Buttercream Ruffled Roses Cake

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I'm excited to share today's Buttercream Ruffled Roses Cake with you for a few reasons... its elegant, it is not nearly as difficult as most would imagine, and it's a technique that I previously thought was only possible in fondant!

Hooray for new buttercream techniques ;0)

Buttercream Ruffled Roses Cake

 

Ruffles in all forms continue to be extremely popular in cake decorating, and I love the trend of incorporating large fondant ruffled roses around the sides of cake tiers.

Fondant Ruffle Roses Option

I made a tutorial a couple of years ago on how to apply a single, large fondant ruffled rose to the side of the cake: Easy Fondant Ruffled Rose Cake  But I have to say that I've been inspired by the trend of carrying several ruffled fondant roses all the way around the cake!

We later did an elegant Tiered Ruffled Roses Cake in Fondant as well!  

Since I have a soft spot for buttercream & piping, I wanted to try this look in buttercream.  I was so HAPPY to find that it is not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be!

Buttercream Ruffle Roses

The buttercream ruffled/ribbon roses that you'll see in my video are very similar to the ones that I have made in past cupcake tutorials, and even in my cascade of buttercream flowers tutorial.  

This video just takes the technique one step further...and involves drying the small centers 2 days in advance. (See our note at the bottom of the page for an alternative to drying the centers!)

I hope that you enjoy it!

Materials:

My tiers are 8"/6", (each 4" tall)

I frosted my cake with High Ratio Buttercream Frosting- You could also use our Classic Vanilla or Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream.

Piping Tips Used:  Wilton 104 petal tip for the roses, and Wilton 3 small round tip for the borders, and a Wilton 2 tip for scrollwork accents on the top tier.

Rose Nails

Waxed Paper cut into squares

*I used 7 roses around the sides of my cake and so I needed to dry 7 centers, plus another 3 centers for the top tier--for a total of 10 centers.  (Dry a few more than you think you'll need.) -

Sugar Pearls- Optional

The usual:  You'll need a cake board cut to the size of each tier, your supports of choice (I use bubble tea straws for 2 tiered cakes), and your cake base/pedestal

Freezing Option for Centers

***In a time crunch? If you are unable to dry your centers in advance, you can instead freeze the centers for 15-20 minutes or until firm. 

Place on the cake and proceed as usual! The centers may have a bit of condensation as they warm to room temperature, but the shine will evaporate. This is a great time saver and a technique that I also use in our Buttercream Floral Wreath Cake Video Tutorial!

Enjoy the Video

Thanks so much for stopping by, we hope that you enjoy this elegant buttercream ruffled rose technique- it really is a lot of fun and we love the look! Keep this design in mind for birthdays, bridal showers, and even weddings!

The bottom tier would be beautiful in pink also- anything goes! ;0) Have fun with it!

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68 Comments

  1. Hands down favorite! Do you think it would work with SMBC if I added white chocolate? Thanks again! Making three of them this weekend (the Sugar Nursery)

  2. Beautiful cake can,t wait to attempt it but what do you mean by "high ratio buttercream frosting".

  3. Hi Terry, hi ratio shortening has a higher fat content than regular vegetable shortening. It holds up very well and is more stable in high temperature. It allows you to add more liquid to the recipe. It also contains emulsifiers that give the buttercream a lighter, fluffier taste.

    Using a regular vegetable shorting would also work well to make the ruffled roses.

  4. Thank you all SO much for your comments--they mean a lot to us & we are so happy that you like the cake. I hope that if you try out the technique, you'll share your pictures!-

    @Wensday & Amanda-- I'm not sure about this technique with SMBC. My guess is that it would work...but the centers would be tricky since you would not be able to dry them in advance. Maybe using modeling chocolate or fondant for the very center would work..and then build out from there with SMBC? If you try it, let us know how it goes--I've only practiced with American butter creams so far! ---- @Wensday -- our "Classic Vanilla Buttercream" is an all butter buttercream that is in our Recipes section that would work well--however, any butter based buttercream will melt heat. High Ratio buttercream or other shortening based buttercreams will hold up better in hot conditions. -

    @Debbie-- The ruffles do seem nice and secure and so I wouldn't worry about transporting. However, if you need to assemble a cake on site where the "ruffled rose" tier is not the bottom tier, I would hold off on piping the lowest ruffles until after the cake is stacked.

    @Dolores-- I think that the piped ribbon roses could definitely be piped larger. I just would be careful not to go too large so that they won't become too heavy and also they won't bend with the curve of the cake. In my "Cascade of Buttercream Flowers" tutorial a while back, I piped larger flowers with no problem...you can see the size that worked for me in this photo--
    https://www.mycakeschool.com/about-us/?acat=62

    @Terry-- Our High Ratio Buttercream recipe is in our Recipes section--it is made with High Ratio shortening. We've also had good luck using this technique with our "Fluffy" recipe and our "Classic Vanilla Buttercream".

  5. Awesome tutorial, but I can't help but wonder if you could start out with much larger roses than just centers and add onto those once they are on the cake? Either way, GREAT tutorial!

  6. Hi BeBe and Melissa,
    September is a busy month for me (well, I guess for all moms - lol) because is my daughter's birthday. She turns 12 and I would like to do a nice fondant cake, most likely the one with the bike and balloons (love it) covered in fondant.
    My question is WHAT FONDANT TO BUY? sincer there are many and I want something good to work on and DELICIOUS!... My only experience with fondant was with Wilton's (yuck) and ever since, I've been "terrified" to try on fondant again. PLEASE HELP... any advise, much appreciated. Thankyou girls!

  7. Hi Primavera, Melissa has used Elizabeth Marek's fondant recipe for her last 3 fondant videos. Here is a link to the video on how Elizabeth makes it, . We like the taste and it has great elasticity. It does have Wilton fondant as an ingredient and I agree that Wilton fondant does not have a good taste, but in her recipe I do not taste the Wilton fondant. You can also add a bit of clear vanilla if you like. We also use Satin Ice, but for now we prefer the elasticity of E. Marek's recipe.

    This is a link from a year ago on the Forum with members giving their fondant preferences,https://www.mycakeschool.com/message-boards/cake-decorating-questions/fondant-preference