Piping Roses with Star-Cut Tip #64

I found an unusual tip this weekend: the Ateco #64, which is considered a star-cut tip. It's a curved petal tip (like you use for piping violets), but it has a couple of teeth carved into the inner curve by the narrow end. The teeth cause whatever you pipe to have a ridge:

I can imagine this tip being useful for borders and swags, but I wanted to try piping a rose with it (only because it looks so much like a violet tip). I started by piping the rose bases in advance and allowing them to firm up. Go here to see why this step is important. 

 Dab a glue stick to a flower nail, then carefully place one of the bases on. If it comes off the paper, stick it back down with a dot of icing.

 I'm not going to bore you with details of how to pipe the petals; I'll let Wilton do that. ;) Seriously, I go sort of nuts thinking about all the angles, hand positions, number of petals, etc. that are involved in piping roses. The basic thing you need to do is pipe a center wraparound petal…

 …and then pipe as many petals as you need to sufficiently cover the base. The petals should overlap, be staggered (not be in vertical rows), and angle increasingly outwards from the base as you reach the parchment.

 Generally, when you've piped the base with the round #12 tip, you can fit on 3 rows of petals beyond the first wraparound petal. The rows might consist of 3, 5, and 7 overlapping petals.

As you can see, these look more or less like traditional roses, but with a grooved edge. This might be the perfect variation for you, if you're tired of piping roses that look like everybody else's. Try piping roses with other non-traditional tips! 

Piping Roses with a Striped Edge

Adding a striped edge to a rose takes no special equipment beyond a second color of icing and the cheapest brush you can buy. Needless to say, you can use any two colors you want to make roses for any occasion (patriotic, Christmas, high school colors, etc.). In this case, I used two shades of pink. I started by mixing up a small amount of the darker shade (I used Deep Pink by AmeriColor):

 Then I added a small amount of the deep pink icing to a larger container of white to get a very light shade of pink:

 The set-up includes a piping bag filled with white (or light pink) royal icing fitted with a round #12 tip, an empty bag fitted with a #104 rose tip, a parchment square for each rose, a rose nail, a Styrofoam block (to act as a third hand), a glue stick, and a brush (preferably one that costs no more than fifty cents).

Start by making the bases. Dab the glue stick to the rose nail and stick a parchment square to it. 

Hold the bag with the round #12 tip and pipe a shape similar to a Hershey's Kiss by holding the tip just above the surface, then piping firmly. When the base builds up to about the size of a nickel, start moving the tip up and away from the nail. Stop pressure and pull the tip away. If the shape isn't quite right, either coax it into place with a finger dipped in powdered sugar, or scrape the "Kiss" off and start over.

 No two will probably look alike, but they'll all work, more or less.

 On the empty bag, make sure the narrow end of the rose tip lines up with one of the seams on the bag.

 Cuff the bag over, half the length of the bag:

 Using your brush, paint a stripe on the seam with the darker pink icing (or whichever color you like). Paint as far down into the end of the bag (or the coupler, if you're using one) as you can, and continue up the seam for a few inches.

 Fill the bag with the other color, in this case the lighter pink.

 Pipe out a test squeeze, until the stripe appears. Now you can start piping striped roses!

Official instructions on the Wilton site for The Wilton Rose will tell you exactly which angle to hold your bag at for each row of petals. I just wanted to show you a brief example of what happens when you pipe the first wraparound petal (that should completely hide whatever color the base is)…

 …and then the next row of three petals…

 …then five…

 …and finally seven.

The possibilities really are limitless! Halloween roses, anyone?

Victorian Rose using Tip #97

If I didn't know better, I'd swear Wilton was trying to keep the very existence of the Victorian Rose a secret. Are they worried it'll pull focus from their signature flower, The Wilton Rose (insert registered trademark symbol here)? Well, if they're not, they should be; unlike The Wilton Rose, the Victorian Rose actually looks like the real deal. There's no mention of the Victorian Rose in Decorating Cakes: A Reference & Idea Book. There is, however, a tiny little text box in the Flowers and Cake Design book that accompanies the course of the same name that reads: "For a Victorian Rose, use tip #97 and pipe following the directions for the Wilton Rose." So, if by now you're wondering what all the fuss is about, I'm going to show you. Pull together the following setup: a piping bag loaded with stiff consistency royal icing (or buttercream, if you're so inclined), fitted with a coupler and a round tip #12, a tip #97 on standby, a non-toxic glue stick, a rose nail (rose template decal optional; I have several rose nails each bearing every available template decal), one parchment paper square for each rose you're making, and a Styrofoam block, so you'll have someplace to set the nail when your phone rings.

