Flowers are certainly the most
traditional and most admired way to top a cake. Roses are the most impressive,
beautiful and popular of all icing flowers. A rose is created in a number
of steps.
Getting Ready
Fit a decorating bag with round tip 12 and fill 1/2 full with stiff
consistency Buttercream Icing.
Cut wax paper into 1 1/2 in. squares.
Preparing the Flower Nail:
Hold the nail in your left (right) hand between your thumb and forefinger
so that you can turn it slowly in a counterclockwise (clockwise) direction.
Place a dot of icing on the nail.
Press a wax paper square onto the nail.
Rose Base
Tip: 12
Icing: stiff consistency
Positions:
- Nail: in left (right) hand
- Bag: 90 angle (straight up)
- Tip: slightly above nail
Sequence:
1. Squeeze hard for base.
2. Relax, lift for cone.
3. Stop squeezing, lift tip away.
Hold decorating bag straight up, the end of tip 12 slightly above the
center of waxed paper covered flower nail, which is held in your other
hand. Using firm and steady pressure, squeeze a heavy base of icing,
keeping the end of the tip buried in it as you squeeze. Start to lift
the top higher and decrease the pressure when the base fills out the
circle drawn on the nail. Stop pressure, pull up and lift away. Rose
base should be 1 1/2 times as high as the rose tip opening.
Try This: First build up the right size base on your practice
board. When you feel comfortable with the technique, try it out on the
flower nail several times, using a fresh piece of wax paper each time.
Rose Center
Tip: 104
Icing: stiff consistency
Positions:
- Nail: in left (right) hand
- Bag: 45 angle at 4:30 (7:30)
- Tip: wide end touching base at midpoint, narrow end up and in slightly
Sequence: 1. While squeezing, turn nail to the end of your finger counterclockwise
(clockwise); move tip up then down, overlapping starting point.
2. Stop, lift tip away.
Hold nail, containing base in left (right) hand and bag with rose tip
104 in right(left). Bag should be at a 45 angle to the flat surface of
the nail and in the 4:30 (7:30) position. The wide end of the tip should
touch the cone of the icing base at or slightly below the midpoint, and
the narrow end of the tip should point up and slightly inward. Now, you
must do three things at the same time: squeeze the bag, move the tip
and rotate the nail. As you squeeze the bag, move the tip up from the
base, forming a ribbon of icing. Slowly turn the nail counterclockwise
(clockwise) to bring the ribbon of icing around to overlap at the top
of the mound, then back down to starting point. Move your tip straight
up and down only; do not loop it around the base. The motions forming
the center of the rose are quite important and will be repeated as you
put the petals on.
Top Row Petals
Tip: 104
Icing: stiff consistency
Positions:
- Bag: 45 angle at 4:30 (7:30)
- Tip: wide end touching base at or slightly below midpoint, narrow end
straight up.
Sequence: 1. While squeezing, turn nail to the end of your fingers counterclockwise
(clockwise), move up and down, connect petal to base.
2. Stop, lift tip away.
3. Repeat for other two petals.
Hold the flower nail with the completed rose base and center in your
left (right) hand and the bag in your right (left) hand at a 45 angle
to the nail surface. The wide end of rose tip should touch the base at
or slightly below the midway point, and the narrow end of tip should
point straight up. As with the rose center, you now must do three things
at one time: squeeze the bag, move the tip up and rotate the nail. While
you squeeze the bag, move the tip and rotate the nail. While you squeeze
the bag, move the tip up and down again. As you turn the nail, the up
and down motion of the tip will make a half-circle shaped upright petal.
Wide end of tip must touch rose base while making a petal at all times.
Stop squeezing, then lift tip away. The procedure for the second and
third petals is the same. Be sure your tip is clean before starting next
petal. The second petal should overlap the end of the first. And the
third petal should begin by overlapping the second and end by overlapping
the first. Turn the nail one third of the nail circumference as you make
each petal.
Middle Row Petals
Tip: 104
Icing: stiff consistency
Positions:
- Bag: 45 angle at 4:30 (7:30)
- Tip: wide end touching base below center of any petal, narrow end out
slightly. End of tip at 1:00 position.
Sequence: 1. Make a petal as before.
2. Repeat for 4 more petals, with the last petal overlapping first petal.
Proceed exactly as you did in making the top row of petals except for
these two changes: (1) start the middle row with the wide end of the
tip touching the rose base directly beneath the center of one of the
petals in the top row, and the narrow end of the tip leaning out slightly,
and (2) make five petals instead of three, with the back edge of the
fifth petal overlapping the front edge of the first petal. The petals
in this middle row should overlap the spaces between the petals in the
first row. Remember turn the nail one-fifth of the nail circumference
for each petal.
Bottom Row Petals
Tip: 104
Icing: stiff consistency
Positions:
- Bag: 45 angle at 4:30 (7:30)
- Tip: Wide end touching base below previous row; narrow end out further,
end of tip at 2:00 position.
Sequence: 1. Make 1 petal
2. Make 6 more petals.
Continue as you did for the middle row, except that the narrow end of
the tip should be leaning out further so the petals appear to be opening.
And this time, you'll make seven petal instead of five, with the last
overlapping the first and all of them overlapping the spaces between
petals in the row above. Turn the nail one seventh of the circumference
for each petal. Remove rose from the flower nail by lifting the wax paper
square off.
