which I’ll go for!)
alice says
Hi Cesia and Sonyon: Sorry I missed this question earlier. I’ve found the less you mix cake batter, the more dome curve you get on cakes and cupcakes. If you have a mixer, beat your cake batter longer and you’ll get a more flat cake. Hope this helps!
Alice
Ashley says
Nice job on the video but I want to see your face! 🙂
Great post as usual Alice.
cesia256 says
This is incredibly useful – largely because the process is so well explained. So often people only explain one aspect (the movement) without also making clear the angle or distance from the cake etc. Will have to dig out my old icing paraphernelia! I have to second Soyon’s question, though: how do you guarantee flat cakes? Mine always come out with some pretty steep curves….
Baking is my Zen says
I love the video! I hope to do video tutorials some day on my blog…still working up the nerve to do it…
Carmen
Fuji Mama says
I am so glad that you did the video! You make it look SO easy.
Three Baking Sheets says
The timing of this could not have been any more impeccable. Thanks for the virtual lesson, Alice.
Sara @ Our Best Bites says
“Decorate others cupcakes and you’ll be asked to do them all the time. Teach others to decorate their own cupcakes and they have no excuse to ask you ever again”
Hahaha, now THAT is a good proverb! That cracked me up, lol. Love the video- your flowers are darling! I just learned that same flower technique in my cake decorating class and I’ve been wanting to try it with a bunch of different colors to make a little garden!
Tara says
Big thanks to your sis for making you do this! Seeing it is SO helpful!
~Tara
polly says
Not really so scary, are they? I just might try these to take to a garden party. Thanks for the courage!
Stacey says
Hi Alice, I enjoyed eating the cupcakes at my shower! Thanks!
J says
This was super helpful – you are gifted, Alice!
Memoria says
I agree with the others. This video was extremely helpful. I am still learning how to frost (my latest bad attempt is on my recent post about brownie bites), so I really needed this tutorial. I thank your sister for coercing you to make this video. It was very helpful.
franticfoodie says
this is so helpful
Cindy L says
Are these full size cupcakes? I just picked up the tip and it seems like the petal would be so small and not cover it like yours. Sorry, I just want to ge this right for my daughters party. BTW I just made your chocolate chip cookies and oh my god!!!!!!!
alice says
Sheri,
There are several small cake decorating kits available. I would check your local craft store like Michaels or Joannes. I’ve seen a Wilton’s set for around $8 which includes 4 tips, pastry bags, and some gel paste. You can also always buy one tip at a time. They usually run about $1/each. I would buy a few tips, a coupler, and half a dozen pastry bags if I wanted to start small.
alice says
Hi Cindy,
Although in this tutorial we used mini cupcakes, regular sized cupcakes also will work. The most important thing to remember is applying more pressure with the bigger cupcakes. The more pressure you apply, the bigger each petal will be. Hope this helps!
Alice
Sheri says
Thanks for the video, and good job Janice on your first try! Alice, is there a smallish type cake decorating kit that you’d recommend for people just wanting to experiment…something that might have all the basics, yet not a huge, expensive investment? I really love this type of thing, but get overwhelmed with all the supplies in the stores.
baby cribs says
Thanks for the video! I really appreciate it so much because I really don’t know what to do with mine!
Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction says
Your cupcakes look lovely… and I love the video! Makes it look so easy. I always have issues with piping flowers, but I will give this a try!
jennifer says
Super video…and very cute at the end with your sisters cupcake example! I’m sure 99% of ours will look just like that, so now we won’t feel too bad. (-;