 Here is a closeup shot of the tips you'll be using. #12 is on the bag, and on the left is tip #97. You'll notice the hole is "S" shaped; one curve of the "S" is wider. The wide end is kept against the base while you're piping; the narrow end is held outwards. It's this curve that gives the petals their curled-over shape that really sets this rose apart.

Incidentally, this is what a standard rose tip looks like; teardrop-shaped:

 Begin by piping your bases. Put a dab from the glue stick in the center of the nail, attach a parchment paper square, and hold the #12 tip perpendicular to and just above it.

 Squeeze hard and slowly pull back on the tip; your goal is to form a shape comparable to a Hershey's Kiss. When the shape is just about right, stop pressure and remove the tip.

 Here is a variety of bases, ready to go.

Allow them to firm up for a while; I go into the reason why in this post (graphic stuff not for the faint of heart). Basically, the rose on the left had a firm base, the rose on the right did not:

 As you may know, there are a million tutorials for piping the Wilton Rose, including the official one on the Wilton site. Check it out for the tip angle, pressure, nail rotation, etc.; I lose my mind trying to explain that sort of information in a unique way. What I will show you is the formation of the rose as the 4 steps occur. First, here's the center petal that wraps around the top of the base:

 That's followed by the three overlapping petals…

 …and then five just below that. Note the distinct shape of the petals' edges:

 Here is a side view. It's a bit blurry, but you can definitely see the curl on the petals.

 Finally, here is the rose with the layer of seven petals piped at the base.

At this point, I'm pretty much going to drill holes in all my old standard rose tips and turn them into earrings. Or a tiara…

The Wilton Rose: A Variation

I don't think there's an icing flower that has more online tutorials than The Wilton Rose (including this one on the Wilton site). So, my goal isn't to provide the world with yet another one, but rather to show you a small trick I figured out for making a better looking Wilton Rose. Every time I attempted it, I'd wind up with a squashy, melted puddle of icing, no matter what temperature or consistency I was working with. Case in point:

I roll my own eyes. They look like wads of chewed-up, stepped-on gum; all wrong! And I swear, I followed those directions to the letter, both on my own and in class. It wasn't until I figured out how to make royal icing pine cones that I came up with the idea of piping the base, letting it dry, and then piping the petals. Here's the set-up:

That's a Styrofoam brick, which makes a great third hand when you're hard at work. There's a rose nail stuck into it; the rose nail has a decal on it that provides a guide for how large to pipe the base. To the left are a 2" by 2" piece of parchment paper (you'll need one for each rose), a glue stick (for temporarily attaching the paper to the rose nail, and the medium round tip #12 and the rose petal tip #104. Start by putting a dab from the glue stick on the nail, and attaching a parchment paper square to it:

Load two piping bags with royal icing in whatever color the roses are going to be, or one bag with the round tip and a coupler. Start by piping the base, which is basically a Hershey's Kiss (the official Wilton tutorial linked to earlier will provide you with more complete guidelines regarding angle and pressure):

Slide the paper with the piped base on it gently off the nail and set it aside; tug it gently to release it from the glue. Allow the base to dry about 20 minutes; it will crust over sufficiently. Here are a variety of bases; the best one is in the middle, but remember: they don't need to be perfect…

…because they'll be covered with petals. The center petal is spiraled around the tip of the base, using the #104 tip:

Three overlapping petals are then piped around:

And then five petals:

And then seven:

The difference between these roses and my earlier efforts is pretty dramatic! Incidentally, the icing I used for both attempts at The Wilton Rose came from the same batch, which I made following this recipe. I recommend it wholeheartedly; not only does it work well for piping flowers (and pine cones), I actually think it tastes pretty good!

