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.
Thank you for this tutorial! I tried it last night and it turned out great! This may have even been my first time decorating with a bag and tip! I did use a different tip number, as I couldn’t remember what to get at Joann’s, so I just got a teardrop shaped one that was kind of big, as I made regular sized cupcakes.
thank you for this web site it helps alot on cup cakes and more!!:^)
This is how I decorate cupcakes and they come out perfect http://howtofixstuff.blogspot.ca/2012/03/cupcake-decorating-ideas.html
Hi,
I have tried making the all american buttercream following the Wilton method, substituting 1/2 of the shortening with butter. I do avoid the meringue powder since we do not eat eggs.
I have noticed that the buttercream stays fresh and soft as soon as I make it and pipe it immediately. After a couple of hours though, it gets a gritty/dry texture and leaves a nasty feel in the mouth. Do you have any suggestions on how I can retain the softness of the buttercream ? I really need to get this figured out since a friend has asked me to make a cake for her daughter’s birthday and I do not want to screw this up.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Shankari.
I loved it. You are very talented on doing this. I’ve learned a lot with you. Thank you.
very nice job, Shawn
Gina, Once you make a few you get the hang of it very quickly. Good luck!
Thank you for the video! Iam going to try these today using your buttercream recipe, although you make these look alot simplier then I think they are going to be.
Your buttercream frosting (Chocolate and Vanilla) are WONDERFUL! I have tried several that were too sweet, but your are my keepers. Also love the how to video for the flower cupcakes and the converse cake you made for your nephew. I have shared your site with several friends. Thank you!
Hi Pam,
We’re making mini cupcakes but you can easily decorate these flowers on regular size ones.
hi in the video, are you decorating mini cupcakes? or regular size?
Beautiful pictures! Very much appreciated you doing the video tutorial 🙂 Will have to try this soon.. by the way how much food coloring did you add to the frosting recipe to get that color? Thanks again♥
Thank-you so much for listening to your sister and making this video!! I watched it so many times before I tried it. And the first time my results were a dud. But yesterday I got my courage up and with 104 and 125 tips (I don’t have a 61 yet) and a better understanding of what you were telling me I made some Pansy Cupcakes with Sugar Pearls. So this is what you inspired https://picasaweb.google.com/102577743941999550390/PansyCupcakesWithSugarPearls
Hi Toni, I use the buttercream recipe on the site. You can find it by entering vanilla buttercream in the search box.
would like to know what recipe u used
Thank you, that was so helpful, and it looked really easy….
Hi! Thanks so much for this awesome video! I love cupcakes and I love decorating them. What would happen if I didn’t have that kind of tip? Also where can you find that kind of tip? THANKS!
hi, your video is amazing thanks! But what i want to know is how do i get that baby blue buttercream?? Please dont say blue food colouring as it just turns to a green as the butter is yellow. Please help, thanks x
This video is brilliant! You make it look so easy! Will definitely be giving it a go soon! So glad I found this 🙂
Thanks, now i have an idea how to do it…
Great tutorial – cupcakes are about the only thing my daughter will eat that are homemade – I now have a secret weapon for cuter cupcakes!!
Great video tutorial! =)
I’ve just finished my first basic piping class. Things learned (and far from mastered) have so far helped me create this bear-gerie cake: http://bit.ly/e47X9Z
Next week’s assignment. Flowers! I am going to be watching this as I practice in my home kitchen. Thanks!
<3, Anastasia at Can It You Nit!
Hi Mary, Wilton cake decorating equipment is widely available at all craft stores including Michaels and Joannes. You can also find small kits at grocery stores in the baking section. I would recommend at the very least some pastry bags (disposable or canvas), a couple couplers, a 2 star tips, leaf tip, rose tip, and a tiny circular tip. I would also buy a small offset spatula. If you want to do cupcakes, I would also recommend a large star tip as well.
Beautiful cupcakes – and they look delicious to boot!
For someone who’s just starting to learn how to decorate cakes and cupcakes, what kind of beginning equipment would you suggest? I’d like to start with a bag and some tips to begin experimenting with decorating, but really don’t know what brands or what specific items I should start with. Do you have recommendations?
Thanks!
I’ve always wanted to know the best way to make flowers, you make it look easy! Thanks for the tips!