Creating Edible Wedding Cake Flower Decorations

Creating icing flowers for a wedding cake is a fun and straightforward process that can be achieved through a few simple steps. Using a buttercream or frosting of your choice, along with some basic piping techniques, you can make beautiful roses and swirls to adorn your cake. The key to success is in the preparation, having the right tools, and a good frosting recipe. This includes using the right piping tips, such as the Wilton 1M Piping Tip for open star roses, and the #21 Piping Tip for small rosettes. It is also important to chill the cake before decorating and to use room temperature frosting for piping. With these tips and a bit of practice, you'll be well on your way to creating stunning buttercream flowers for any wedding cake.

Choosing the right piping tips

Types of Piping Tips:

Piping tips come in various shapes and sizes, and they are typically classified into "families" based on their openings. The most common tip families include round, star, leaf, drop flower, petal, and specialty tips. Each type of tip creates a different effect, so choosing the right one is crucial for achieving the desired flower design.

Round Tips:

Round tips feature a round opening and are perfect for piping letters, dots, and outlining cookies. Smaller round tips, such as #1, #2, and #3, are ideal for fine details and writing. Larger round tips, like #5, can be used for bolder shapes, beads, and borders.

Star Tips:

Star tips are versatile and excellent for beginners. They can create star-shaped designs, borders, shells, swirls, and rosettes. Star tips are perfect for filling in large areas of your cake or piping shells and borders. Smaller star tips, like #14, are great for small details, while larger ones, like Ateco's #845, are perfect for cupcake swirls.

Leaf Tips:

Leaf tips are essential for adding foliage to your floral creations. The small 349 tip is perfect for delicate leaves, while the 352 tip is a favourite for piping a variety of leaves and hydrangeas, sunflowers, and ferns.

Drop Flower Tips:

Drop flower tips resemble star tips but with slightly closed grooves, making it easier to pipe flower shapes. With a simple squeeze, you can create a flower, or you can twist your wrist as you pipe for a swirled flower effect.

Petal Tips:

Petal tips, as the name suggests, are ideal for piping buttercream flowers like roses and tulips. They can also be used to create ribbons, ruffles, and simpler flowers like apple blossoms. An assortment of petal tips is recommended for achieving different flower shapes and sizes.

Specialty Tips:

Specialty tips include unique options like the grass tip, triple star, basketweave, Bismarck, and cake icing tip. The grass tip, for example, can be used to pipe grass or fur onto your creations.

Material:

Piping tips are typically made of metal or plastic. Metal tips tend to be more durable and give sharper, more defined shapes to your icing flowers. However, they are more fragile and require careful handling, washing, and storage. Plastic tips are excellent for beginners as they are more durable, cheaper, and long-lasting.

When choosing piping tips for your wedding cake icing flowers, consider the type of flower you want to create and the level of detail you desire. By selecting the right piping tips and practising your technique, you'll be well on your way to creating stunning floral designs that will impress your guests.

How to assemble the piping bag

To assemble a piping bag for making wedding cake icing flowers, you will need a few tools. These include a #3 piping tip (optional), a #352 leaf tip (optional), parchment paper squares cut to 3"x3", a cookie sheet or pan for freezing, and food colouring (optional).

Firstly, cut your parchment paper into small squares of around 3"x3". If you are using food colouring, add a few drops of your chosen colour to the buttercream and mix until you reach your desired shade.

Next, you will need to prepare your piping bag. Unscrew the coupler and place the larger piece into the piping bag. Cut off the tip of the piping bag so that half of the coupler can fit through the hole. Attach your piping tip (e.g. a 104 piping tip) to the coupler and screw on the cap to secure the tip.

Now, fill your piping bag with your preferred colour of buttercream. Place a small amount of buttercream on your piping nail to attach a parchment square. Hold the piping tip so that the fattest part of the tip is in the centre, with the thin part facing outward. Pipe a small "U" shape to create your first petal, starting and stopping in the centre.

Rotate your nail and pipe the next petal. Continue until you have piped five petals to create your flower. Remove the flower from the nail by gently lifting the parchment square and placing it onto a cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet into the freezer to chill the buttercream flowers before placing them onto your cake.