Royal Icing Pine Cones

I know, I know; it's a bit late to be talking up Yule logs. The thing is, I bought one of Williams Sonoma's fabulous Stump de Noel Bundt pans at the end of the season when the price dropped and I've been dying to use it! There's no way I'm waiting almost a year to press this pan into service, so I'm giving it a test drive now. Yesterday I made meringue toadstools to "garnish" the stump, and today I'm taking piping bag in hand and trying to figure out how to make pine cones.

There are a lot of online tutorials for edible pine cones, but most of them rely on gum paste. In my humble opinion, gum paste isn't so much edible as it is non-poisonous. I'm pretty sure no one's died a horrible death from eating gum paste, but if I found out it's a routine occurrence I wouldn't be surprised. I ate a small amount recently (a 50/50 blend of gum paste and my fondant from scratch), and my first reaction was, "Hmm, not bad. Tastes like fondant. A little slippery." And then I proceeded to endeavor to swallow it. I felt like I was being waterboarded (from what I've read). My gag reflex went into the same mode as when I swallow a piece of gum and make every effort to valiantly choke it back up. So, long story short, I really wanted to make my pine cones as edible as possible, while hopefully making them slightly realistic. I'm hoping in the presence of the meringue toadstools the persistence of imagination will kick in and folks will figure out what they're supposed to be.

First, I pulled together some pine cones for inspiration. These are sugar pine cones, straight from the forest floor of Calaveras County, CA. Note, they are not dark brown; they are more of a peanut butter color. I mixed up about a cup of royal icing and brown paste food coloring, which made half a dozen cones with plenty left over.

I put a tiny dab from a glue stick on a rose nail. Then I stuck a 2" by 2" square of parchment paper to it (I hear you can buy these pre-cut; please resist and make your own). I fitted a piping bag with a coupler (so I could change tips) and a medium round Wilton tip #12, and filled the bag with icing.

I piped a column of icing as high as I dared (just over an inch); starting with the tip touching the center of the nail and squeezing and drawing the tip away at a 90 degree angle to the nail.

I made half a dozen of them, each on its own parchment square, and allowed them to dry for about 20 minutes; long enough to crust over. Any little peaks on top or other "issues" can be smoothed over with a fingertip before they dry hard; they can also be straightened up if they start to lean (like that one on the left, front row).

Then I switched the tip to the Wilton #101 (a small rose tip) and started piping petals. I figured, a rose has petals, and so does a pine cone; why not? I more or less followed the pattern suggested by the Wilton rose. I started with 4 petals, each overlapping the previous. The hand motion is like drawing a tiny upside-down "U." Here's the first petal:

I held the bag at about the 1 o'clock position, if the column is at 12, with the wide end of the opening at the bottom and the narrow end aligned with the top of the column. I piped these 4 petals around the top, leaving the tip of the center column exposed. It had a small peak, which I rounded down with a fingertip.

Then I piped another 5 petals, overlapping the base of the first 3 slightly (and overlapping each other). The trick to piping these petals is to rotate the nail counterclockwise while squeezing the bag and holding it more or less in place, other than a slight up-and-down motion to form each petal. The tip is angled out a little wider now; maybe at 2 o'clock in relation to the center column.

Then I switched to a larger rose tip, #104, and continued to pipe overlapping layers of petals, spiraling all the way down to the base. 

I'm not too worried about any raggedness at the base; real pine cones don't exactly have unblemished foundations, and these are going to be sunk into a brown, forgiving cake. When you're pleased with the outcome, give the parchment paper a gentle tug to break it loose from the dab from the glue stick, and slide the pine cone off the nail. Allow it to dry someplace away from moisture and direct heat. If you're not going to use the pine cones right away you can store them in a cardboard box (their preferred environment) for months. Feel free to give them a bit of a dusting with cocoa powder; that might enhance their dusty, forest-y feel. Of course, a dusting of powdered sugar could suggest snow.

Can you think of other edible, forest-inspired things to add to a Yule log cake? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments!