I'm making a Pembrooke Welsh Corgi cake for the very first time - using the Wilton lamb pan as my base for the dog. I'm wondering how I can make the dog's fur with buttercream. Is there a special tip I should use that would be best? The dog has white and brown fur...so I don't want the transition to be too weird....

Any tips are appreciated!

have you tried the grass tip??

I thought about the grass tip - but the dog has such short fur - I wasn't sure if it would work as well...I can definitely see it working great for a long haired dog...

Hi imartsy,

I would use grass tip #233 as suggested by Tany.

My suggestion would be to stripe the piping bag with either the white or brown color, then fill with the opposite. This should give you a nice blending of the two colors.

Tammy

EDIT
Maybe instead of pulling out a lot with the grass tip, just push through little bit at a time.

I've also used a small star tip for bear hair before, just an idea.

Would you just not pull the grass tip out very far? I mean like would you make the "strands" really short? Or would you just make them longer as if that kind of dog had longer hair?

Yes, you can make very short fur/grass with that tip.

http://www.grizzlyrun.com/Files/Images/Image_Gallery/Pembroke_Welsh_Corgi.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Pembroke_Welsh_Corgi_frontal.jpg

Either the grass tip to give you a more fun look to the hair or you could apply a generous but not too terribly thick coat of icing then use a dampened medium-bristled(like for basting) brush(1/2"- 1 1/2" depending on the surface area you're working in/on) and drag it through the icing pulling it in the direction of the fur....create tufts near at the chest, base of ears, pits and backs of legs. If you are able, do it all in white then airbrush. If not, work from lightest to darkest fur. keep the brush dampened not drippy.

Ooh all4cake that sounds really interesting...I wonder if I have a basting brush around my house....

Wish I had an airbrush - but I don't Man that would be easier.....

I have actually taken the really BIG icer tip and done stripes of icing around my cake to cover it, and then taken a paintbrush and putting brush strokes back into it. You can easily blend colors in. I did my deer head cakes using this method, and I was pleased with how they turned out. It gave a smoother, shorter hair appearance. They are in my photos if you are interested in seeing them.

Good luck!

I'd also go with the grass tip. Here's a pic of Elmo, done with a grass tip. It looks like fur.

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1288500

One piece of advice, cut your buttercream with shortening. I did, but it was super hot (like 85-90) that day. It was only suppose to be in the mid-seventies, but elmo started to melt and had to spend all day in the fridge. If I ever do it over again, I will use more shortening. It also took me about 5+ hours to pipe him so....although he was rather big.