That's good because by piping your own perfect roses, you can choose your icing (can't have ready-made buttercream icing roses shipped to us!), you'll save money, and you'll have a great sense of satisfaction. If you are struggling with your icing roses, keep in mind that this skill does take patience and some sound, cake decorating advice. If you're feeling daunted, remember that learning how to pipe beautiful icing roses will be so worth the effort! Consider how many cakes you see with roses. The rose's classic beauty and long time symbolism of love probably have much to do with the fact that icing roses adorn more wedding cakes, anniversary cakes, Valentine's Day cakes, and birthday cakes than any other flower. The icing rose doesn't have to be difficult to create. Those who give up often just haven't found the right technique.
If you're like me, then you know how confusing a noisy, crowded, cake decorating class can be. By the time you arrive back home, it's easy to forget all that was packed into that small timeframe. A class that includes a step-by-step video, something like the one linked below, would be helpful. The icing rose is one of the few piped icing flowers that is not made on waxed paper that has been placed on the flower nail.
This is because when the icing rose is completed, it must be transferred directly onto the cake. So instead, you begin your rose with a base of icing on the flower nail. Getting the base just right can be tricky, but this is very important. To create the base, use a parchment bag and number 12 tip. Hold the tip slightly off the surface of the nail and squeeze.
As you allow the icing to mount up, you slowly draw upward, squeezing until you have a little cone. Then you pipe your petals around the cone (as shown in the video). Color is another important element to icing roses.
Of course, the color of the roses should match the cake, but they should also be a color or shade that will allow them to be noticed. Don't let your icing roses be wall flowers! Even a cake with a monochromatic color scheme can have roses (and other decorations) that while the same color, are a lighter or darker shade, so they are noticeable. What about a white on white wedding cake? Highlight the roses with some iridescent coloring dust for a sparkle or a pretty pearl finish. Most icing roses are pink, yellow, peach, red or white.
Chocolate can be used to help achieve the brown and black, making it dark enough that you don't need much food coloring. Here's a tip to help achieve red roses without the bitterness: use maraschino cherry liquid or grenadine (pomegranate juice). After you've created your icing rose, you can bring them to life by shading with coloring dust and piping pretty green leaves. Here are a couple more icing rose tips. For the best tasting and most beautiful icing roses, use buttercream when possible and flavor your buttercream to match your cake.
Since buttercream is vulnerable to heat and humidity, keep your decorated cake in a cool and dry place until ready to serve.
Samantha Mitchell, Co-Author Cake Decorating Made Easy! Vol. 1 & 2 The World's First Cake Decorating Video Books Sign up for for fantastic cake decorating tips, tricks and secrets of the pros at Icing Roses Made Easy