Using food colouring

When making icing flowers for a wedding cake, food colouring can be used to create vibrant, colourful flowers that will stand out. To get started, you will need to separate your frosting into different bowls, depending on how many colours you want to use. Using gel food colouring is recommended, as it is more potent than traditional food colouring and will give you brighter, more vibrant colours. Add a small amount of colouring to each bowl and mix until you achieve the desired intensity.

For a simple design, you can stick to one or two colours, but if you want to get more creative, you can experiment with different shades. Choose colours that complement each other and the overall theme and colour palette of your wedding. You can also create a gradient effect by mixing different shades of the same colour.

Once you have achieved the desired colours, it is time to start piping your flowers. You can use different piping tips to create a variety of flower shapes and sizes. For example, a small open star tip can be used for accent flowers, while a larger open star tip can be used for bigger roses and swirls. If you want to create two-toned roses, you can add two different colours to one piping bag. Practice piping your flowers on a piece of parchment paper before you start decorating the cake.

When you are happy with your technique, you can begin piping directly onto the cake. Start by placing heavier flowers on the top of the cake, such as roses, ranunculus, or irises, and use lighter flowers like hibiscus for the sides to prevent them from sliding off. Fill in any gaps with leaves and buds, using green frosting if desired. You can also use frosting as "glue" to stick flowers and leaves to the sides of the cake.

How to pipe the flowers

Now for the fun part: piping the flowers!

Firstly, cut your parchment paper into small squares (about 3"x3"). You'll want to place a pat of buttercream onto the top of your flower nail, along with one of your squares of parchment paper.

If you're using a coupler, unscrew it and place the larger piece into the piping bag. Cut off the tip of the piping bag so that half of the coupler can fit through the hole. Then, attach your piping tip (see below for flower types and their corresponding piping tips) and screw on the cap to secure the tip.

Next, fill your bag with your preferred colour of buttercream. Hold the piping tip so the fattest part of the tip is at the centre and the thin part is facing outward. Making a small "U" shape, pipe your first petal, starting and stopping from the centre. Rotate your nail and pipe the next petal. Continue until you have piped five petals.

Remove the flower from the nail by lifting up the parchment and placing it onto a cookie sheet. We will freeze the buttercream flowers before placing them onto the cake.

A handy tip is to practice 10-15 flowers first before you try to keep any of them. You will quickly learn how hard you need to squeeze and improve your technique. Just scrape the practice flowers back into the bowl.

Now, for the different types of flowers and their corresponding piping tips:

• Roses or pansies: use the Petal Cake Decorating Tip 104 or 127
• Wilton #1M piping tip: open star tip for purple roses
• #199 piping tip: large open star tip for pink swirls
• #21 piping tip: small open star tip for small teal accents
• #2F drop flower piping tip: for small yellow flowers

Attaching the flowers to the cake

Now that you've made your icing flowers, it's time to attach them to the cake. Here's a step-by-step guide:

Before you begin, ensure your cake is thoroughly chilled. This is crucial, as it ensures that the flowers adhere to the cake and prevents the cake from tilting. Place the cake in the fridge while you pipe the flowers.

To attach the flowers, simply pipe a dot of frosting onto the back of each flower. Then, gently press the flower onto the desired location on the cake. You can attach flowers to the top or sides of the cake using this method.

If you're placing flowers on the side, hold the piping tip so the fattest part is at the centre, with the thin part facing outward. Pipe a small "U" shape for the first petal, starting and stopping in the centre. Rotate your nail and pipe the next petal. Continue until you've piped all the petals.

To attach flowers to the top of the cake, you can follow a similar process. Pipe a dot of frosting onto the back of the flower and gently press it onto the desired spot.

Remember to save some frosting for adding leaves and other decorations. You can pipe leaves using a leaf piping tip or fill in the flowers with dots of frosting.

If you're attaching flowers to the sides of the cake, it's a good idea to mark gentle guidelines on the cake to ensure a neat pattern. You can also sketch out your cake design beforehand to help you visualise the final product.

Lastly, keep your cake chilled throughout the decorating process. This will ensure that the flowers stay in place and that the cake remains stable.

Now you're ready to display your beautiful creation!

Frequently asked questions