Violet leaves differ from most other
leaves because they're piped on a flower nail (as opposed to directly on the cake). The first thing you'll want to do is pipe some
violets, of course. To pipe the leaves, you'll need a piping bag loaded with medium consistency green royal icing and fitted with a #104 petal tip, a flower nail, a glue stick, and a parchment paper square for each leaf.
Start by sticking a parchment paper square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick.
Hold the bag at a 45 degree angle to the surface with the wide side of the petal tip toward the center.
Squeeze steadily while moving the bag in a wiggling motion; wave the outer, narrow tip up and down to create the ruffled edge. Rotate the nail as you pipe, following an upside-down U formation.
When you reach the end of the path, stop squeezing and pull the tip away diagonally toward the center.
These were all piped with a petal tip #104. You could, of course, vary the size by piping with larger or smaller petal tips…
…to complement the sizes of your violets.
