The Contemporary Buttercream Bible (18 page)

D

Tip

When piping petals, all you have to do is

position your nozzle at the right angle and

remember

these

three

words:

squeeze…stop…pull.

Hydrangea

1 Fill your piping bag with two colours of

buttercream (see the two-tone effect in Up and

201

Down Two-tone Ruffles in Piping Textures and

Patterns). Using a small petal nozzle (Wilton 103),

hold the bag at a 20 to 30 degree angle with the

wide end of the nozzle touching the surface, then

give it a good squeeze until you create a fan shape.

Stop squeezing the bag and then gently pull it

towards you (A).

A

2 Repeat the same process and pipe three more

petals making sure that all petals will start at one

common point (B).

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B

3 Pipe clusters of flowers to create the flowerhead of a hydrangea. Use green tinted buttercream to pipe

dots in the centre of each of the flowers (C).

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C

4 Pipe some leaves using a leaf nozzle (see

Sunflower and Leaves) (D).

D

Tip

Piping hydrangeas is easy, you just need to

connect all four petals at one central point. To

make them more realistic, use the two-tone

effect (see Up and Down Two-tone Ruffles in

Piping Textures and Patterns). And don’t

forget the magic words: squeeze... stop... pull!

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To create this cake…

• 15 × 13cm (6 × 5in) square cake

• 1.45–2.05kg (3lb 31⁄2oz–4lb 10oz) buttercream

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• Paste colours: light yellow-green, (Sugarflair

Melon and Gooseberry), light blue (Sugarflair Baby

Blue), light green (Sugarflair Gooseberry), orange

(Sugarflair Egyptian Orange), yellow (Sugarflair

Autumn Leaf)

• Piping bags

• Petal nozzles (Wilton 103 and 104)

• Side scraper or ruler

• Scissors

• Cake stand or covered cake board

Crumb coat the cake (see Crumb Coating in

Buttercream Basics) and place on a stand or

covered cake board. Cover the cake with 500–600g

(1lb 2oz–1lb 5oz) of light yellow-green tinted

buttercream

and

smooth

the

surface

(see

Smoothing in Buttercream Basics). Colour the rest

of the buttercream in the following quantities:

150–250g (51⁄2–9oz) each of light blue, light green

and yellow, and 250–350g (9–12oz) orange. Leave

250–350g (9–12oz) of buttercream uncoloured.

Pipe the camellias on the corners in orange with

yellow centres, following the camellia tutorial. Pipe hydrangeas on the top edges and corners using light

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blue and plain for the petals and green for the

flower centres, following the tutorial. Finish by

piping shells along the base of the cake in light

yellow-green (see Shells and Fleur-de-lis in Piping

Patterns and Textures).

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Carnation and Sweet Pea

These two garden favourites are further examples of

easy-to-pipe flowers. Both are always in season

when it comes to cake decoration, and are the

perfect choice for both full-size cakes and cupcakes.

Sweet peas make a good alternative if you want

something different from swirls, and they are also

good ‘filler flowers’ for a more elaborate floral

arrangement.

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The frilly two-tone petals of a carnation make the

perfect decoration for a cupcake and are much more

exciting and original than your average swirl. When

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paired with cupcakes in pink paper cases and pretty

vintage china they make a real statement –

experiment with colours that go well with your own

vintage crockery. A simple ruffle effect was piped

round the edge of this cupcake in pink buttercream

first (see Piping Textures and Patterns) before

piping the carnation in the centre and then the

leaves (see Sunflower and Leaves earlier in this

chapter).

Carnation

1 Create a two-tone effect by filling a piping bag

(with attached small petal nozzle, Wilton 104) with

two desired colours of buttercream in separate bags

(see Up and Down Two-tone Ruffles in Piping

Textures and Patterns). The ‘stripe’ colour will be

the one in the narrow end of the nozzle.

2 Using a piping bag with a writing nozzle, pipe a

circle as a guide to the size of your flower. With the nozzle at a 20 to 30 degree angle and the wider end

touching the surface (A), continuously squeeze the

piping bag as you move it slightly up and down to

create wavy petals. Pipe a circular row of petals

following the guide circle (B).

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A

211

B

3 Pipe another row of petals, starting slightly inside the first circle, with the wide end of the nozzle held at a 30 to 40 degree angle and touching the first

row of petals (C).