I have made the snow-white bc for a b-day cake that I want to decorate with roses. The recipe said that it made "stiff" consistency, but when I tried to make the roses, they kept falling off of the nail. I live in OHio and know that humidity can affect it, but it isn't that humid right now and I used the meringue powder. Does anyone have any suggestions? Frustrated with consistencies!!

Try adding some more powdered sugar to the icing you want to use for your roses till it's fairly stiff. HTH

one day i was making classroom recipe wilton bc (i taught course 1 to some 4h kids) and i always make double batches. one day i was in a hurry and didn't realise i had omitted half the crisco it called for (for a double batch would have been 2 cups) i had used only 1 cup and increased the milk to thin it..

well lo and be hold i had before me a very nice consistency of icing Perfect for roses. since i wasn't using it for any cakes to be eaten i just kept the icing and used it over and over and finaly for the first time in ten years i was able to make a decent buttercream rose! i must add here in those ten years, i did NOT practice making roses as much as possible due to the fact i had such terrible results whenever i DID try. lol..

this icing used in these pics was so stiff that i could pat it out in circles with some corn starch to prevent sticking- in a way much like one does to make a Fondant rose! lol thats how stiff it was.

the warmth of my hand would soften the icing Just enough it could come out of the rose tip..


Yes because this rose was one of my first DEcent roses- i KEPT IT!! lol.. one of these pictured did not survive the transfer to a jar to keep it safe. oh well i still have One

this icing was Very stiff.. you could model it like playdough

((you can click on pic for more views and more detail)

10 years that means i have 9 more to get a rose, i've done well over a hundred and can't get them right, my pedals won't fan out. i'm trying what you did. thanks

For me, perfect rose consistancy is an icing that you can take a little bit of it and roll in a ball. Then when you press your finger against the ball the icing feels sticky but does not come off on your finger. If the icing doesn't stick at all, then the petals will often fall off. And if it is very sticky and comes off on your finger you are touching it with, then it is probably too soft and won't hold up.

If your icing is too stiff or dry (doesn't stick) then you want to either add in some cricso (about a tablespoon per cup of icing) or some piping gel (about a teaspoon per cup of icing) to make it more creamy. Water will just thin it down and make it too soft.

Too dry icing can also cause the bases not to want to stick to the flower nail. Also if you have warm hands the longer you hold your flower nail the more you heat it up. If you find your rose base sliding around while you are working on the petals you may need to take a break and set your flower now aside and let it cool off again. Remember metal is a heat conductor, and the top will totally warm up from warm/hot hands.