How to Make Rosebuds With Buttercream

Decorate a cake with edible rosebuds made of buttercream.

Create a change of pace from the usual, wide-open rose blooms and decorate your cake with rosebuds made from buttercream icing. Rosebuds are simpler to make than open rose blooms because the buds do not have to be piped on a flower nail and transferred to the cake. Making your own rosebuds for cake or dessert decorating gives you free reign over the color of the flowers and their exact placement. Does this Spark an idea?

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Pastry bag with #103 or #104 petal tip
Pastry bag with #67 or #68 leaf tip
Rosebud-colored buttercream icing
Green buttercream icing

Instructions

- 1
  
  Fill the pastry bag with a petal tip with the icing for the rosebud.
- 2
  
  Add green buttercream icing to the pastry bag with the leaf tip attached.
- 3
  
  Hold the rosebud icing bag with the tip at a 45 degree angle to the cake with the wider end of the petal tip against the cake.
- 4
  
  Squeeze the pastry bag while slowly moving the tip forward 1/4 inch.
- 5
  
  Move the tip around to the right as you release pressure on the bag.
- 6
  
  Twist your hand supporting the tip upward to lift the tip from the cake and leave a sharp edge. The curved center of the rosebud will be on the cake.
- 7
  
  Place the petal tip at a 45 degree angle with the opening against the right side of the center.
- 8
  
  Hold the tip still while you squeeze the pastry bag. The buttercream frosting will come out of the tube and naturally wrap around the center of the rosebud, producing the outer petals for the bud.
- 9
  
  Place the leaf tip on the pastry bag with the green icing at a 45 degree angle to the base of the rosebud.
- 10
  
  Apply even pressure to the bag while gently pulling the bag toward yourself. Release pressure on the bag and lift the tip straight up to leave behind a leaf for the rosebud.

Tips & Warnings

Practice making several rosebuds on a paper plate until you feel confident enough to pipe them directly onto the cake.

Suggest item

"Professional Cake Decorating"; Toba M. Garrett; 2006
"The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts"; "Good Housekeeping Magazine"; 2004
"The Blue Ribbon Country Cookbook"; Diane Roupe; 2007
"The Cake Bible"; Rose Levy Beranbaum; 1988