Cake Decorating — Make Simple Frosting Flowers

The flowers below are easy to pipe, dainty, and work well as fill-in flowers. The flowers can be piped directly onto the cake when using buttercream. Pipe royal icing flowers on parchment paper and allow to set for several hours. When hardened, put in a container. The flowers will keep for several months.

Adapted from "The Complete Photo Guide to Cake Decorating" by Autumn Clark, published by Creative Publishing international.

Step 1

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To make drop flowers, start with the pastry bag at a 90° angle, touching the surface.

Step 2

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Apply pressure while turning the tip a quarter turn, keeping the tip touching the surface.

Step 3

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Continue with pressure while turning. Release pressure and raise tip straight up with a slight jerk to break off icing.

Step 4

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Use a contrasting color and pipe a dot in the center.

Step 5

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To make star flowers, start with the pastry bag at a 90° angle touching the surface.

Step 6

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Squeeze the pastry bag to pipe a star. Continue squeezing the pastry bag until the star is the desired size. The bag should not be lifted until the star is formed. Stop pressure and lift pastry bag.

Step 7

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Use a contrasting color and pipe a dot in the center.

Step 8

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Tip: A stiffer buttercream icing will create cleaner lines on your flower while a thinner icing will create a ruffled look. To thin your frosting, simply add a little more water.

Step 9

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This frosting flowers how-to is excerpted with permission from "The Complete Photo Guide to Cake Decorating" by Autumn Clark, published by Creative Publishing international.