How to Pipe Large Frosting Flowers!~Video Tutorial

Hi everyone! Today, we are going to show you how to pipe frosting flowers that are large, whimsical, & fun!

We've had many requests for these types of flowers & after experimenting with several different piping tips & frosting recipes, we've found our favorite methods & are excited to share.

We are going to make a few different types of flowers in the tutorial, but I hope that in addition, you all will be inspired to experiment & develop even more flowers.

We've only scratched the surface with this tutorial ;0) -- The piping tips that we use in the video have been around for some time now, and so there are lots of examples out there of large frosting flowers, but some of my favorites are by the White Flower Cake Shoppe! LOVE their great variety of flowers & designs!

Time to get started! Let us know if you have any questions, and don't forget to find our Materials (and frosting recipe) beneath the video!

Table of Contents

Materials:

The cake featured in our tutorial is 8" and 6" tiers, frosted with our "fluffy vanilla buttercream" and topped off with big frosting flowers of "Whipped Meringue Frosting". (see recipe at the bottom of the page).

Piping Tips: Ateco 403, 402, & 401,(which we pried open a bit) & Wilton 233 grass tip. 403 is the tip I used most often & is my favorite for these large flowers!

Notes:

As we explain in the video, we felt that our flowers were much easier to pipe after slightly prying open the "mouth" of the piping tips. This allows for more icing flow from the tip, and therefore our petals had a more substantial base & could be piped taller without falling.

Although you can get a similar look with an American Buttercream recipe (like our "Classic" or "Fluffy" recipes), we had more trouble with irregular edges when piping our petals with these frostings. Plus, we liked the idea of such large flowers being a lighter whipped texture. If you experiment and have success with other recipes, we would love to hear! If you do not like to use shortening, a swiss meringue frosting would be another good option.

*Our kitchen was very hot as we filmed this tutorial, and we found that the frosting consistency did change a bit after several hours of sitting in the piping bag & bowl. If you notice a similar change, just give it a good stir...and if your frosting becomes overly soft, you can chill it for a few minutes in the refrigerator.

*Special thanks to Teri (MsGF) for recommending a whipped meringue recipe found on Cake Central. We adapted our recipe from this one, increasing the amount of sugar, flavorings, and mixing time...but she put us on the right track for finding a light recipe that we liked for these flowers! xo

Here are a few links to the piping tips that I used in the tutorial!

Tip 401
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000VLE3Q/ref=pe_385040_127745480_pd_te_o_s_ti/183-7270713-7612614

Tip 402
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00085F88G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Tip 403
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008GUYI72/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

WHIPPED MERINGUE FROSTING RECIPE

This is the recipe that we prefer for the large fluffy frosting flowers that we feature in our “How to Pipe Large Frosting Flowers” video tutorial. This non-dairy (shortening based) frosting has a fluffy, whipped-cream like texture, yet is shelf stable & even develops a slight crust. This recipe is stable for up to 3 months at room temperature.
INGREDIENTS
¾ cup (146g) granulated sugar

½ teaspoon (3g) salt

2 Tablespoons ( 18g) meringue powder

½ cup BOILING WATER, ( minus 2 Tablespoons of the water if you are using Crisco )

2 and ½ cups (430g) Hi Ratio Shortening or Crisco

5 cups (570g) confectioners’ sugar – measure then sift

2 Tablespoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

flavor to taste

THIS FROSTING IS MADE IN TWO PARTS AND SHOULD NOT BE COMBINED UNTIL EACH PART IS COMPLETED.

Use the whisk attachment for this part, to the mixing bowl add the granulated sugar, salt, meringue powder and ½ cup BOILING WATER. The water must be boiling to melt the granulated sugar. Mix on high speed and beat until stiff peaks form, approximately 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the meringue to another bowl and set aside for later.

Change to the paddle attachment and to the mixing bowl add the shortening. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar. Beat mixture until it is very creamy, approximately 5 minutes, scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times.

Now you are ready to add the bowl of meringue to the mixing bowl, along with the flavorings. Beat another 8 minutes. The frosting will become very light and fluffy. Keep in a covered container. Do not refrigerate. It can be kept at room temperature in airtight container for 3 months, just stir with a spoon when you are ready to use.

This is a lightly crusting frosting.

Yield: 7 cups

95 Comments

Hi Melissa, You will be able to do this, it is surprisingly easy.

Hi Melissa,
I love these flowers and want to put them on a First Communion cake. Just as Claudia asked, this is the same question. Can you make the flowers ahead of time, maybe even using the Styrofoam bowls as you used for a base, put them in the fridge until ready to put them on the cake. I am a bit nervous about just doing them directly onto the cake. I will be putting them on Italian Meringue Buttercream and will have the cake in the fridge.
Thank you-

Hi Leslie! I'm so glad that you like them. (Sorry Claudia that I missed your question before!) -

Unfortunately, I have not tried to freeze these. Normally, with most buttercream frostings, I wouldn't hesitate to pop in the freezer (although heavily tinted frostings would be more likely to bleed due to condensation as they approach room temp.) - However, the recipe that inspired our recipe said not to refrigerate. Because of this, I would mix up your frosting and test one or two flowers in the freezer before doing them all this way. If it doesn't go well, you'll want to just pipe directly onto the cake (you will be fine!) ;0) - OR, I suppose you could try piping the flowers onto dried fondant discs and then slide a knife beneath the fondant disc and place on the cake when it's time? You could pipe the outer petals to hide any bit of fondant that shows. Just a thought--hope this helps!!

Piping tips are ordered and I can't wait to give these flowers a try! Thank you for another great tutorial!

This was a lovely tutorial, very clever and the flowers were beautiful. Thank you!

Im going to make your frosting recipe and see if I have better luck making these flowers.I havent with American buttercream.I will want to use this also to frost the cake so will it crust that I can use the viva paper towel method on it to smooth if needed?

Hi Cakerjoy, I hope that you like this recipe! I think that the consistency is better for these types of flowers. The frosting is a much lighter texture and while it does have a very slight crust, it isn't ideal for the Viva method. At least, I think that you may have some difficulty. You may rather use your standby crusting recipe to frost the cake if you prefer the Viva method..and then use this recipe for your flowers.

my this is another beautiful cake something you don't
find anywhere else, love it.. would you tell me what you do with all the small amounts of frosting that is left over or do you just get rid of them? Thanks as always pat

Hi Pat, If it is less than a cup, I do not keep it. This recipe is good for 3 months at room temp so a date should be put on the container you are keeping it in. Sometimes I have so many small amounts that are unused I just have to clear it all out......the clutter just starts to bother me.